A group of young conservatives met in the Sharon, CT home of William F. Buckley, Jr. on September 11, 1960 to write the Sharon Statement, the founding document of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF).
In 1962, [[Ronald Reagan]] joined the YAF National Advisory Board. He eventually became YAF’s YAF's Honorary National Chairman, a relationship that would last for over forty years until his passing.
Also in 1962, YAF spearheaded the "Rally for World Liberation from Communism," hosting 18,500 conservatives at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event is one of the largest conservative events in history. Later, YAF helped popularize the phrase "Don't Let Them Immanentize the Eschaton!".<ref>[https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/gop-and-man-at-yale/ GOP and Man at Yale]</ref>