Meyer was known in conservative and libertarian circles for his nocturnal lifestyle. Buckley and others has recalled in "Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography" that Meyer would sleep the day and be on the phone at night on behalf of his journalism and activism. His bright intellect and passionate presentation won him a broad following among conservative intellectuals in the 1960s and 1970s, who promoted it individually and through the organization he cofounded, the American Conservative Union, and through other modern conservative institutions and thinktanks influenced by him, including The Heritage Foundation, The Fund for American Studies, the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and Young America's Foundation.