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Welch, Jr. in 1958 as a last line of defense against the massively ongoing, clandestine Communist takeover of the United States in his view, but in reality, it is a wingnut red-baiting propaganda machine. Starting in 1954, when Dwight Eisenhower was President, Welch circulated various drafts of a "letter"&#91;note 1&#93; calling Eisenhower (among others) a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy".&#91;4&#93;:266 Welch eventually self-published it in a 1964 in a book titled The Politician.&#91;5&#93;&#91;6&#93; The publication was an early example of how ridiculously batshit the JBS is. Welch and the early Birchers knew how far from the mainstream they were and so they were largely successful in hiding their activities and motivations in their early years. 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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #1E90FF; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:White; background-color:#1E90FF"><b>God, guns, and freedom</b><br /><a href="/wiki/United_States_politics" title="United States politics"><font size="4" color="White"><b>U.S. Politics</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#97DEFF;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:United_States_politics" title="Category:United States politics"><img alt="Icon politics USA.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/8/8b/Icon_politics_USA.svg/100px-Icon_politics_USA.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/8/8b/Icon_politics_USA.svg/150px-Icon_politics_USA.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/8/8b/Icon_politics_USA.svg/200px-Icon_politics_USA.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:White; background-color:#1E90FF; text-align:center;"><b>Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#97DEFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bradley_effect" title="Bradley effect">Bradley effect</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dennis_Hastert" title="Dennis Hastert">Dennis Hastert</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mike_Gravel" title="Mike Gravel">Mike Gravel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy" title="Robert F. Kennedy">Robert F. Kennedy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Al_Gore" title="Al Gore">Al Gore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Goldman_Sachs" title="Goldman Sachs">Goldman Sachs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Information_Awareness_Office" title="Information Awareness Office">Information Awareness Office</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:white; background-color:#1E90FF; text-align:center;"><b>Persons of interest</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#97DEFF;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Newt_Gingrich" title="Newt Gingrich">Newt Gingrich</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ralph_Nader" title="Ralph Nader">Ralph Nader</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Carl_Paladino" title="Carl Paladino">Carl Paladino</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bill_Richardson" title="Bill Richardson">Bill Richardson</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joe_Manchin" title="Joe Manchin">Joe Manchin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison" title="William Henry Harrison">William Henry Harrison</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Uspolitics" title="Template:Uspolitics">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Uspolitics" title="Template talk:Uspolitics">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Uspolitics&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Now we all agree with <a href="/wiki/Hitler" class="mw-redirect" title="Hitler">Hitler</a>’s views<br />Although <a href="/wiki/Holocaust" title="Holocaust">he killed six million Jews</a><br />It don’t matter too much that he was a <a href="/wiki/Fascist" class="mw-redirect" title="Fascist">Fascist</a><br />At least you can't say he was a Communist!</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Bob Dylan, <i>Talkin' John Birch <a href="/wiki/Paranoia" title="Paranoia">Paranoid</a> Blues</i><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>John Birch Society</b> (J<a href="/wiki/BS" class="mw-redirect" title="BS">BS</a>) is an <a href="/wiki/Extremist" class="mw-redirect" title="Extremist">extremist</a>, <a href="/wiki/Isolationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Isolationist">isolationist</a>, anti-<a href="/wiki/Atheist" class="mw-redirect" title="Atheist">atheist</a> right-wing organization<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:10</sup><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:5,213</sup> founded by candy manufacturer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Welch,_Jr." class="extiw" title="wp:Robert W. Welch, Jr." rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Robert W. Welch, Jr.">Robert W. Welch, Jr.</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> in 1958 as a last line of defense against the massively ongoing, clandestine <a href="/wiki/Communist" class="mw-redirect" title="Communist">Communist</a> takeover of the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> in his view, but in <a href="/wiki/Reality" title="Reality">reality</a>, it is a <a href="/wiki/Wingnut" title="Wingnut">wingnut</a> <a href="/wiki/Red-baiting" title="Red-baiting">red-baiting</a> <a href="/wiki/Propaganda" title="Propaganda">propaganda</a> machine. Starting in 1954, when <a href="/wiki/Dwight_Eisenhower" class="mw-redirect" title="Dwight Eisenhower">Dwight Eisenhower</a> was <a href="/wiki/POTUS" class="mw-redirect" title="POTUS">President</a>, Welch circulated various drafts of a "letter"<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[note 1]</a></sup> calling Eisenhower (among others) a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy".<sup id="cite_ref-politician_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-politician-5">[4]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:266</sup> Welch eventually self-published it in a 1964 in a book titled <i><a href="/wiki/The_Politician" title="The Politician">The Politician</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[5]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-politician2_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-politician2-7">[6]</a></sup> The publication was an early example of how ridiculously <a href="/wiki/Wingnut" title="Wingnut">batshit</a> the JBS is. Welch and the early Birchers knew how far from the mainstream they were and so they were largely successful in hiding their activities and motivations in their early years. Welch even tried to deny that he had called Eisenhower a communist in print, telling the <i>Boston Herald</i> that Eisenhower "may be too dumb to be a communist."<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:62-63</sup> </p><p>JBS is basically the <a href="/wiki/KKK" class="mw-redirect" title="KKK">KKK</a>, but with a thin, stringy veneer of political theory (read: more fears of <a href="/wiki/Cultural_Marxism" title="Cultural Marxism">fluorinated water controlling their brains</a>). In fact, both groups claimed the <a href="/wiki/Civil_rights_movement" class="mw-redirect" title="Civil rights movement">civil rights movement</a> was a communist plot! By 1965, the opposition to the civil rights movement became more overtly <a href="/wiki/White_supremacist" class="mw-redirect" title="White supremacist">white supremacist</a> in the JBS.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:99-100,151-152</sup> </p><p>Despite being opposed to the civil rights movement and to forced desegregation of public schools, the JBS claimed to have local <a href="/wiki/African_American" title="African American">African American</a> chapters, and did have spokespeople who were African American: Ezola Foster (<a href="/wiki/Pat_Buchanan" title="Pat Buchanan">Pat Buchanan</a> presidential running mate),<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:241-242</sup> George Schuyler (former <a href="/wiki/NAACP" title="NAACP">NAACP</a> business manager)<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8">[7]</a></sup> and Veronica A. Wilson (former <a href="/wiki/CPUSA" class="mw-redirect" title="CPUSA">CPUSA</a> member and <a href="/wiki/FBI" class="mw-redirect" title="FBI">FBI</a> informant).<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9">[8]</a></sup> </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Yet in the main, despite the presence of a handful of Jewish and Black members in the organization, antisemitic and racist ideas and language were endemic to the society from the beginning.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Matthew Dallek<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:154</sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Origins"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext">Origins</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Who_is_John_Birch.3F"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">Who is John Birch?</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#In_the_post-WWII_world"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">In the post-WWII world</span></a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy"><span class="tocnumber">3.1</span> <span class="toctext">Assassination of John F. Kennedy</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5"><a href="#Radicalization"><span class="tocnumber">3.2</span> <span class="toctext">Radicalization</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6"><a href="#Alt-med"><span class="tocnumber">3.3</span> <span class="toctext">Alt-med</span></a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7"><a href="#Today"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">Today</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Cultish_aspects"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">Cultish aspects</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="#Other_people_and_things_they_hate"><span class="tocnumber">6</span> <span class="toctext">Other people and things they hate</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10"><a href="#Legacy"><span class="tocnumber">7</span> <span class="toctext">Legacy</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11"><a href="#Pop_culture_references"><span class="tocnumber">8</span> <span class="toctext">Pop culture references</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12"><a href="#Other_members_of_note"><span class="tocnumber">9</span> <span class="toctext">Other members of note</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13"><a href="#See_also"><span class="tocnumber">10</span> <span class="toctext">See also</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-14"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">11</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-15"><a href="#Notes"><span class="tocnumber">12</span> <span class="toctext">Notes</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-16"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">13</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Origins">Origins</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Origins">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>The JBS was founded on December 8-9, 1958 when Welch organized a secret meeting at the home of Marguerite Dice (vice chair of the anti-communist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minute_Women_of_the_U.S.A." class="extiw" title="wp:Minute Women of the U.S.A." rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Minute Women of the U.S.A.">Minute Women</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup>) in Indianapolis, <a href="/wiki/Indiana" class="mw-redirect" title="Indiana">Indiana</a> of 11 like-minded, mostly-business executives who saw commie plots everywhere. Welch had developed such contacts from his stint as a board member of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Manufacturers" class="extiw" title="wp:National Association of Manufacturers" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: National Association of Manufacturers">National Association of Manufacturers</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> during the 1950s, and some of the invitees had also been board members.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:18-19</sup> Welch advised them to book room in separate hotels and to and tell no one of their real reasons for traveling.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:17-18</sup> Why, it was not <a href="/wiki/Paranoid" class="mw-redirect" title="Paranoid">paranoid</a> or conspiratorial at all! Subsequent early meetings were filled with secrecy and paranoia.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:38</sup> The attendees included:<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:20-21</sup> </p> <div class="div-col columns column-count column-count-2" style="-moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;"> <ol><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Coleman_Andrews" class="extiw" title="wp:T. Coleman Andrews" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: T. Coleman Andrews">T. Coleman Andrews</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> former Internal Revenue commissioner under Eisenhower and ran for President under the <a href="/wiki/States%27_rights" title="States' rights">States' Rights Party</a> in 1956</li> <li>Laurence E. Bunker, served as Colonel under General <a href="/wiki/Douglas_MacArthur" title="Douglas MacArthur">Douglas MacArthur</a> in <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a></li> <li>William J. Grede,<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11">[note 2]</a></sup> Milwaukee industrialist and leader of the national <a href="/wiki/YMCA" title="YMCA">YMCA</a><sup id="cite_ref-whs_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-whs-10">[9]</a></sup></li> <li>William R. Kent<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12">[10]</a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oil" title="Oil">Oil</a> baron <a href="/wiki/Koch_Industries" title="Koch Industries">Fred C. Koch</a><sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13">[note 3]</a></sup> was also among the original members. One of Fred's sons, Charles, was also a Bircher.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:218</sup> Fred Koch gave the JBS something that none of the other founding members did: <a href="/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance" title="Cognitive dissonance">cognitive dissonance</a>. He was responsible for setting up the Soviet Union's petroleum refining industry from 1929-1932 (profiting handsomely).<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14">[11]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:28-29,31</sup> Yet, Welch called Eisenhower a communist simply for having discussions with Soviet Premier <a href="/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev" title="Nikita Khrushchev">Nikita Khrushchev</a> in 1959.</li> <li>W. B. McMillan, president of the Hussmann Refrigerator Company</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revilo_P._Oliver" class="extiw" title="wp:Revilo P. Oliver" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Revilo P. Oliver">Revilo P. Oliver</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> professor of philology at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and <a href="/wiki/Holocaust_denier" class="mw-redirect" title="Holocaust denier">Holocaust denier</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15">[12]</a></sup> In 1966, he was forced out of the JBS for excessive <a href="/wiki/Antisemitism" title="Antisemitism">antisemitism</a> but mainly for <a href="/wiki/International_Jewish_conspiracy" title="International Jewish conspiracy">accusing the JBS of being controlled by Jews</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:157</sup><sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16">[13]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17">[14]</a></sup></li> <li>Louis Ruthenburg, retired president of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servel" class="extiw" title="wp:Servel" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Servel">Servel</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></li> <li>Fitzhugh Scott, founder of the Vail Ski Resort</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Waring_Stoddard" class="extiw" title="wp:Robert Waring Stoddard" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Robert Waring Stoddard">Robert W. Stoddard</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> president of the Wyman-Gordon Company</li> <li>Ernest Swigert, head of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyster" class="extiw" title="wp:Hyster" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Hyster">Hyster</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></li></ol></div> <p>The JBS was officially founded the following year in 1959. The founding Board members, Swigert, Grede, Stoddard, Koch, and Robert Gaylord and Cola Parker relied on <a href="/wiki/Austrian_school" title="Austrian school">Austrian school</a> <a href="/wiki/Libertarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Libertarian">libertarian</a> economists <a href="/wiki/Friedrich_Hayek" title="Friedrich Hayek">Friedrich Hayek</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises" title="Ludwig von Mises">Ludwig von Mises</a> for ideas to sway public opinion.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:27-28</sup> </p><p>The early years of the JBS were marked by: </p> <ul><li>Use of a <a href="/wiki/Front_group" title="Front group">front group</a> to attract unsuspecting people, the Committee Against Summit Entanglements (CASE), which even garnered endorsements from later critics of the JBS, <a href="/wiki/William_F._Buckley" title="William F. Buckley">William F. Buckley</a> and <a href="/wiki/Barry_Goldwater" title="Barry Goldwater">Barry Goldwater</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:48-50</sup></li> <li>Use of propaganda films to attract middle class and working class membership<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:57</sup></li> <li>Use of intimidation, <a href="/wiki/Bullying" title="Bullying">bullying</a>, and violence<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:59</sup></li></ul> <ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/e/e1/Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg/90px-Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg" decoding="async" width="90" height="120" srcset="/w/images/thumb/e/e1/Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg/135px-Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/e/e1/Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg/180px-Robert_Welch_pointing_to_John_Birch.jpg 2x" data-file-width="534" data-file-height="712" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Robert Welch pointing to a portrait of John Birch </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg/93px-T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg" decoding="async" width="93" height="120" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg/140px-T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg/187px-T._Coleman_Andrews.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1194" data-file-height="1534" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>T. Coleman Andrews </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg/95px-LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg" decoding="async" width="95" height="120" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg/142px-LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg/189px-LaurenceEBunker1a.jpg 2x" data-file-width="631" data-file-height="800" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Laurence E. Bunker </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Fred_C._Koch.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/a/a2/Fred_C._Koch.jpg/96px-Fred_C._Koch.jpg" decoding="async" width="96" height="120" srcset="/w/images/thumb/a/a2/Fred_C._Koch.jpg/144px-Fred_C._Koch.jpg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/a/a2/Fred_C._Koch.jpg/191px-Fred_C._Koch.jpg 2x" data-file-width="225" data-file-height="282" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Fred C. Koch </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Charles_Koch_portrait_(cropped).jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Charles_Koch_portrait_%28cropped%29.jpg/90px-Charles_Koch_portrait_%28cropped%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="90" height="120" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Charles_Koch_portrait_%28cropped%29.jpg/135px-Charles_Koch_portrait_%28cropped%29.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Charles_Koch_portrait_%28cropped%29.jpg/180px-Charles_Koch_portrait_%28cropped%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="785" data-file-height="1045" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Charles Koch </p> </div> </div></li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"><div style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px;"><div style="margin:15px auto;"><a href="/wiki/File:Revilo_p_oliver.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Revilo_p_oliver.jpg/94px-Revilo_p_oliver.jpg" decoding="async" width="94" height="120" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Revilo_p_oliver.jpg/141px-Revilo_p_oliver.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Revilo_p_oliver.jpg/188px-Revilo_p_oliver.jpg 2x" data-file-width="592" data-file-height="756" /></a></div></div> <div class="gallerytext"> <p>Revilo P. Oliver </p> </div> </div></li> </ul> <h2><span id="Who_is_John_Birch?"></span><span class="mw-headline" id="Who_is_John_Birch.3F">Who is John Birch?</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Who is John Birch?">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:167px;"><a href="/wiki/File:John_Birch.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/a/ab/John_Birch.jpg/165px-John_Birch.jpg" decoding="async" width="165" height="218" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/a/ab/John_Birch.jpg/248px-John_Birch.jpg 1.5x, /w/images/a/ab/John_Birch.jpg 2x" data-file-width="275" data-file-height="363" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:John_Birch.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>Official military portrait of John Birch</div></div></div> <p>The John Birch Society took its name from a <a href="/wiki/Missionary" title="Missionary">missionary</a> named <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_(missionary)" class="extiw" title="wp:John Birch (missionary)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: John Birch (missionary)">John Morrison Birch</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (May 28, 1918–August 25, 1945). According to the society, Birch, a missionary in <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a> who joined the <a href="/wiki/United_States" title="United States">United States</a> military during <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>, became the first victim of the <a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:26-27</sup> The start of the Cold War, however, has generally been regarded as starting several months later in February 1946 when diplomat George Kennan wrote the "Long Telegram", which was primarily with regard to hostility by the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18">[15]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19">[16]</a></sup> The US government kept it quiet (because Birch was just one of millions of deaths during World War II) until one Robert Welch discovered the <a href="/wiki/Truthiness" title="Truthiness">truth</a> and exploited the poor son-of-a-Birch's name for his own political agenda. </p><p>The JBS has a history of misrepresenting what Birch actually did: </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>Welch claims the killing was cold-blooded. William Miller of <i>Life</i> feels it was hot-blooded. According to Miller, Birch was provoked at being held up and disarmed by the Reds. At one point, he got very angry, seized a Red officer by the collar, and cried, "You are worse than bandits!" And they shot him.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Edward Cain<sup id="cite_ref-Cain_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Cain-20">[17]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:75</sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="In_the_post-WWII_world">In the post-WWII world</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: In the post-WWII world">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>The old American virtues have already been eaten away by cosmopolitans and intellectuals; the old competitive capitalism has been gradually undermined by socialistic and communistic schemers; the old national security and independence have been destroyed by treasonous plots, having as their most powerful agents not merely outsiders and foreigners as of old but major statesmen who are at the very centers of American power. Their predecessors had discovered conspiracies; the modern radical right finds conspiracy to be betrayal from on high.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—<a href="/wiki/Richard_Hofstadter" title="Richard Hofstadter">Richard Hofstadter</a>, "The Paranoid Style in America Politics"<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21">[18]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The JBS was founded in 1958, after Welch had already established his <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theories" class="mw-redirect" title="Conspiracy theories">conspiracist</a> mindset.<sup id="cite_ref-politician_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-politician-5">[4]</a></sup> JBS has claimed that then President Eisenhower was an "agent of the Communist conspiracy" (simply for talking to the Soviet Union as opposed to starting <a href="/wiki/World_War_III" title="World War III">World War III</a>). Welch expounded on this <a href="/wiki/Bullshit" title="Bullshit">bullshit</a> at book length in <i>The Politician</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-politician2_7-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-politician2-7">[6]</a></sup> "Birchers", as they were known, wrote a lot of letters during their early years on various scare issues, such as opposition to summits between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and keeping <a href="/wiki/Water_fluoridation" title="Water fluoridation">fluoride out of the water supply</a>, from which it could <a href="/wiki/Dr._Strangelove" title="Dr. Strangelove">enter our precious bodily fluids and corrupt our purity of essence</a>. The Birchers were frequent promoters of <a href="/wiki/Moral_panic" title="Moral panic">moral panics</a> on everything from the <a href="/wiki/Panama" title="Panama">Panama</a> Canal treaties to the <a href="/wiki/Nuclear_disarmament" title="Nuclear disarmament">nuclear weapons disarmament</a> movement. All of these were claimed by Birchers to be part of the communist movement to undermine American security. Birchers shared cross-membership and tactics with early <a href="/wiki/Religious_Right" title="Religious Right">Religious Right</a> groups like <a href="/wiki/Billy_James_Hargis" title="Billy James Hargis">Billy James Hargis</a>'s "Christian Crusade."<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:100,144,157</sup> </p><p>The JBS was not only anti-Communist, but critical of government in general as well, and claimed that <a href="/wiki/Good_old_days" title="Good old days">America was the greatest in 1900</a>: </p> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>There was still plenty of <a href="/wiki/Poverty" title="Poverty">poverty</a> in many areas, of course. But, it was a healthy kind of poverty, where every man took for granted that relief from dire want was entirely his own problem and responsibility. And, even the poverty was thus offset by the enormous blessing of <a href="/wiki/Freedom" class="mw-redirect" title="Freedom">freedom</a>.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—John Birch Society Bulletin, July 1976.</cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Their tactics quickly alienated the mainstream American <a href="/wiki/Conservative" class="mw-redirect" title="Conservative">conservatives</a>; years later, <a href="/wiki/William_F._Buckley" title="William F. Buckley">William F. Buckley</a> wrote an article on how he, <a href="/wiki/Barry_Goldwater" title="Barry Goldwater">Barry Goldwater</a>, Russell Kirk, and a bunch of <a href="/wiki/PR" class="mw-redirect" title="PR">PR</a> people did some very delicate maneuvering so that the Goldwater campaign could denounce the John Birch Society without losing the votes of the society's members, with Goldwater eventually stating, "We cannot allow the emblem of irresponsibility to attach to the conservative banner."<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22">[19]</a></sup> Behind the scenes at <i>National Review</i>, Buckley did not want to alienate the substantial JBS readership and debated how to criticize JBS without doing so. The <i>National Review</i> even had JBS contributors at that time (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Manion" class="extiw" title="wp:Clarence Manion" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Clarence Manion">Clarence Manion</span></a>).<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> In the end, Buckley and Goldwater met and decided to denounce Welch as an extremist but to absurdly claim that Birchers were "nice people".<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:112-113</sup><sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24">[note 4]</a></sup> </p><p>Nevertheless, they were out campaigning on Goldwater's behalf; during the 1964 campaign, Birchers mastered the tactic of mass distribution of cheap paperbacks, and three in particular: <i>None Dare Call It Treason</i> by John Stormer, <i>A Texan Looks At Lyndon</i> by J. Evetts Haley, and <i>A Choice, Not An Echo</i> by <a href="/wiki/Phyllis_Schlafly" title="Phyllis Schlafly">Phyllis Schlafly</a> (who was a member<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25">[21]</a></sup>). One can find multiple copies of all three at your local thrift store, most of them still unread. </p><p>They did the same thing in 1972 with a little book called <i>None Dare Call It Conspiracy</i> by Gary Allen, which posited the <a href="/wiki/Conspiracy_theory" title="Conspiracy theory">conspiracy theory</a> that the <a href="/wiki/Environmental" class="mw-redirect" title="Environmental">environmental</a> movement, the <a href="/wiki/Pacifism" title="Pacifism">peace</a> movement, <a href="/wiki/Feminism" title="Feminism">women's libbers</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Mainstream_media" title="Mainstream media">mainstream media</a>, international <a href="/wiki/Red-baiting" title="Red-baiting">Soviet Communism</a>, the <a href="/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>, and the Book of the Month Club (no mention of water fluoridation though, surprisingly) were <a href="/wiki/Not_even_wrong" title="Not even wrong">all in cahoots with the Rockefellers</a><sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26">[note 5]</a></sup> who sought to control the world through the <a href="/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations" title="Council on Foreign Relations">Council on Foreign Relations</a>. Somewhere around this point, the Birchers morphed from being mostly concerned with militant anti-communism into a group more concerned with exposing <i>The Conspiracy</i>. </p><p>The JBS has been repeatedly dogged by charges of antisemitism, being compelled to deny it in 1964<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27">[22]</a></sup> and again in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28">[23]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-clear_29-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-clear-29">[24]</a></sup> Why, <a href="/wiki/Friend_argument" title="Friend argument">some of their members are even Jews</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-clear_29-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-clear-29">[24]</a></sup> Yet their publication, <i>The New American</i>, returns again and again to the <a href="/wiki/Evil_Jew" title="Evil Jew">evil Jew</a> <a href="/wiki/Stereotype" title="Stereotype">stereotype</a> with the <a href="/wiki/Rothschild_family" title="Rothschild family">Rothschild family</a> conspiracy theory, including smearing <a href="/wiki/George_Soros" title="George Soros">George Soros</a>, e.g. 2011,<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30">[25]</a></sup> 2016,<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31">[26]</a></sup> and 2018.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32">[27]</a></sup> All these charges of anti-semitism are no doubt insidious lies spread by the Joos. </p><p>The Birchers' favored term for the "conspiracy" was the <a href="/wiki/New_World_Order" title="New World Order">New World Order</a> (which included the <a href="/wiki/Council_on_Foreign_Relations" title="Council on Foreign Relations">Council on Foreign Relations</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Trilateral_Commission" title="Trilateral Commission">Trilateral Commission</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Illuminati" title="Illuminati">Illuminati</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:233</sup>). Not surprisingly, their rapidly falling membership in the 1970s and 1980s turned around after 1990 when <a href="/wiki/George_H.W._Bush" class="mw-redirect" title="George H.W. Bush">George H.W. Bush</a> in an act of ill-advised stupidity used that very phrase in a speech.<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33">[28]</a></sup> This gave the Birchers a new lease on life during the 1990s. During that time, New World Order conspiracy theories took outlandish and bizarre directions, ranging from tales of <a href="/wiki/Black_helicopters" title="Black helicopters">black helicopters</a> to <a href="/wiki/David_Icke" title="David Icke">shape-shifting reptilians</a>, the Birchers staked out a position of relative moderation among the lunatic <a href="/wiki/Fringe" title="Fringe">fringe</a> and warned against acceptance of these more outlandish theories while promoting the New World Order theory as laid out in Gary Allen's 1972 book as being a <a href="/wiki/Liberal" class="mw-redirect" title="Liberal">liberal</a>-<a href="/wiki/Secularist" class="mw-redirect" title="Secularist">secularist</a> <a href="/wiki/Rockefeller_conspiracy_theories" title="Rockefeller conspiracy theories">conspiracy led by the Rockefellers</a> and other high financiers to bring about a socialist world government… again. </p><p>Arguably the Society's greatest claim to fame came in 1983, when <a href="/wiki/Korean_Air_Lines_Flight_007" title="Korean Air Lines Flight 007">Korean Air Lines Flight 007</a> was shot down by a Soviet interceptor after straying into Soviet airspace. The flight was carrying <a href="/wiki/Georgia" title="Georgia">Georgia</a> Congressional Representative Larry McDonald,<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35">[note 6]</a></sup> who also happened to be the Society's second president. It being one of several incidents that nearly started <a href="/wiki/WWIII" class="mw-redirect" title="WWIII">WWIII</a>, the fact that it didn't was taken by JBS's <i>New American</i> magazine as proof of the extent of Communist power over the US government. This really said more for <a href="/wiki/Ronald_Reagan" title="Ronald Reagan">Ronald Reagan</a> keeping a cool head, and now that Reagan has been anointed a saint by the American Right for single-handedly destroying the Soviet Union, the whole affair <a href="/wiki/Memory_hole" class="mw-redirect" title="Memory hole">never gets mentioned any more</a>. </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy">Assassination of John F. Kennedy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Assassination of John F. Kennedy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:167px;"><a href="/wiki/File:JFKtreason.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="/w/images/thumb/2/24/JFKtreason.jpg/165px-JFKtreason.jpg" decoding="async" width="165" height="229" class="thumbimage" srcset="/w/images/thumb/2/24/JFKtreason.jpg/248px-JFKtreason.jpg 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/2/24/JFKtreason.jpg/330px-JFKtreason.jpg 2x" data-file-width="377" data-file-height="524" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:JFKtreason.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>The handbill in question</div></div></div> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/John_F._Kennedy_assassination_conspiracy_theories" title="John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories">John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracy theories</a></div> <p>A day before <a href="/wiki/John_F._Kennedy" title="John F. Kennedy">John F. Kennedy</a>'s assassination, a handbill was circulated by Robert A. Surrey. Surrey was a close associate of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_A._Walker" class="extiw" title="wp:Edwin A. Walker" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Edwin A. Walker">General Edwin A. Walker</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup><sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36">[30]</a></sup> a JBS member.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:73</sup> Kennedy had been a target of character assassination by the JBS from the time that he entered politics. After the assassination on November 22, 1963, members of the JBS feared that it was one of their members who had committed the murder and they feared that it would be the end of their organization. The JBS's forthcoming December issue of <i>American Opinion</i> was highly critical of JFK, and hence the JBS delayed its publication. When it was revealed that the assassin was <a href="/wiki/Lee_Harvey_Oswald" title="Lee Harvey Oswald">Lee Harvey Oswald</a>, an admitted <a href="/wiki/Marxist" class="mw-redirect" title="Marxist">Marxist</a>, the JBS was relieved if not overjoyed, subsequently exploiting Oswald-as-Marxist for a fundraising and recruitment, and by devising conspiracy theories about the assassination.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:105-108</sup> </p> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Radicalization">Radicalization</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Radicalization">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <p>Welch tried to keep the JBS tightly controlled, keeping out members who espoused overt <a href="/wiki/Racism" title="Racism">racism</a> or antisemitism, but as the organization grew during the 1960s, that became increasingly difficult. With chapter sizes always being capped at a 20-member maximum, many chapters began to exercise more independence. Another problem was that Welch himself was never particularly <a href="/wiki/Reality" title="Reality">reality</a>-based, having a conspiracist <a href="/wiki/Worldview" title="Worldview">worldview</a>. By 1966, substantial disputes existed between JBS headquarters and individual chapters, resulting in Welch traveling across the country, trying to resolve disputes at individual chapters.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:178-179</sup> Every chapter head was then required to force new recruits to listen to almost 9 hours of Welch's recording of his conspiracies ("One Dozen Trumpets") over two consecutive days.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:179</sup> In 1971, JBS had a known Klansman (Roger Mellinger) and his wife as members; the JBS feared that they were too dangerous to confront or expel.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:182</sup> </p><p>Violence became more common within membership, and some members either used the JBS as a stepping stone into more extremist organizations or they formed their own.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:180-182</sup> Some examples:<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:181</sup> </p> <ul><li>Donald Lobsinger for the group Breakthrough in Detroit, which worked alongside the JBS. Breakthrough offered a $1000 reward for a citizens arrest of Michigan Republican Governor <a href="/wiki/George_Romney" title="George Romney">George Romney</a> and threatened to <a href="/wiki/Lynch" class="mw-redirect" title="Lynch">lynch</a> African Americans</li> <li>Louis Byers formed the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Youth_Alliance" class="extiw" title="wp:National Youth Alliance" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: National Youth Alliance">National Youth Alliance</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> which was funded by <a href="/wiki/Willis_Carto" title="Willis Carto">Willis Carto</a> who had also been a Bircher.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:201</sup> NYA called for 'smashing the state' and 'death to the establishment'.</li></ul> <h3><span class="mw-headline" id="Alt-med">Alt-med</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Alt-med">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h3> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Alternative_medicine" title="Alternative medicine">Alternative medicine</a></div> <p>Staring in the 1970s, the JBS expanded its alt-med promotion from opposing water fluoridation to <a href="/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement" title="Anti-vaccination movement">opposing vaccination</a> and supporting <a href="/wiki/Laetrile" title="Laetrile">laetrile</a> as a <a href="/wiki/Cancer" title="Cancer">cancer</a> treatment.<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37">[31]</a></sup> Urologist Larry McDonald and <a href="/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul">Ron Paul</a> were the only medical doctors in Congress, and also the only two members who voted against funding for an <a href="/wiki/Influenza" class="mw-redirect" title="Influenza">influenza</a> vaccine.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:254</sup> McDonald even introduced legislation to try to legitimize laetrile,<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38">[32]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Today">Today</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Today">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="thumb tright"><div class="thumbinner" style="width:302px;"><a href="/wiki/File:USOutOfUN.jpg" class="image"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/USOutOfUN.jpg/300px-USOutOfUN.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="279" class="thumbimage" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/USOutOfUN.jpg/450px-USOutOfUN.jpg 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/USOutOfUN.jpg/600px-USOutOfUN.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1856" data-file-height="1728" /></a> <div class="thumbcaption"><div class="magnify"><a href="/wiki/File:USOutOfUN.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge"></a></div>)}, and overshadowed by <a href="/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul">Ron Paulism</a></div></div></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>It is estimated, from <a href="/wiki/Anonymous_authority" class="mw-redirect" title="Anonymous authority">many reliable sources</a>, that from 70% to 90% of the responsible personnel in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare are Communists.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—JBS exposing the <a href="/wiki/Commie" class="mw-redirect" title="Commie">commie</a> agenda using <a href="/wiki/Schlafly_statistics" class="mw-redirect" title="Schlafly statistics">Schlafly statistics</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39">[33]</a></sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Their current whereabouts, alas, are unknown.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40">[note 7]</a></sup> File them in the "where are they now" pile next to <i>This Is Spinal Tap</i> and <i>The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo</i>. </p><p>The John Birch Society does still exist. Today, they are most worried about threats to US sovereignty, most particularly the (never actually proposed) <a href="/wiki/North_American_Union" title="North American Union">union between the US, Canada, and Mexico</a>. They are also adamantly opposed to <a href="/wiki/Free_trade" title="Free trade">free trade</a>, immigration, and the <a href="/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>. </p><p>The society has been linked to 1988’s failed <a href="/wiki/California" class="mw-redirect" title="California">California</a> Proposition 102, which required anyone who tested positive for <a href="/wiki/HIV" class="mw-redirect" title="HIV">HIV</a> to be reported to the government and their sexual contacts investigated. It also would have erased laws against compulsory testing.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41">[34]</a></sup> Conservatives sure do treat HIV differently than they do Covid-19, don't they? </p><p>Recently, they have aligned themselves with the <a href="/wiki/Tea_Party" class="mw-redirect" title="Tea Party">Tea Party</a> movement, and they are even co-sponsoring the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC),<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42">[35]</a></sup> the largest conservative conference in the US (this probably says more about <a href="/wiki/GOP" class="mw-redirect" title="GOP">modern conservatism</a> in the US than it does about the JBS). They have a web site where they push every right-wing conspiracy theory you can think of while trying to pass themselves off as <a href="/wiki/Small_government" title="Small government">small government</a> conservatives, though they quickly give themselves away as fairly <a href="/wiki/Authoritarian" class="mw-redirect" title="Authoritarian">authoritarian</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43">[36]</a></sup> The JBS has long been considered authoritarian.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:101</sup> </p><p>Their website includes links to their major projects" "Stop a Con-Con" (opposition to a constitutional convention), leaving <a href="/wiki/NAFTA" class="mw-redirect" title="NAFTA">NAFTA</a>, leaving <a href="/wiki/United_Nations" title="United Nations">United Nations</a>, and to stopping the <a href="/wiki/Myth" title="Myth">chimeric</a> <a href="/wiki/North_American_Union" title="North American Union">North American Union</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44">[37]</a></sup> Their magazine, <i>The New American</i>, continues and they are also affiliated with FreedomProject, which pursues a similar agenda while opposing <a href="/wiki/Abortion" title="Abortion">abortion</a> and selling mugs.<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45">[38]</a></sup> As well as the idea that <a href="/wiki/Global_warming" class="mw-redirect" title="Global warming">global warming</a> is a liberal media conspiracy,<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46">[39]</a></sup> they also promote more esoteric conspiracy theories, such as that <a href="/wiki/Karl_Marx" title="Karl Marx">Karl Marx</a> was only a front for a secret organisation, The League of the Just.<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47">[40]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48">[note 8]</a></sup> Some things never change… </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Cultish_aspects">Cultish aspects</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Cultish aspects">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div role="note" class="hatnote">See the main article on this topic: <a href="/wiki/Cult" title="Cult">Cult</a></div> <table style="margin: auto; border-collapse:collapse; border-style:none; background-color:transparent;" class="cquote"> <tbody><tr> <td><div style="padding:4px 50px;position:relative;"><span style="position:absolute;left:10px;top:-6px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">“</span><span style="position:absolute;right:10px;bottom:-20px;z-index:1;font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;font-weight:bold;color:#B2B7F2;font-size:36px">”</span>I will fight these atheistic diabolical corrupt mass inslavers<small><sup>[<span title="short for: sic erat scriptum ('thus was it written'), meaning that it is intentionally spelled here like it was originally transcribed or translated from" style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><i>sic</i></span>]</sup></small> with my every heartbeat and every fibre of my bein<small><sup>[<span title="short for: sic erat scriptum ('thus was it written'), meaning that it is intentionally spelled here like it was originally transcribed or translated from" style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><i>sic</i></span>]</sup></small> and spread the knowledge to everyone I meet.</div> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding:4px 10px 8px;font-size:smaller;line-height:1.6em;text-align:right;"><cite style="font-style:normal;position:relative;z-index:2">—Anthony Ferlanto, shortly after attending a recruitment meeting<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:240</sup></cite> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Several aspects of the JBS indicate that it is a cult: the insistence on "a tough dictatorial boss" (himself) for leadership (according to Welch), secrecy, paranoia, conspiracy theories, closed 1- to 2-day meetings of like-minded individuals, the barring of anyone who offered any disagreement during meetings, front groups, and the notion that only they can offer salvation from communism.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:38,41,44,48-50,57,197,216-217</sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Other_people_and_things_they_hate">Other people and things they hate</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Other people and things they hate">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>As an organization founded by rich and powerful white men, it is unsurprising that anything that does not maintain the US <a href="/wiki/Caste" title="Caste">caste</a> system is basically fair game:<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:67-68,70-72,74,84,90-92,167,197,203-204,213-217</sup> </p> <div class="div-col columns column-count column-count-2" style="-moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Nixon" title="Richard Nixon">Richard Nixon</a> — when he ran for California governor in 1962, and as President for his handling of the <a href="/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">Vietnam War</a>, détente with the Soviet Union and opening relations with what was then called "<a href="/wiki/Communism" title="Communism">Red</a> <a href="/wiki/China" title="China">China</a>"</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Earl_Warren" title="Earl Warren">Earl Warren</a> (appointed by Eisenhower) and the liberal-oriented <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court" class="mw-redirect" title="Supreme Court">Supreme Court</a> that he led <ul><li>Banning <a href="/wiki/School_prayer" class="mw-redirect" title="School prayer">school prayer</a> in <a href="/wiki/Public_schools" class="mw-redirect" title="Public schools">public schools</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Brown_v._Board_of_Education" title="Brown v. Board of Education">Brown v. Board of Education</a></i> (and anything else anti-<a href="/wiki/Segregationist" class="mw-redirect" title="Segregationist">segregationist</a>) — "procommunist"</li></ul></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anti-Defamation_League" title="Anti-Defamation League">Anti-Defamation League</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Earth_Day" title="Earth Day">Earth Day</a> — a commie plot because the first Earth Day was on the 100<sup>th</sup> birthday of <a href="/wiki/Vladimir_Lenin" title="Vladimir Lenin">Vladimir Lenin</a><sup id="cite_ref-49" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-49">[41]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:148</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Equal_Rights_Amendment" title="Equal Rights Amendment">Equal Rights Amendment</a></li> <li>Federal funding of public schools</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Income_tax" title="Income tax">Income tax</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mainstream_media" title="Mainstream media">Mainstream media</a> — commie enablers who exposed the Birchers</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Miranda_warning" title="Miranda warning">Miranda warning</a> — gives rights to criminal suspects</li> <li><a href="/wiki/NAACP" title="NAACP">NAACP</a></li> <li>Peace signs — symbol of the <a href="/wiki/Antichrist" title="Antichrist">Antichrist</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sex_education" title="Sex education">Sex education</a> in public schools</li></ul></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Legacy">Legacy</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Legacy">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>While the JBS has faded as an organization, the ideas that it has promoted within the fringes of the Republican Party have not, inspiring:<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:16,213,223-224,231-234,249-250,253-256,258-262,266,271-282</sup> </p> <div class="div-col columns column-count column-count-2" style="-moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anti-vaccination_movement" title="Anti-vaccination movement">Anti-vaccination movement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michele_Bachmann" title="Michele Bachmann">Michele Bachmann</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glenn_Beck" title="Glenn Beck">Glenn Beck</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pat_Buchanan" title="Pat Buchanan">Pat Buchanan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/George_H._W._Bush" title="George H. W. Bush">George H. W. Bush</a> and <a href="/wiki/George_W._Bush" title="George W. Bush">George W. Bush</a> — during campaigning but not during their presidencies</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jerome_Corsi" title="Jerome Corsi">Jerome Corsi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/COVID-19_denialism" title="COVID-19 denialism">COVID-19 denialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jerry_Falwell_Sr." title="Jerry Falwell Sr.">Jerry Falwell Sr.</a>'s <a href="/wiki/Moral_Majority" title="Moral Majority">Moral Majority</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marjorie_Taylor_Greene" title="Marjorie Taylor Greene">Marjorie Taylor Greene</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alex_Jones" title="Alex Jones">Alex Jones</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/National_Rifle_Association" title="National Rifle Association">National Rifle Association</a> — its radicalization in the mid-1960s against any form of <a href="/wiki/Gun_control" title="Gun control">gun control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sarah_Palin" title="Sarah Palin">Sarah Palin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul">Ron Paul</a> — "I have a lot of friends in the John Birch Society. They’re generally well educated, and they understand the Constitution. I don’t know how many positions they would have that I don’t agree with. Because they’re real strict constitutionalists, they don’t like the war, they’re hard-money people…"<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50">[42]</a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pat_Robertson" title="Pat Robertson">Pat Robertson</a> and his <a href="/wiki/Christian_Coalition" title="Christian Coalition">Christian Coalition</a></li> <li>Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a></li></ul></div> <p>The JBS fostered a fundraising network that continues to this day, as <a href="/wiki/Hillary_Clinton" title="Hillary Clinton">Hillary Clinton</a> later coined it, the "<a href="/wiki/Vast_right-wing_conspiracy" class="mw-redirect" title="Vast right-wing conspiracy">vast right-wing conspiracy</a>", which in her case was only in reference to <a href="/wiki/Whitewater" class="mw-redirect" title="Whitewater">Whitewater</a>. In 1963, before John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his White House aide Myer "Mike" Feldman wrote in an internal report that the likely winning tactic in winning the 1964 election was attacking far-right groups such as the JBS. Regarding far-right funding, Feldman wrote that the groups raised between $15-25 million annually ($146-243 million inflation adjusted to 2023) from 70 foundations, 250 individuals and more than 100 corporations. Feldman also wrote, "The Conservative Right and the Radical Right, in short, often make common cause, and if the conservatives are not card-carrying Birchers and do not — for instance — advocate the impeachment of the Chief Justice [Warren], they deplore the same Supreme Court decisions as those who do."<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:101-103</sup> </p><p>The election of Trump in 2016, along with the dark money political donations fueled by the 2010 <a href="/wiki/Supreme_Court" class="mw-redirect" title="Supreme Court">Supreme Court</a>'s <i><a href="/wiki/Citizens_United_v._Federal_Election_Commission" title="Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission">Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission</a></i> decision enabled the takeover of the GOP by JBS- and Tea Party-inspired members of the radical right.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:283-284</sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Pop_culture_references">Pop culture references</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Pop culture references">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li>In 1961, the Chad Mitchell Trio, one of many folk groups of the era, recorded the novelty track <i>The John Birch Society Song</i> which lampooned the organization.</li> <li>In 1962, Bob Dylan did likewise with <i>Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues</i>.</li> <li>Cartoonist Walt Kelly created "The Jack Acid Society" in several story arcs in his comic strip <i>Pogo</i>. The strips were collected, along with some original pieces, and published in 1962 as <i>The Jack Acid Society Black Book</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51">[43]</a></sup></li> <li>The 1971 film <i>Cold Turkey</i> has a scene where members of the "Christopher Mott Society" are listening to a phonographic record of a speech by a right-wing pundit.</li> <li>Paul Simon's solo version of "A Simple Desultory Philippic" includes the line "I've been John Birched, been stopped and searched."</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Other_members_of_note">Other members of note</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Other members of note">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="div-col columns column-count column-count-2" style="-moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;"> <ul><li>G. Edward Griffin — founder of the <a href="/wiki/Quack" class="mw-redirect" title="Quack">quack</a> <a href="/wiki/Cancer_Cure_Foundation" title="Cancer Cure Foundation">Cancer Cure Foundation</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:163,262</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Billy_James_Hargis" title="Billy James Hargis">Billy James Hargis</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:100,144,157,201,213</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Timothy_LaHaye" title="Timothy LaHaye">Timothy LaHaye</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:215,232</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meir_Kahane" class="mw-redirect" title="Meir Kahane">Meir Kahane</a>, founder of the <a href="/wiki/Jewish_Defense_League" title="Jewish Defense League">Jewish Defense League</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:279,349n19</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Lane" title="David Lane">David Lane</a> (briefly a member)<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52">[44]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:64</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Minutemen" title="Minutemen">Minutemen</a> — founded by former Bircher Robert DePugh</li> <li><a href="/wiki/David_Noebel" title="David Noebel">David Noebel</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:266</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_Luther_Pierce" title="William Luther Pierce">William Luther Pierce</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lew_Rockwell" title="Lew Rockwell">Lew Rockwell</a> — lifetime member, and former writer for the Bircher "Members Monthly Message Department". He resigned the office job after a supervisor called his work "sloppy… lacks imagination".<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:254</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/R.J._Rushdoony" class="mw-redirect" title="R.J. Rushdoony">R.J. Rushdoony</a> — Perhaps not a member, but he befriended Welch and praised the organization.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:216</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/W._Cleon_Skousen" title="W. Cleon Skousen">W. Cleon Skousen</a><sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:130,169,262</sup></li></ul></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="See_also">See also</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: See also">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="div-col columns column-count column-count-2" style="-moz-column-count: 2; -webkit-column-count: 2; column-count: 2;"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/A_Choice_Not_an_Echo" title="A Choice Not an Echo">A Choice Not an Echo</a></i>, a propaganda piece published by Birch Society alumni <a href="/wiki/Phyllis_Schlafly" title="Phyllis Schlafly">Phyllis Schlafly</a> that catapulted <a href="/wiki/Barry_Goldwater" title="Barry Goldwater">Barry Goldwater</a> to the Republican nomination</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bob_Jones_University" title="Bob Jones University">Bob Jones University</a> had ties to JBS.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:219</sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Know_Nothing" title="Know Nothing">Know Nothing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberty_Lobby" title="Liberty Lobby">Liberty Lobby</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Minutemen_(organization)" class="mw-redirect" title="Minutemen (organization)">Minutemen (organization)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paleoconservatism" title="Paleoconservatism">Paleoconservatism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kevin_Alfred_Strom" title="Kevin Alfred Strom">Kevin Alfred Strom</a>, previously a member</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fred_Trump" title="Fred Trump">Fred Trump</a>, an alleged funder of JBS</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vault-Co" title="Vault-Co">Vault-Co</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_on_Christmas" title="War on Christmas">War on Christmas</a>, the JBS were the originators of this <a href="/wiki/Meme" title="Meme">meme</a>.</li></ul></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li>At <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>: <ul><li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:John_Birch_Society" class="extiw" title="wp:Category:John Birch Society" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Category:John Birch Society">John Birch Society category page at Wikipedia</span></a>:<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> Links to WP articles about several people with ties to the John Birch Society, plus other related articles;</li> <li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:John_Birch_Society_members" class="extiw" title="wp:Category:John Birch Society members" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Category:John Birch Society members">Another category page with links to biographical articles about card-carrying Birchers</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></li></ul></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.jbs.org/index.php">Their homepage</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJohnBirchSociety">Their YouTube channel, with copious amounts of red scare propaganda!</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.thenewamerican.com"><i>The New American</i></a>, their magazine</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lecAy-3Qtxk&feature=plcp">Robert Welch "predicts" the coming commie takeover.</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/groups/john-birch-society">Right Wing Watch's category for the JBS</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AylFqdxRMwE">Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues</a> by Bob Dylan</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://birchwatcher.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/whats_wrong_with_civil_rights.png">"What's Wrong With Civil Rights"</a>, newspaper article alleging that the civil rights movement was created by the commies in order to create a Negro Soviet Republic.<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53">[45]</a></sup> See also <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://youtu.be/T6UAgm3cgIs">"Anarchy USA"</a>, a similar 1hr15mins+ Cold War propaganda film produced by the Society against Civil Rights.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ernie1241.googlepages.com/jbs-1">FBI Files on John Birch Society</a></li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Notes">Notes</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Notes">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="font-size:90%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Actually a lengthy screed</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-11">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Pronounced "grady",<sup id="cite_ref-whs_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-whs-10">[9]</a></sup> not "greed" as one might expect.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-13">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Pronounced "coke", not "cock" as one might expect</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-24">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">The similar claim would later be regurgitated by <a href="/wiki/Donald_Trump" title="Donald Trump">Donald Trump</a> that similar claim that while the <a href="/wiki/Enthymeme" title="Enthymeme">leaders might be nuts</a>, the followers are "very fine people" with regard to neo-Nazis at <a href="/wiki/Unite_the_Right" title="Unite the Right">Unite the Right</a> <a href="/wiki/Enthymeme" title="Enthymeme">because we need their votes</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23">[20]</a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-26">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="/wiki/Nelson_Rockefeller" title="Nelson Rockefeller">Nelson Rockefeller</a> was a commie according to Welch.<sup id="cite_ref-dallek_3-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-dallek-3">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="white-space:nowrap;">:127</sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-35">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Besides being a JBS member, he kept a portrait of <a href="/wiki/Francisco_Franco" title="Francisco Franco">Francisco Franco</a> hanging in his office, he said that <a href="/wiki/Nazi" class="mw-redirect" title="Nazi">Nazi</a> <a href="/wiki/War_criminal" class="mw-redirect" title="War criminal">war criminal</a> <a href="/wiki/Rudolf_Hess" title="Rudolf Hess">Rudolf Hess</a> should be nominated for a <a href="/wiki/Nobel_Peace_Prize" class="mw-redirect" title="Nobel Peace Prize">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, and he was a former urologist who promoted the use of <a href="/wiki/Laetrile" title="Laetrile">laetrile</a> for cancer treatment.<sup id="cite_ref-" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-">[29]</a></sup> Despite this, he was not forced out of the JBS.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-40">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Some can still be found in <a href="/wiki/New_Hampshire" class="mw-redirect" title="New Hampshire">New Hampshire</a> campaigning for the <a href="/wiki/Constitution_Party" title="Constitution Party">Constitution Party</a>, or at least in 2008, for <a href="/wiki/Ron_Paul" title="Ron Paul">Ron Paul</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-48">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Definitely <i>not</i> the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League" class="extiw" title="wp:Justice League" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Justice League">Justice League</span></a>.<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://bobdylan.com/songs/talkin-john-birch-paranoid-blues/">Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues</a> <i>Bob Dylan</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Rabble Rousers: The American Far Right in the Civil Rights Era</i> by Clive Webb (2010) University of Georgia Press. ISBN 0820327646.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-dallek-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-0">3.00</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-1">3.01</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-2">3.02</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-3">3.03</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-4">3.04</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-5">3.05</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-6">3.06</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-7">3.07</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-8">3.08</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-9">3.09</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-10">3.10</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-11">3.11</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-12">3.12</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-13">3.13</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-14">3.14</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-15">3.15</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-16">3.16</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-17">3.17</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-18">3.18</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-19">3.19</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-20">3.20</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-21">3.21</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-22">3.22</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-23">3.23</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-24">3.24</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-25">3.25</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-26">3.26</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-27">3.27</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-28">3.28</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-29">3.29</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-30">3.30</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-31">3.31</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-32">3.32</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-33">3.33</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-34">3.34</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-35">3.35</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-36">3.36</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-37">3.37</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-38">3.38</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-39">3.39</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-40">3.40</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-41">3.41</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-42">3.42</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-43">3.43</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-dallek_3-44">3.44</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right</i> by Matthew Dallek (2023) Basic Books. ISBN 1541673565.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-politician-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-politician_5-0">4.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-politician_5-1">4.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/welchrobertthepoliticianmanuscript/mode/2up"><i>The Politician</i></a> by Robert Welch (1950s manuscript).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Politician</i> by Robert Welch (1964) Belmont Pub. Co.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-politician2-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-politician2_7-0">6.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-politician2_7-1">6.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/WelchRobertThePoliticianALookAtThePoliticalForcesThatPropelledDwightDavidEisenhowerIntoThePresi/page/n5/mode/2up"><i>The Politician</i></a> by Robert Welch (2002 reprint).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-8">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://library.syracuse.edu/digital/guides/s/schuyler_gs.htm">George S. Schuyler Papers</a> <i>Syracuse University</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-9">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">"To Tell All My People": Race, Representation, and John Birch Society Activist Julia Brown by Veronica A. Wilson (2012) In: <i>Women of the Right</i>, edited by Kathleen M. Blee and Sandra McGee Deutsch. Penn State University Press. pp. 242-256. ISBN 9780271061719.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-whs-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-whs_10-0">9.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-whs_10-1">9.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;view=text;rgn=main;didno=uw-whs-mss00341">William J. Grede Papers, 1909-1979</a> <i>Wisconsin Historical Society</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-12">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://sites.google.com/site/ernie1241/"><i>Documentary History of the John Birch Society</i>. Chapter 9: JBS DOCUMENTS...rev. 05/17/14</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-14">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Dark Money: the Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right</i> by Jane Mayer (2016) Doubleday. ISBN 0385535597.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-15">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">""Transatlantic Connections and Conspiracies: A.K. Chesterton and The New Unhappy Lords" by Graham Macklin (2012) <i>Journal of Contemporary History</i> 47(2):270-290. doi:10.1177/0022009411431723.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-16">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/ReviloOliverResignationFromJohnBirchSociety/mode/2up">Revilo Oliver Resignation From John Birch Society</a> (14 August 1966).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-17">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/06-12-82-letter-by-revilo-oliver-to-joseph-kamp-about-oliver-resignation-from-jbs/mode/2up">Letter By Revilo Oliver To Joseph Kamp About Oliver Resignation From Birch Society</a> (12 June 1982).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-18">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Long_Telegram">The Long Telegram</a> by George F. Kennan (1946) <i>Wikisource</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-19">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-long-telegram/">The Long Telegram</a> Teaching American History.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Cain-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-Cain_20-0">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>They'd Rather Be Right: Youth and the Conservative Movement</i> by Edward Cain (1963) Macmillan.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-21">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Hofstader, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/4/">"The Paranoid Style in American Politics"</a>, <i>Harper's Weekly</i> November 1964.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-22">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090903140834/http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_08/019713.php">Drawing the Line</a> by Steve Benen (August 31, 2009) <i>Washington Monthly</i> (archived from September 3, 2009).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-23">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/15/full-text-trump-comments-white-supremacists-alt-left-transcript-241662">Full text: Trump's comments on white supremacists, ‘alt-left’ in Charlottesville</a> (08/15/2017 04:48 PM EDT; Updated 08/15/2017 06:16 PM EDT) <i>Politico</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-25">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/schlafly-in-jbs-bulletin-feb-1960/page/1/mode/2up"><i>John Birch Society Bulletin</i>, February 1960</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-27">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190129040010/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/17/archives/antijewish-bias-denied-by-welch-says-birch-society-will-not-be.html">Anti‐Jewish Bias Denied by Welch; Says Birch Society Will Not Be Haven for Prejudice</a> (May 17, 1964)<i>The New York Times</i> (archived from January 29, 2019).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-28">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190129040635/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/us/26Land.html">Holding Firm Against Plots by Evildoers</a> by Dan Barry (June 25, 2009) <i>The New York Times</i> (archived from January 29, 2019).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-clear-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-clear_29-0">24.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-clear_29-1">24.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190129035549/https://www.jbs.org/more-press-room-articles/item/3255-jewish-members-of-the-john-birch-society-clear-record-of-anti-semitism-charge-of-society%E2%80%99s-president-in-the-new-york-times">Jewish members of The John Birch Society clear record of anti-Semitism charge of Society's President in The New York Times</a> (June 26, 2009) <i>John Birch Society</i> (archived from January 29, 2019).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-30">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130205055510/https://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/commentary/item/4006-george-soros-funded-by-the-house-of-rothschild">George Soros Funded by the House of Rothschild</a> by Joe Wolverton, II (02 May 2011 15:33) <i>The New American</i> (archived from February 5, 2013).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-31">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160805202851/https://www.thenewamerican.com/world-news/europe/item/23793-top-rothschild-bankster-pushes-corrupt-communist-to-lead-un">Top Rothschild Bankster Pushes Corrupt Communist to Lead UN</a> by Alex Newman (04 August 2016) <i>The New American</i> (archived from August 5, 2016).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-32">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180109032505/https://www.thenewamerican.com/print-magazine/item/27869-deep-state-follow-the-rothschild-soros-and-rockefeller-money">Deep State: Follow the Rothschild, Soros, and Rockefeller Money</a> by Alex Newman (08 January 2018) <i>The New American</i> (archived from January 9, 2018).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-33">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://bush41library.tamu.edu/archives/public-papers/2217">Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Persian Gulf Crisis and the Federal Budget Deficit</a> by George H.W. Bush (1990-09-11) <i>George H.W. Bush Presidential Library</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-34">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/12/02/larry-mcdonald-communists-deep-state-222726">The Congressman Who Created His Own Deep State. Really. When he feared communists were infiltrating America, Larry McDonald took extreme measures — building his own intelligence-gathering arm.</a> by Zach Dorfman (December 02, 2018) <i>Politico</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-36">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060222014429/http://www.jfk-assassination.de:80/warren/wcr/page298.php">Warren Commission Report: Page 298</a> <i>The John F. Kennedy Assassination Homepage</i> (archived from February 22, 2006).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-37">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/05/archives/rightists-are-linked-to-laetriles-lobby-but-backers-of-purported.html">Rightists Are Linked to Laetrile Lobby</a> by Richard D. Lyons (July 5, 1977) <i>The New York Times</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-38">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/96th-congress/house-bill/4045">H.R.4045 - A bill to permit the introduction or delivery for introduction of laetrile into interstate commerce without the approval of a new drug application under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 96th Congress (1979-1980)</a> by Rep. McDonald, Lawrence P. (D-GA-7), <i>Congress.gov</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-39">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://youtu.be/-RJsEPMOHzQ?t=444">Rachel Maddow's rebuttal to the John Birch Society</a>, available via <a href="/wiki/YouTube" title="YouTube">YouTube</a>. Also available <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/stream/foia_JBS_Report--combined/JBS_Report--combined_djvu.txt">here</a>, courtesy of the <a href="/wiki/Internet_Archive" title="Internet Archive">Internet Archive</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-41">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/advocate-45/2012/08/21/45-biggest-homophobes-our-45-years?page=full">The 45 Biggest Homophobes of Our 45 Years</a> by Lucas Grindley (August 21 2012 5:00 AM EST) <i>The Advocate</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-42">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100220092332/http://www.thedailybeast.com:80/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-16/return-of-the-gop-ultra-crazies/">Return of the Fright Wing</a> by John Avlon (February 16, 2010 | 10:32pm) <i>The Daily Beast</i> (archived from February 20, 2010).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-43">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130726154740/http://www.jbs.org/presidents-corner/presidents-corner-april-2011">President's Corner - April 2011</a> by John F. McManus (April 2011) <i>The John Birch Society</i> (archived from July 26, 2013).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-44">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180530004727/https://www.jbs.org/">The John Birch Society</a> (archived from May 30, 2018).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-45">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.freedomproject.com/">Freedom Project</a>, accessed May 22, 2018</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-46">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thenewamerican.com/tech/environment/item/29094-mainstream-media-completely-ignores-global-cooling-data">Mainstream Media Completely Ignores Global-cooling Data</a>, The New American, May 21, 2018</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-47">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.thenewamerican.com/print-magazine/item/28997-karl-marx-the-father-of-communism">Karl Marx — The Father of Communism?</a> by Steve Byas (May 21, 2018) <i>The New American</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-49">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices</i> by Roger Chapman (2010) M. E. Sharpe. ISBN 1849727139.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-50">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/magazine/22Paul-t.html">The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul</a> by Christopher Caldwell (July 22, 2007) <i>The New York Times</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-51">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Jack Acid Society Black Book</i> by Walt Kelly (1962) Simon & Schuster.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-52">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Danger Extremism: The Major Vehicles and Voices on America's Far-Right Fringe</i> by Alan M. Schwartz (1996) Anti-Defamation League. ISBN 0884641694.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-53">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text">Clearly, <a href="/wiki/RationalWiki" title="RationalWiki">RationalWiki</a> touched a nerve here: the <i>Palm Beach Post</i> archive on Google Newspapers used to host an advert by the John Birch society (see <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.is/68ms">archived</a>): However, this has since been removed.</span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&oldid=2715283">https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=John_Birch_Society&oldid=2715283</a>"</div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Silver-level_articles" 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