A Conspiratorial Life: Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the Revolution of American Conservatism

A Conspiratorial Life: Robert Welch, the John Birch Society, and the Revolution of American Conservatism

  • Downloads:7085
  • Type:Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date:2022-02-25 09:23:38
  • Update Date:2025-09-06
  • Status:finish
  • Author:Edward H. Miller
  • ISBN:022644886X
  • Environment:PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Summary

The first full-scale biography of Robert Welch, who founded the John Birch Society and planted some of modern conservatism’s most insidious seeds。
 
Though you may not know his name, Robert Welch (1899-1985)—founder of the John Birch Society—is easily one of the most significant architects of our current political moment。 In A Conspiratorial Life, the first full-scale biography of Welch, Edward H。 Miller delves deep into the life of an overlooked figure whose ideas nevertheless reshaped the American right。

A child prodigy who entered college at age 12, Welch became an unlikely candy magnate, founding the company that created Sugar Daddies, Junior Mints, and other famed confections。 In 1958, he funneled his wealth into establishing the organization that would define his legacy and change the face of American politics: the John Birch Society。 Though the group’s paranoiac right-wing nativism was dismissed by conservative thinkers like William F。 Buckley, its ideas gradually moved from the far-right fringe into the mainstream。 By exploring the development of Welch’s political worldview, A Conspiratorial Life shows how the John Birch Society’s rabid libertarianism—and its highly effective grassroots networking—became a profound, yet often ignored or derided influence on the modern Republican Party。 Miller convincingly connects the accusatory conservatism of the midcentury John Birch Society to the inflammatory rhetoric of the Tea Party, the Trump administration, Q, and more。 As this book makes clear, whether or not you know his name or what he accomplished, it’s hard to deny that we’re living in Robert Welch’s America。
 

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Reviews

Ernie1241

Dr。 Miller has written the definitive biography of Robert Welch。 Miller appears to be the first scholar to get access to a portion of Mr。 Welch's personal papers。 There are some errors in this book particularly with respect to the number of actual members in the Birch Society and not enough recognition of Mr。 Welch's very cozy or polite relationship with bigots (such as Verne Kaub and Gerald L。K。 Smith)。 Also, not many authors recognize that Welch invited life-long segregationists into the JBS a Dr。 Miller has written the definitive biography of Robert Welch。 Miller appears to be the first scholar to get access to a portion of Mr。 Welch's personal papers。 There are some errors in this book particularly with respect to the number of actual members in the Birch Society and not enough recognition of Mr。 Welch's very cozy or polite relationship with bigots (such as Verne Kaub and Gerald L。K。 Smith)。 Also, not many authors recognize that Welch invited life-long segregationists into the JBS as members, as employees, and as senior officials including at least 4 JBS National Council members (T。 Coleman Andrews Sr。, A。G。 Heinsohn Jr。, Thomas J。 Anderson, and Dr。 Thomas Parker)。 In addition, many people connected to the racist and anti-semitic Gerald L。K。 Smith (and his organization, Christian Nationalist Crusade) were JBS members and/or financial supporters。 Examples include: George B。 Fowler - Holyoke MA, Dr。 Hugh S。 Ramsay – Bloomington INOlive Simes – Boston (and stockholder in Robert Welch Inc), Franklin Farrel Jr。 – New Haven CT [Also a contributor to National States Rights Party in 1963] Edgar A。 Scheubert – Chicago ILPaul H。 Talbert – Beverly Hills CA (JBS National Council member)。In 1956, Welch left the GOP to campaign and vote for T。 Coleman Andrews Sr。, the Presidential candidate of the pro-segregation States' Rights Party。 In 1976, Welch again voted for a life-long white supremacist (Tom Anderson, American Party)。 Several senior officials of the White Citizens Council movement were JBS members or employees (i。e。 William J。 Simmons, Louis W。 Hollis, Medford Evans)。 Evans was a particularly virulent racist who also was employed by the JBS as a Coordinator and speaker。In some instances, Welch recommended publications (or authors) that were pro-Hitler during World War II such as Edward Delaney。 In other cases, Welch recommended people or organizations that were described as flirting with fascism by the FBI -- such as Merwin K。 Hart and the American Flag Committee。But these types of errors must be understood in the context of the fact that our academic community has rarely done the granular research into Welch and the JBS which is required to discover the type of information which I have summarized above。 There are numerous archives of personal papers at our colleges and universities and state historical societies which have not been seriously researched by our academic community。 In addition, the JBS is reluctant to grant access to its own archives to any independent researcher so very little is known about JBS history, including its internal disputes or demographic information about its membership。 。。。more