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Some context ...Coughlin was initially a powerful asset and supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, but then became a political opponent, accusing him of
by olivermarks 6y ago
Some context ...Coughlin was initially a powerful asset and supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, but then became a political opponent, accusing him of being too friendly to bankers. In 1934, he and others established a political organization called the National Union for Social Justice, supported by many German and Scandinavian immigrant Americans. membership was in the millions behind an agenda of monetary reform, nationalization of major industries and railroads, protection of labor rights and like the national socialists in Germany very anti communist.
The 30's were an extraordinary time - Hitler was Time magazine man of the year in 1938 - and there was strong resistance to the USA entering an 'old country' war at the end of the decade. A rough equivalent to 'occupy wall street' in the mid 30's was obviously very anti banker and this was a large part of Coughlin's Catholic German appeal. (Many Irish catholics were heavily involved as well as Italian Americans who had Mussolini supposedly making the trains run on time while pushing back on some bankers).
The William Kovarik (Professor of Communication, Radford University) article was originally titled
'That time private US media companies stepped in to silence the falsehoods and incitements of a major public figure … in 1938'
in 'the Conversation' - the Smithsonian chose to re headline it.
1938 was a major turning point in US politics and as is the case today there was a major clamp down on free speech. This arguably subsequently partially resulted in the US entering WWII...
https://theconversation.com/that-time-private-us-media-companies-stepped-in-to-silence-the-falsehoods-and-incitements-of-a-major-public-figure-in-1938-153157?xid=PS_smithsonian https://theconversation.com/that-time-private-us-media-compa...
- mcguire 6y agoNote also the "cocktail putsch" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot)---one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot)---one of the few times you get to say "Smedley" with a straight face.
- cafard 6y agoActually, I believe that the USMC always has a bulldog mascot named Smedley.
- kevinventullo 6y agoCould you expand on your last sentence? My understanding was that the US entered WWII as a direct result of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
- olivermarks 6y agoUseful link about US isolationists vs interventionists https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/great-debate https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/great-debate
- kevinventullo 6y agoWhile that is an interesting article about differing opinions before Pearl Harbor, it conclusively states that public opinion was essentially unanimous afterward. It did not mention anything about censorship, so I’m still a little lost.
- olivermarks 6y agoThe parent article is describing the political tipping point in 1938 where the isolationists were removed from media, isolated (sic) and discredited as the interventionists became the dominant force in US politics. From that point the US was aligned with the allies, organized and then officially launched lend lease arming of the allies in January 1941 before joining the european war in December of 1941. Coughlin, Lindberg et al were vilified and lost their public voices.
- kevinventullo 6y agoAre we reading the same article? There is absolutely nothing in that link about anyone being censored, isolated, or discredited. It instead describes overall public opinion shifting as Germany took more of Europe and Britain held them at bay.
- olivermarks 6y ago
- olivermarks 6y agoHad Huey Long not been assassinated in 1935 he would have been an important participant in the isolationist politics of the late 30's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Huey_Long https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Huey_Long