Robert W. Welch Jr. facts for kids

Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr. (born December 1, 1899 – died January 6, 1985) was an American businessman. He was also a political organizer. He became wealthy after leaving the candy business. He used his money to support groups that were against communism.

In 1958, he helped start a group called the John Birch Society (JBS). This group was known for its far-right views. Welch led the group very strictly until he died. Many people criticized him, including some mainstream conservatives and liberals.

Early Life and Education

Robert Welch Jr. was born in Chowan County, North Carolina. His mother, Lina Verona, was a school teacher. She taught him at home when he was young. People thought he was very smart, or "gifted." His childhood home was in Stockton, North Carolina.

Welch started high school when he was only ten years old. He then went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at age twelve. He was a Baptist who believed strongly in his faith. He later said he was "insufferable" because he tried too hard to convert his classmates.

He also attended the United States Naval Academy. Later, he went to Harvard Law School. However, he did not finish his studies at either of these places.

Candy Business Career

Welch started his own company, the Oxford Candy Company, in Brooklyn, New York. At first, he worked alone. Later, his brother James joined him. In 1925, James left to start his own candy company.

The Oxford Candy Company closed during the Great Depression. This was a time in the 1930s when many businesses struggled. But his brother's company, the James O. Welch Company, kept going. Robert Welch then joined his brother's company.

He became the director of sales and advertising. The company created popular candies like Sugar Daddies. He also helped develop other well-known candies such as Sugar Babies, Junior Mints, and Pom Poms. Welch retired in 1956. He was a very rich man by then.

The John Birch Society

Welch founded the John Birch Society (JBS) in December 1958. He started it with eleven men. Welch quickly made the group much larger. He kept very strict control over its money and publications. At its biggest, the JBS said it had 100,000 members.

Welch did not trust outsiders. He did not want the JBS to team up with other groups. This was true even for other groups that were also against communism. He created a strong organization in 1958. This allowed him to control all the local chapters very closely.

In the 1960s, a main activity of the JBS was monthly meetings. Members would watch a film made by Welch. After the film, they would write letters or postcards to government officials. These messages would connect government policies to what they called the "Communist menace."

Controversy and Criticism

In 1962, a well-known conservative writer named William F. Buckley Jr. criticized Welch. Buckley wrote in his magazine, National Review. He said that Welch was promoting conspiracy theories that were far from common sense. Buckley focused his criticism on Welch. He wanted to stop Welch's ideas from harming the reputation of the whole conservative movement.

Welch had different ideas about foreign policy than Buckley. Welch believed in a foreign policy called "Fortress America." This meant he thought the U.S. should avoid "entangling alliances." He did not like groups like NATO or the United Nations. He was strongly against communism. But he also opposed the idea of the U.S. leading the world with its military.

Starting in 1965, Welch was against the U.S. getting more involved in the Vietnam War. Buckley, who supported stronger U.S. leadership in the world, disagreed with Welch.

Welch was the editor of the JBS's monthly magazine, American Opinion. He also edited the weekly The Review of the News. He wrote several books, including The Road to Salesmanship (1941) and The Life of John Birch (1954). A collection of his writings was put into a book called The New Americanism.

Conspiracy Beliefs

In the 1960s, Welch started to believe that communists were not the highest level of the conspiracy he saw. He began to say that communism was just a front for a "Master Conspiracy." He thought this conspiracy had roots in a secret group called the Illuminati.

He called the people involved in this conspiracy "The Insiders." He believed they were mostly powerful international families. He named families like the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. He also believed groups like the Bilderbergers, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Trilateral Commission were part of it. Because of these ideas, the John Birch Society became known as a "radical right" group.

In 1983, Welch stepped down as president of the John Birch Society. Congressman Larry McDonald took over as president. McDonald died a few months later when his airplane was shot down by the Soviet Union.

Welch's Book The Politician

Republican politicians started to criticize the John Birch Society even more. This happened after Welch shared a letter in 1954. In the letter, he suggested that President Dwight D. Eisenhower might be a "conscious, dedicated agent of the Communist Conspiracy."

Welch went even further in a book called The Politician. He wrote it in 1956, but it was printed privately in 1963. This book was his personal research. It was not part of the official beliefs of the JBS.

In the book, Welch claimed that President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor before it happened. He said Roosevelt did not warn anyone because he wanted the U.S. to join World War II. This claim caused a lot of debate in the 1960s. Many wondered if Welch really meant to call Eisenhower a communist. A friend of Welch, G. Edward Griffin, said Welch meant "collectivist," not "communist." The shocking nature of these claims made many conservatives and Republicans avoid the John Birch Society.

Personal Life

Robert Welch was married to Marian Probert Welch. They had two sons. He passed away on January 6, 1985.

Works

• May God Forgive Us: A Famous Letter Giving the Historical Background of the Dismissal of General MacArthur (1952). Henry Regnery Company.
• Again, May God Forgive Us! (1952). Belmont, Mass.: Belmont Publishing Company.
• The Blue Book of The John Birch Society (1959). Belmont, Mass.: Western Islands. ISBN: 0882791052. Full text.
• The Politician: A Look at the Political Forces that Propelled Dwight David Eisenhower into the Presidency. Appleton, Wis.: Robert Welch University Press (1963).
• The Romance of Education (1973). Boston: Western Islands. .