Phil Crane, who served 35 years in the House and ran for president in 1980, has died at the age of 84 of lung cancer.  A former president of the American Conservative Union and founder of the Republican Study Committee, Crane was a tireless promoter of conservative causes going back to the 1960s, when he worked on Barry Goldwater's campaign. New York Times: Using the history he had taught at Indiana and Bradley Universities, Mr. Crane persuaded House colleagues of the importance of establishing conservative institutions comparable to those liberals used. The first was the Republican Study Committee, which he founded in 1973 with fewer than a dozen members. But it grew to dominate House G.O.P. ranks. By 2011 it had more than 175 members, about three-fourths of all House Republicans. Mr. Crane became chairman of the American Conservative Union, an existing umbrella group, in 1977. He led the organization’s opposition to the Panama Canal treaties, put forward by...(Read Full Post)