..... John Birch Society HQ In the 1950s and early ’60s, - TopicsExpress

René Upshaw

..... John Birch Society HQ In the 1950s and early ’60s, fear of communism and of nuclear war with the Soviet Union spread across America like a political flu. The John Birch Society designated Dallas a regional headquarters and opened a bookstore here. The society preached that Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower — among many others — were willing dupes of the Communist Party. Robert Welch, the retired candy manufacturer who founded the John Birch Society, was convinced that communists controlled American labor unions, the leaders of the civil rights movement — and John F. Kennedy. Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis, authors of a new book, Dallas 1963, said extremists in Dallas didn’t just criticize Kennedy; they painted him as a traitor. “There was something in Dallas that seemed to be summoning people to a raw, hard-edged resistance to JFK,” said Minutaglio, a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a former staff writer at The Dallas Morning News. “We believe it was a distinct minority, but pretty powerful at the top.” And none wielded more power than H.L. Hunt. The oil titan was reputed to be the richest man in America. He wasn’t shy about spending his money to advance his political beliefs.” dallasnews/news/jfk50/reflect/20131012-extremists-in-dallas-created-volatile-atmosphere-before-jfks-1963-visit.ece Republican U.S. Rep. Bruce Alger of Dallas was among hundreds who met Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife with derogatory signs and chants in Dallas in November 1960.

Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 05:22:19 +0000

..... John Birch Society HQ In the 1950s and early ’60s, - TopicsExpress

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