On a cloudy, cold day in December 1958, a small group of wealthy businessmen met in Indianapolis and formed a new organization. They called it the John Birch Society. Their mission was to educate the American public about the communist conspiracy they believed had infiltrated the United States.

“Founder Robert Welch conveyed a deep sense of grievance and anger,” says Matthew Dallek, author and professor of political management at George Washington University. Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right “The message was very strong: You are losing your country to traitors, and they are not just any traitors, they are actually the traitors within you.”

G. Edward Griffin was 29 years old when he first heard of the John Birch Society. “I came across a booklet they distributed. United Nations Hoaxor something like that,” he told Radio Diaries. Griffin was skeptical at first, but after further reading he became convinced that the United Nations was a threat to US sovereignty and joined the John Birch Society in 1960.

The association grew as a grassroots organization that encouraged individual members to recruit members from their own neighborhoods. American View Bookstores began to open in towns and cities all over the country, selling films, pamphlets and books. No One Dares to Call This Betrayal By John A. Stormer and Griffin The Terrible Master: A Second Look at the United Nations.

Family gatherings in the basement

Catherine Siegel and Charlotte Meehan remember community meetings held in the finished basement of their family home. Their father, James Edward Meehan, was a local chapter leader first in Bridgeport, Connecticut and later in Long Island, NY. Their mother was also an active member.

“The ’60s were a time when there were a lot of strange things going on in society, and it totally freaked them out,” Siegel recalls.

The sisters were both honored by Martin Luther King Jr. and we were taught that Fred Rogers was a communist. “Our father had some kind of paranoia,” Meehan said. “He had the feeling that there were a lot of enemies out there.”

Association meetings covered a wide range of topics. They argued that water fluoridation pioneered socialized medicine; that the Civil Rights Movement was a conspiracy orchestrated by the Kremlin; and that Chief Justice Earl Warren should be removed from office.

The association harshly criticized many of the Warren court’s decisions: protecting the First Amendment rights of communists; banning school prayer in public schools; With its decision, it paves the way for the elimination of racial discrimination. Brown v. Board of Education.

As society became more visible, their political influence also increased. Members began running for office, from local school boards to the U.S. House of Representatives.

The John Birch Society was becoming a household name.

1964 Republican National Convention

“1964 was a moment of hope for the Birch Community,” Dallek writes in his book. Birch trees. Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was running for president, and Republicans from across the country met at the Cow Palace in California for the GOP National Convention.

Goldwater was a businessman who disdained the federal income tax, big government, and foreign aid. His campaign focused on lawlessness in major cities and talked about the importance of “moral” leadership.

Although their values ​​were the same as those of the Birch Society, Goldwater had a difficult relationship with them. He wanted the support of community members (many of whom were campaigning for him) but was unwilling to endorse Welch’s more incendiary attacks on prominent Republicans. For example, Welch accused President Dwight D. Eisenhower of being an agent of the communist conspiracy. Not all members of society agreed with his assessment, nor did leading conservative voices, including William Buckley. National Review.

“The meeting was a very noisy and tense atmosphere,” says Dallek. “There was a huge ideological conflict between extremism and moderation in the Republican party.” New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller urged delegates to reject extremism in the GOP. He gave three examples: Communism, the Ku Klux Klan, and the John Birch Society. The crowd was angry and divided with boos, jeers and chants of “We want Barry.”

In contrast, Barry Goldwater wholeheartedly defended extremism, saying “extremism in the defense of freedom is not a bad thing.” Following thunderous applause, he added: “Moderation is no virtue in the pursuit of justice.”

Former Birch member G. Edward Griffin remembers Goldwater’s speech fondly. “That was a very strong statement and probably got more votes than anything else in the entire campaign,” he said. Goldwater won the Republican nomination but lost the presidency in one of the biggest landslides in American history. Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won with 61% of the popular vote. “Many commentators at the time thought this was the death knell of extremism,” says Dallek.

contemporary messaging

G. Edward Griffin is no longer a member of the John Birch Society. Instead, he founded his own organizations: Freedom Force International and Red Pill University, which opposed the forces of globalization and collectivization. Looking back, Griffin remembers a time when he was considered “crazy.” But he has seen a shift in public opinion regarding conspiracy theories.

“People know conspiracies are common, wait a minute,” he told Radio Diaries. he said. “I think they’re realizing that many of the most important things we truly believe in are lies. “These are illusions.”

In the late 1960s and early 70s, According to Dallek, the John Birch Community was facing all kinds of problems. The organization was in financial difficulty, and investigations were launched by both the FBI and the New York-based Anti-Defamation League. But the association survived and today is headquartered in Appleton, Wis.

Theories about the “deep state” or “new world order” that Alex Jones or Steve Bannon talk about reflect Birch conspiracy theories, Dallek says.

“They have shrunk as an organization,” Dallek says. “But I think their ideas have become mainstream.”

This story was produced by Radio Diaries’ Nellie Gilles and edited by Deborah George, Ben Shapiro and Joe Richman. Find more stories at Radio Diaries Podcast.

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