Organizations: The Americanists

(2 of 2)

¶CIA Director Allen Dulles: "The most protected and untouchable supporter of Communism, next to Eisenhower himself, in Washington."

¶The late John Foster Dulles: "A Communist agent."

Right-Wing Names. For public consumption, Welch has kept his vitriol well enough in check to avoid libel suits. A prolific author, he has turned out reams of Red-baiting copy, including the Blue Book that guides the society's actions. He puts out the monthly American Opinion, as well as a bulletin that informs all dues-paying ($24 a year for men, $12 for women) members of the society's monthly aims. Despite the ill fame of The Politician, Welch has been highly praised as a freedom fighter by a horde of familiar right-wing names, e.g., Actor Adolphe Menjou, Lawyer Clarence Manion. ex-Diplomat Spruille Braden, who grace the society's council and have the right to appoint his successor.

Not all conservatives are so sanguine about Welch. Many object to the society's contempt for dissent from its views, feel that its militant words and thoughts are barely a goose step away from the formation of goon squads. "This is the kind of thing that does violence to every thing we're trying to accomplish," says one Chicago conservative who backed away from Birchism after a glimpse at The Politician. "It siphons a lot of well-meaning, respectable people off into a lunatic fringe run by Welch, at the same time giving anti-Communist efforts a black eye. It hurts us much more than it helps us."