Senator Scores Group Calling Eisenhower a Red Young Deplores- Growth of John Birch Society
Mansfield Joins Attack on Semi-Secret Extremists
WASHINGTON, March 8 (AP)—Senator Milton R. Young said today that leaders of an ultra-conservative, semi-secret group operating In many states had falsely accused former Pres- ident Dwight D. Eisenhower of being a Communist. :
The North Dakota Republican, on the Senate floor, said the or- ganization was known as the John Birch Society. It contends it is fighting communism, he said, and has accused him [Mr. Young] of “being about every kind of a scoundrel, including a Communist or pro-Commu- nist.”
He identified the leader as Robert Welch, a retired busi- ness executive of Belmont, Mass. .
Senator Mike Mansfield, majority leader, praised Mr. Young for his denunciation of the group. The Montanan said he had heard of it in his state and “something is wrong some- where.”
Influence Is Cited
Mr. Young said the society had cells in North Dakota among “some of the most able "and influential people in each community."
He said Mr. Welch had “made accusations against the Presi- dent of the United States and other top officers far beyond anything the late Senator Joe McCarthy [of Wisconsin] even thought of.”
“To label some of our most loyal and dedicated people as Communists plays right into the hands of the Communists,” he declared.
He placed in The Congres- sional Record articles from The Chicago Daily News of last July. 26 and the current edition of Time magazine dealing with the society and Mr. Welch.
The News article said Mr. Welch was the author of a book, “The Politician,” which it said tries to prove that General Ei- senhower is a dedicated Com- munist and that his brother, Dr. Milton R. Eisenhower, is “Ike’s superior in the Communist party.”
The Time article told of so- ciety activities in several states. It said Mr. Welch was a former prominent Boston business man who regarded the income tax and Social Security as moves toward communism.
Mr. Young said most of the group's criticism “is leveled not against liberal public officials, but against the more middle-of- the road and even conservative Republicans.”
“From a practical political point of view,” he said, “such charges actually are of some help. It is sort of a medicine to some liberal-thinking people who often have accused me of being a reactionary conserva- tive.”
Notified of Mr. Young’s state- ments, Mr. Welch said at his home in Belmont, Mass.: “I do not wish to comment.”
Membership Unknown
The society was founded, according to Mr. Weich, to fight communism and work for less government and more individual responsibility.
It was set up in December, 1958, and named in honor of John Birch of Macon, Ga., who before World War II was a missionary in China.
At the outbreak of war he joined Gen. Claire L. Chen- nault’s “Flying Tigers” as an intelligence officer. He rose to captain in the: United States Army and was Killed by Chinese Communists on Aug. 25, 1945, ten days after V-J Day.
The group's headquarters is at 395 Concord Avenue, Bel- mont, Mass. Mr. Welch, 61. year-old leader, formerly was vice president of the James O. Welch Company, candy manu- facturer in Cambridge.
Mr, Welch, who was born in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina, United States Naval Academy and Harvard Law School.’
In 1950, he sought the Re- publican nomination for Lieu- tenant Governor of his state, but was defeated in the pri- mary. He has written “The Road to Salesmanship,” “May God Forgive Us” and “The Life of John Birch."
He became better known as the author of “The Politician,” which evolved from a 302-page letter he wrote in December, 1954, and sent to four friends.
He said last night that he had written, it because “the Eisen- hower administration visibly double-crossed, and thus helped eliminate from public life, some very stanch and loyal members of the Republican party who had been leaders among con- servatives in both houses of Congress.”
By 1956, he said, he had re- written the letter to 60,000 words and by the summer of 1958 to 80,000. It was then pri- vately printed, but never for- madly published or sold as a book, he added.
He said the document had been written before the forma- tion of the society, and had nothing to do with it.
Mr. Welch is the editor and publisher of American Opinion, a monthly magazine. He also puts out the society’s monthly bulletin and other tracts.
The .total membership of the society and the number of its employes [sic] are not known.
Dues are $24 for men and $12 for women. A life membership costs $1,000.
The New York Times
Published: March 9, 1961
Note: Senator Young said the Birchers had cells in North Dakota among “some of the most able "and influential people in each community." These included Stanley Jerome Gaetz, who went by “Jerry,” and who was the pro-Barry Goldwater mayor of Rugby, ND. In 1964, Jerry Gaetz ran for Lieutenant Governor in the GOP primary as an extreme right-wing candidate to unseat incumbent moderate Republican Frank Wenstrom. Fate intervened when Gaetz died from a sudden heart attack on the floor of the state GOP convention in Bismarck. Jarry Gaetz's son is former Florida state Senate president Don Gaetz and his grandson is U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz.
BIRCH UNIT PUSHES DRIVE ON WARREN
Chief Justice Attacked Anew —Robert Kennedy Views Society With ‘Concern’
By JOHN D, MORRIS Special to The New York Times.
WASHINGTON, March 31— A leader of the John Birch So- ciety confirmed today that the ultra-consérvative organization was promoting a massive let- ter-writing campaign for the impeachment of Chief Justice Earl Warren.
Bryton Barron, a field repre- sentative of the society, said that Chief Justice Warren's re- moval was currently one of the four major aims of the group.
Mr. Barron, a retired State Department historian who lives in Springfield, Va., said that the campaign was being con- ducted because a survey had re- vealed that the Chief Justice had “voted 92 per cent of the time in favor of Communists and subversives” since joining the court.
{In Belmont, Mass., Robert H. W. Welch, founder of the John Birch Society, denied Friday that he had ever called former President Dwight D. Eisenhower a “card-carrying Communist,” The Associated Press reported.]
Members of Congress have been deluged in the last few weeks with letters making de- mands that Mr. Warren be re- moved from his post.
The Justice Department dis- closed, meanwhile, that the ultra-conservative society was “a.matter of concern” to Attor- ney-General Robert F. Kennedy.
A spokesman said, however, that no investigation was under way and that it was doubtful whether there were grounds for one. The department is trying to determine whether such grounds exist, he reported. In another development, Repre- sentative Edgar W. Hiestand, Republican of California, re- ported that the society was “growing very fast” and aiming for a membership of 100,000 by the end of this year. Mr. Hie- stand, a member of the society, held a news conference to an- swer criticism of its activities.
“There are lunatic fringes, and the John Birch Society is not that,” Mr. Hiestand de- clared.
The society was founded in 1958 by Robert H, W. Welch Jr. of Boston, a retired candy man- ufacturer, and is said to have chapters in thirty-four states and the District of Columbia.
Named for Missionary
The society is named for a Baptist missionary who served as an Army intelligence officer in the Far East during World War II. It asserts that Mr. Birch was killed by Communists ten days after the end of the war.
Its announced purpose is to fight and destroy communism in the United States. Its mem- bership is said to include many able and patriotic men, but its membership list has been kept secret. Its methods, however, have been condemned by equally able and patriotic individuals as going far beyond the tactics employed by the late Senator Joseph R. McCarthy.
Various complaints from around the country tell of stu- dent members who have re- ported that certain teachers are under the influence of commu- nism. These reports have heen followed by complaints to the school from parents or im- portant persons in the com- munity. :
In other areas, telephone campaigns have heen reported in which members of a commu- nity have been told that a cer- tain neighbor was a Commu- nist. Letter-writing campaigns are widely reported.
There has been no documen- tation, however, that such ac- tivities have been definitely linked to the John Birch So- ciety. :
Two Deny Secrecy
Both Representative Hiestand and Mr, Barron insisted that there was nothing secret about the organization except that the identity and number of its members were not advertised.
Mr. Barron identified himself as the society's field represen- tative for Virginia, the District of Columbia and part of Mary- land.
He confirmed the belief, al- ready widely held here, that the society was promoting a letter-writing campaign aimed at Chief Justice Warren's im-: peachment. Congressional of- fices have recently been flood- ed with letters from many parts of the country demanding such action against the Chief Jus- tice.
The impeachment drive is one item on the society's present; “agenda” for action, according to Mr. Barron. He said the others were:
¶A campaign against the purchase of goods manufac-| tured behind the Iron Curtain.
¶A constitutional amendment repealing the Federal income tax.
¶Support for the work of the House Committee on Un-Ameri- can Activities,
Both Mr. Barron and Repre- sentative Hiestand disassociated themselves from some views at- tributed to Mr. Welch, whom they consistently referred to as “the founder” rather than by name.
They said they did not agree, for example, with the charge that former President Dwight D. Eisenhower was “a dedicated, conscious agent of the Commu- nist conspiracy.”
Mr, Barron has been a lec- turer and writer since 1955, when he retired from the State Department at the request of su- periors who accused him of “in-. Subordination.”
While Mr, Barron declined to answer a question on the num- ‘ber of society members in his jurisdiction, the leader of a chapter in near-by Alexandria, Va, said there were twelve groups in the Washington met- ropolitan area. Each group, he said, has fifteen to twenty members.
The Alexandria leader, Junius Robert Smith, a retired Army officer, said his chapter con- tained other retired military of- ficers and Government officials, a retired member of Congress and other retired persons as well as “many young people.” He said there was one chap- ter in Fairfax County, Va., one in Montgomery County, Md., and several in the District of Columbia. He added that he knew of chapters in Baltimore, Md., and Charlottesville, Va.
N. A. M. Discloses Censure
The National Association of Manufacturers disclosed yester- day that ifs executive hoard unanimously adopted a resolu- tion last September indirectly censuring the John Birch So- ciety.
That was after its attention had been called to a series of articles in a Chicago newspaper that said Robert H, W. Welch, the society's founder, had de- scribed former President Dwight D. Eisenhower as a Communist.
Charles H, Sleigh Jr., execu- tive vice president, said three former N. A. M. presidents who ‘had been identified as having ‘been active in the society had attended the meeting and voted for the resolution. They are William J. Grede, Elm Grove, Wis,, Cola G. Parker, Neenah, Wis.,, and Ernest G. Swigert, Portland, Ore.
Spruille Braden, former As- sistant Secretary of State and more recently president of the New York City Anti-Crime Commission, said he was still a member of the national council of the society but had no local connections.
The New York Times
Published: April 1, 1961
Letters to The Times
Birch Society Criticized
TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TIMES:
I wonder whether Robert Welch Jr. realizes that should his “Impeach Warren” campaign succeed, it might mean a death warrant for his venom- ous Birch Society.
Does it ever occur to Mr. Welch that he and his ilk exist in America today only by virtue of the fact that a man like Chief Justice Earl War- ren sits on the bench of the highest court in the land? In a society domi- nated by Mr. Welch there would be exactly one set of rules—his,
I would like to suggest that a democratic, truly American organ- ization sponsor another essay con- test: “How to eradicate Birch so- cieties without impairing the Amer. | ican way of life.”
S. HAUPTMANN.
West Wardsboro, Vt., Aug. 5, 1961.
The New York Times
Published: August 12, 1961
2023
Editorial: No evidence for Biden impeachment inquiry? No problem. The House GOP doesn’t seem to care
Los Angeles Times
ByThe Times Editorial Board
Dec. 7, 2023
The politically inspired impeach- ment inquiry into President Biden has failed to produce any convincing evidence that Biden has committed the “high crimes and misdemeanors” required by the U.S. Constitution for the conviction and removal of a chief executive. So naturally Speaker Mike Johnson is proposing a floor vote, likely next week, to authorize the inquiry as a “necessary step.”
Johnson attempted to justify a vote by the full House — which should have been taken months ago as a procedural matter — as a response to supposed White House stonewalling. But it’s hard not to see it as the latest attempt by the House Republicans leadership to placate the far-right cohort of their conference and Trump cultists in the party at large.
Deposed Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) launched the Biden impeachment inquiry in September without securing a floor vote, thus avoiding a scenario in which saner members of his fragile majority — including Republicans elected in districts where Biden is popular — might rebel. Those same Republicans should join Democrats in denying legitimacy to this impeachment circus by voting no.
Despite questions about the business dealings of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and aspersions cast on what Republicans call “the Biden crime family,” no proof has been offered that President Biden benefited from his son’s business dealings or shaped U.S. policy because of them.
Testimony by Devon Archer, a former Hunter Biden associate, spectacularly failed to substantiate allegations that President Biden had any significant involvement in his son’s business affairs. Republicans also seem to be trying to breathe new life into a claim, debunked long ago, that as vice president Biden pushed for the dismissal of a Ukrainian prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, because Shokin was investigating Burisma, a company on whose board Hunter Biden served. In fact, the Obama administration’s campaign against Shokin was part of a multinational effort to press Ukraine to deal with corruption.
Finally, on Monday the House Oversight Committeeannounced portentously that Hunter Biden’s business entity, Owasco PC, which had received payments from foreign companies, had made monthly payments to Joe Biden. Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) said the payments “are now part of a pattern revealing Joe Biden knew about, participated in and benefited from his family’s influence peddling schemes.”
But the Washington Post reported that the payments — made in 2018, when Joe Biden was a private citizen — were reimbursements for a truck Biden helped his financially strapped son to purchase.
The details of the overblown allegations against the president are almost beside the point, which is that the faltering impeachment inquiry is best viewed as an exercise in toadying to former President Trump, who has accused Biden of being “the most corrupt president we’ve ever had.” House Republicans faced with a vote on legitimizing this fishing expedition should ask themselves if it’s their interests to climb aboard this particular carriage in the Trump train.
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