The John Birch Society was a controversial right-wing political group founded in 1958 by wealthy businessman Robert Welch. Named after John Birch, an American missionary and military intelligence officer killed by Chinese communists in 1945, the group was staunchly anti-communist and promoted limited government and states’ rights.
Legacy of the John Birch Society
At its peak in the 1960s, the John Birch Society had nearly 100,000 members and a $7 million annual budget. The group lobbied against the United Nations, the civil rights movement, and immigration. They started conspiracy theories like the UN trying to remove Christian symbols and the government adding fluoride to drinking water for mind control.
In the 1970s, the John Birch Society promoted laetrile as a cancer cure, even after it was shown to be toxic. They lost credibility, and membership declined. Two early members, candy tycoon Floyd Paxton and oil heir Nelson Bunker Hunt, hatched an unbelievable plan to get rich.
The Gold Plot
In the 1970s, Hunt got a letter from Ferdinand Marcos, then president of the Philippines, about Yamashita’s gold. This was the legend of a massive stash of gold worth over $200 billion hidden in the Philippines by a Japanese general at the end of WWII. Marcos claimed to have found it but needed help melting it down to sell.
Hunt and Paxton planned to smuggle the gold into the US using Paxton’s bag clips, melt it down in Hunt’s Idaho smelting plant, and split billions in profits. But before executing the scheme, Paxton died suddenly. Marcos refused to work with Hunt alone, but his son Bongbong Marcos later became president and may still know the treasure’s location.
Though Yamashita’s gold was likely a hoax by Marcos to swindle money, the John Birch Society’s controversial beliefs paved the way for this outlandish plot. Their extreme anti-communist and limited government views became mainstream in right-wing politics. So, in many ways, the group’s ideas live on even as schemes like Yamashita’s gold have been debunked.
Conclusion
The John Birch Society went from a fringe political group to the foundation of some modern conservative thought. They led two eccentric rich men on a quest for billions in mythical WWII treasures, showing how radical ideas can lead to unbelievable stories and schemes.
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Sources
John Birch Society – Wikipedia
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