He has strongly influenced the shape of American [[Neoconservatism]].
Some of Leo Strauss' students include Supreme Court Justice [[Clarence Thomas]], Supreme Court nominee [[Robert Bork]], former Deputy Secretary of Defense [[Paul Wolfowitz]], former Assistant Secretary of State [[Alan Keyes]], former Secretary of Education [[William Bennett]], ''Weekly Standard'' editor [[William Kristol]], political philosopher [[Allan Bloom]], former ''New York Post'' editorials editor [[John Podhoretz]], former National Endowment for the Humanities Deputy Chairman [[John T. Agresto]]; speech-writer for [[Barry Goldwater]], Harry V. JaffJaffa; former [[FrontPage Magazine]] editor, Robert Locke; and [[Nobel Prize]] winning novelist [[Saul Bellow]].
Followers of Leo Strauss usually call themselves Straussians and have played a major role in introducing conservative ideas into political science.