David A. Keene, a prominent conservative leader and NRA President from 2011 to 2013, died on March 8, 2026, at 80 years old, from pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife, Donna Wiesner Keene, his five children and their families.
“David was an articulate and enthusiastic spokesperson for Second Amendment rights for years in his capacity as an NRA board member and a past President of the Association,” said Doug Hamlin, NRA Executive Vice President and CEO. “I was fortunate to work closely with David since he was chairman of the NRA Publications Policy Committee for the entire time that I was the executive director of NRA Publications. He was a champion for the resources that we needed and always had good ideas for projects that he thought we should consider. He will be missed.”
Keene, born May 20, 1945, first became notably involved in politics in the 1960s when he became a chapter leader and then national chairman of Young Americans for Freedom while he was at the University of Wisconsin earning undergraduate and law degrees. His resume over the years since then became increasingly significant, including becoming an assistant to Vice President Spiro Agnew during the Nixon administration, serving as executive assistant to Sen. James L. Buckley and working as campaign consultant for many campaigns including Ronald Reagan’s first bid for the Republican presidential nomination and for George H.W. Bush’s 1980 presidential campaign. He also advised Sen. Robert Dole and Mitt Romney.
Keene additionally was known for extensive writings in publications such as The Hill, National Review, and Boston Globe, and for being the opinion editor for The Washington Times. He is also well known for serving as the elected chair of the American Conservative Union from 1982 to 2011, which hosts the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Keene spoke passionately in defense of the American right to keep and bear arms in news outlets and publications throughout his life and co-wrote Shall Not Be Infringed: The New Assaults on Your Second Amendment, published in 2016.
“The Second Amendment sort of represents the American ideal of individual responsibility that goes way beyond guns,” Keene said in a “Shooting Straight” interview with NRA’s America’s 1st Freedom in 2021. “The influence of the NRA has been precisely because of the fact that the gun issue—the Second Amendment—is not partisan.”
Keene’s relationship with the NRA was marked by growing membership and “all-in” battles to elect pro-Second Amendment candidates and to bar gun-control overreach. In addition to his time as the 61st NRA President, he served on many NRA committees, on the NRA Board from 2000 to 2024, as Second Vice President from 2007 to 2009 and as First Vice President from 2009 to 2011.
Shooting Straight with David A. Keene
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