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John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and right-wing libertarian ideas. Originally based in Belmont, Massachusetts, the JBS is now headquartered in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, with local chapters throughout the United States. It owns American Opinion Publishing, Inc., which publishes the magazine The New American, and it is affiliated with an online school called FreedomProject Academy.
The society's founder, businessman Robert W. Welch Jr. (1899–1985), developed an organizational infrastructure of nationwide chapters in December 1958. The society rose quickly in membership and influence, and also became known for Welch's conspiracy theories. His allegation that Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower was a communist agent was especially controversial. In the 1960s, the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review attempted to shun the JBS to the fringes of the American right. JBS membership is kept private but is said to have neared 100,000 in the 1960s and 1970s, declining afterward.
In the 2010s and 2020s, several observers and commentators argued that, while the organization's influence peaked in the 1970s, "Bircherism" and its legacy of conspiracy theories began making a resurgence in the mid-2010s, and had become the dominant strain in the conservative movement. In particular, they argued that the JBS and its beliefs shaped the Republican Party, the Christian right, the Trump administration, and the broader conservative movement.
The John Birch Society from its start opposed collectivism as a "cancer" and by extension communism and big government. JBS publications referred to the fight against Communism as a spiritual war against the devil. Allegations that so-called "Insiders" have conspired to control the United States through communism and world government are a recurring theme of JBS publications. The organization and its founder, Robert W. Welch Jr., promoted Americanism as "the philosophical antithesis of Communism." It contended that the United States is a republic, not a democracy, and argued that states' rights should supersede those of the federal government. Welch infused constitutionalist and classical liberal principles, in addition to his conspiracy theories, into the JBS's ideology and rhetoric. In 1983, Congressman Larry McDonald, then the society's newly appointed chairman, characterized the JBS as belonging to the Old Right rather than the New Right.
The society opposes "one world government", the United Nations (UN), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and other free trade agreements. It argues the U.S. Constitution has been devalued in favor of political and economic globalization. It has cited the existence of the former Security and Prosperity Partnership as evidence of a push towards a North American Union. The JBS has sought immigration reduction.[citation needed]
The JBS opposed the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. It has campaigned for state nullification. It opposes efforts to call an Article V convention to amend the U.S. Constitution, and it has been influential at promoting opposition to it among Republican legislators. The JBS also supports auditing and eventually dismantling the Federal Reserve System.[non-primary source needed] The JBS holds that the United States Constitution gives only Congress the ability to coin money, and does not permit it to delegate this power, or to transform the dollar into a fiat currency not backed by gold or silver.[non-primary source needed]
Its publication The New American has described what it sees as American moral decline and threats to the family, including abortion, birth control, divorce, drugs, homosexuality, crime, violence, secular humanism, teenage pregnancy, teen suicide, environmentalism, feminism and pornography. The JBS has alleged that moral degeneracy is perpetrated by a conspiracy to make the United States vulnerable to internationalism. A JBS pamphlet distributed in 2024 illustrating a school on fire urged parents to withdraw children from public education, saying, "Reforming the schools is no longer an option. We must get them out now!"
The JBS has been described as ultraconservative, far-right, extremist, and fringe. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists the society as a "Patriot" group, a group that "advocate[s] or adhere[s] to extreme antigovernment doctrines". By the 1990s, the JBS was perceived as "more mainstream conservative" than in the 1960s. It has also been associated with the American libertarian movement, as well as business nationalism. The society's worldview was noted in the early 2000s for influencing the American militia movement, although the JBS had not publicly called for paramilitary training. Extremism expert George Michael wrote that "a virtual who's who of the American radical right had at one time or another sojourned" in the JBS.
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John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populist, and right-wing libertarian ideas. Originally based in Belmont, Massachusetts, the JBS is now headquartered in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, with local chapters throughout the United States. It owns American Opinion Publishing, Inc., which publishes the magazine The New American, and it is affiliated with an online school called FreedomProject Academy.
The society's founder, businessman Robert W. Welch Jr. (1899–1985), developed an organizational infrastructure of nationwide chapters in December 1958. The society rose quickly in membership and influence, and also became known for Welch's conspiracy theories. His allegation that Republican president Dwight D. Eisenhower was a communist agent was especially controversial. In the 1960s, the conservative William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review attempted to shun the JBS to the fringes of the American right. JBS membership is kept private but is said to have neared 100,000 in the 1960s and 1970s, declining afterward.
In the 2010s and 2020s, several observers and commentators argued that, while the organization's influence peaked in the 1970s, "Bircherism" and its legacy of conspiracy theories began making a resurgence in the mid-2010s, and had become the dominant strain in the conservative movement. In particular, they argued that the JBS and its beliefs shaped the Republican Party, the Christian right, the Trump administration, and the broader conservative movement.
The John Birch Society from its start opposed collectivism as a "cancer" and by extension communism and big government. JBS publications referred to the fight against Communism as a spiritual war against the devil. Allegations that so-called "Insiders" have conspired to control the United States through communism and world government are a recurring theme of JBS publications. The organization and its founder, Robert W. Welch Jr., promoted Americanism as "the philosophical antithesis of Communism." It contended that the United States is a republic, not a democracy, and argued that states' rights should supersede those of the federal government. Welch infused constitutionalist and classical liberal principles, in addition to his conspiracy theories, into the JBS's ideology and rhetoric. In 1983, Congressman Larry McDonald, then the society's newly appointed chairman, characterized the JBS as belonging to the Old Right rather than the New Right.
The society opposes "one world government", the United Nations (UN), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), and other free trade agreements. It argues the U.S. Constitution has been devalued in favor of political and economic globalization. It has cited the existence of the former Security and Prosperity Partnership as evidence of a push towards a North American Union. The JBS has sought immigration reduction.[citation needed]
The JBS opposed the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s. It has campaigned for state nullification. It opposes efforts to call an Article V convention to amend the U.S. Constitution, and it has been influential at promoting opposition to it among Republican legislators. The JBS also supports auditing and eventually dismantling the Federal Reserve System.[non-primary source needed] The JBS holds that the United States Constitution gives only Congress the ability to coin money, and does not permit it to delegate this power, or to transform the dollar into a fiat currency not backed by gold or silver.[non-primary source needed]
Its publication The New American has described what it sees as American moral decline and threats to the family, including abortion, birth control, divorce, drugs, homosexuality, crime, violence, secular humanism, teenage pregnancy, teen suicide, environmentalism, feminism and pornography. The JBS has alleged that moral degeneracy is perpetrated by a conspiracy to make the United States vulnerable to internationalism. A JBS pamphlet distributed in 2024 illustrating a school on fire urged parents to withdraw children from public education, saying, "Reforming the schools is no longer an option. We must get them out now!"
The JBS has been described as ultraconservative, far-right, extremist, and fringe. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists the society as a "Patriot" group, a group that "advocate[s] or adhere[s] to extreme antigovernment doctrines". By the 1990s, the JBS was perceived as "more mainstream conservative" than in the 1960s. It has also been associated with the American libertarian movement, as well as business nationalism. The society's worldview was noted in the early 2000s for influencing the American militia movement, although the JBS had not publicly called for paramilitary training. Extremism expert George Michael wrote that "a virtual who's who of the American radical right had at one time or another sojourned" in the JBS.
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