Robert Welch on NBC Meet the Press 19610521

8/6/2019 Robert Welch on NBC Meet the Press 19610521

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M E T THE PRE S S

(ducd" LAWRENCE E. SPIVAK

ROBERT WELCHFounder The John Birch Society

Volume SUDY, MY 21 96 Number 20

0 cens per co


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Ine JACK Associated PressROR MCORMICK NBC NewsAWRNC SPIVAK Regular Panel MemberRICHAR WISON Cowles Publications

la. N ROOKS

Permission s hereby granted to news media and magazines to rep1oduce in whoe or in part. Creditto NBC's MEET THE PRES will be appreciated


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MR. BROOKS: In ecent weeks the oganzaton known asThe ohn Bc Socety has been ganng nceasng pubc atten ton ts eades descbe t as a ght wng patoc gupdevoted to stampng out the Communst conspacy Its ctcscondemn t as a wtchhuntng oganzaton engaged n eonsbe attaks on pubc gues

The Socety was ounded two yeas ago by M Robet Wech,who s ou guest tday M Wech s a eted busnessman Hs

home s n Bemont Masachusetts He has taveed wdey,soken oten n pubc, many on the theme o Communsm MWech has wtten sevea books the atest n 19 on "TeLfe of Jo Br, the mecan mssonay ked by theChnese Communsts

MR. PIVAK: Welch, as you know much of the controversy about you and The John Birch Society centers around yourmanuscript caed "The Poltician t has been used by yofrends to prove you are an expert on Communsts and on Communism, and t has been used by your critics and your enemes

to prove that you are irresponsible What ed you to beleve thecharges made in "The Politician against President Eisenhower,ormer Secretary Dules, Allen Dues, General Marsha?

MR WELCH I ddnt know that my ends had been usngt That s new to me I cetany knew that ou enemes andctcs had But to ty to answe you questons concsey as Ican, you w emembe what the stuaton was ke n 193ntenatoay the neaest Communst domnon to us was pob aby East Gemany, 3,00 me away Nasse was st a Leu

tenant Genea and I wot go though te est o the pctue,but go ahead then o eght yeas to the end o 1960 and seehat had hapened The Communsts wee 90 mes om oushoes, vey my estabshed You have seen what happeneddung those yeas to Noth Vet Nam and Lao and Indonesan Egypt n many othe countes I w save tme by not evew ng tte Communsts had advanced tercay Domestcayat the begnnng o that peod due paty to the vey campagnthat bought the dmnstaton n thee was qute a evusonaganst the Communsts and they wee somewhat on the deen

sve and on the un due paty to the geat wk that had beendone n my opnon by Senato McCathy But dung those yeasyou saw a knds o thngs hapenng n ths couny and theadvance o Communsm domestcay nd you saw o nstance,the Sueme Cout o the nted States makng decsons whhthe Communst themseves ased and goed and hed aesto ase and whch the Communsts announced as the geatestvctoes eve won by the Communst Paty


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R PVAK Ganted Wech- wi not stat an agument with you about whethe what you hae said is o is nottue Let us gant what you hae said is tue Do you think onthe basis o that yu wee justied o exame in saying ''But

my m beie that Dwight Eisenhowe is a dedicated consciousagent o the Communist consiacy is based on an accumuationo detaied eidence so extensie and so aabe that it seemsto me to ut this coniction eyond any easonabe doubt?

R WELCH Mr Spvak, n the rst pace, for yo to be abeto qote that nvoves a very seros breach of condece on thepart of a frend of mne, some extremey ethca jornasmand a brazen voaton of my property rghts n my etter Thswas a prvate etter wrtten n the fa of 1954, added to as Imade addtona copes to send to frend The naast copy

was made n 958, and I st have on hand haf of those copesthat were never sent ot at a becase we began to stop t, andt was sent ot nder thenot a copy was ever sod, t was entot wth a yeaf sayng, Ths s not a book t s not ntendedfor pbcaton, ths s a rvate etter on oan to yo n con dence for yor eyes ony an w yo pease try to te s what wrong wth t and what the errors are and I don't beeveanybody who ever wrote a hstory before, or any hstoran n vovng many greator a ot aber than I amwas hed re sponsbe for what he sa n a rst draft of a docment thatmght someday be pbshed

R PVAK But Wech-st et me make this ceaAs you know these coies ae now aiy widesead

R WELCH Ony becase of the reasons I have sadR PVAK Regadess o what the easons ae The im

otant question was did you ee think that o PesidentEisenhowe? Did you ee know that abot Pesident Eisenhowe?

R WELCH I w answer that exacty the way I answered

Mr Bes rm, ssocated Press, wth the same qeston, andet me say they took t exacty and carred t on the wres exactywth the correct prononcaton, whch was mportant nd Isad, I never had that opnon and do not have t now wth anysch assrance or rmness that I od ever state t n pb,d I never have I ponted ot n thsI can read t to yorght n the yeaf hat I asked my frends to te me: What arethe mstakes, what are the errors, what are the correctons, howdo yo nterpret th

nd I aso, whch they have never tod yo, ponted ot rghtn that manscrpt tsef, that I had no qarre wth anyby whoattrbted a of these actons to potca oportnsm

R PVAK But Wech een in that ette howeeyou said that you knw a ot about Communism n you booksyou said that you coud sme out a Commuist

R WLCH esR PV AK And you thought these things o you woudn

hae witten them And at a ate date o xame you said in

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a aeme The New Yk Tme ha he bkha ym bee ha Dwgh Eehwe a dedcaed Cmmuagen

R WELCH May I stop you. I have neve sad any suchthng to The New Yok Tmes.

R SPVAK Th publhed a Welch aemenR WELCH I neve mae a statement to The New Yk

Tmes that I can emembeR SPVAK Yu nee ad "whee n my pae 01

pubhed wg hae ee caled me Pede Eenhwe a cadcayg Cmmu?

R WELCH That s ght, I sad that, because I nevehave That s the dena I made when I was accused on the ooof the Senate, and I sad, No, I neve caed hm a "cadcayng

Communst anywhee n wtng o n wodsR SPVAK D yu dey ha yu dd "The Plcan?R WELCH I cetany do You poveshow me anywhee

I caed hm a "cad cayng Communst n "The Pocan.R SPVAK "cadcayng bu "a Cmmu?R WELCH Oh, thats deentR SPVAK Wha dee?R WELCH Thee s a bg deenceR SPVAK Yu ad example " my p he

chance ae ey g ha l Eehwe acualy

Dwgh Eehwe upe and b whn he CmmunPay

R WELCH OkayR SPVAK De he hae hae a cad?R WELCH I was cuse of cang hm a cadcayng

Communst as I say, n a pvate document, whch I nevewoud have been wng to do n pubc, but I meey sad that Ihad not whch I dn't. They ae the ones who wee putngwos n my mouth, M Spvak

R cCORCK Welch yu cey gwg numbe ad uece a much a yu hped wud?R WELCH Yes, t s M. McComck. It s gowng qute

apdy an has contnued to gow though ths stom of advesectcsm, vey apdy, n stength and numbes

R cCORK Culd yu ge u ay pece gue ee appxmae gue?

R WELCH We ae no wng to gve gues, numbes ofmembes at a. We have nt been. I dnt know any otheoganzaton that doe ethe, so thee s nothng secet about

that we just do not I can te you ths mch f you want t,that snce the stom boke, pmay wth the atce n the Cmmun Peple ld n San Fancso, an atce on Febuay25, whch became the mothe atce you mght ca t fo a ofthese attacks, we have }Mt about onehaf of one pecent of oumembes, and we have ane moe than that n membeshppactcay evey day snce then

R. cCORCK Wha abu he a upp f

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the Soiet has that goe u too?M WELCH Finaial uppo a inceae maeially ince

he 25h of Febuay.M MCMCK A ou ot the eoe less wilig

to joi o to tibute o ea o eisals agaist the?M WELCH We n ome le willing o join We n omewho hae eigne bu hey ae ey few in numbe We haefoun fa moe who ook moe inee an wee willin comein We ae ha quie a numbe of conibuion coming in fompeople who ay " on know enugh abou he Sociey o joinbu fom wha hae hea we woul like o help you an eei a check fo a hune olla

M BEL M Welh o Ail i Sata Babaa Caioia ou wee uote as saig tha esiet Kee is lessa ative o Couist iuees tha Eisehwe

M WELC aii o he peiou aminiaion ae fogoen wich

M BELL ou wos wee aie as ess tha Eisehowe he light o that woul ou ike to give us a biesua o ou evaluati Pesiet Kees stewashisie he has bee i oe?

M WELC o fa a am concene M Bell woul ikeo ee he honeyoon go on longe. on' feel quaie We

uually lk of he pa anyway becaue you can bing i ouan n he f an be faily ue of heman no a o cuen een o wha i hapening a he cuen ime like ohae ou peoplewe like o y o ge a pepecie whee wecan ee baically geneally a wa ying o o ju now whahappene oe eig yea becaue hen you can ge a cea picue of i n hae a clea enough picue of wha a happene in he la hee o fou monh an ju o anwe youqueion biey woul pefe no o y o ealuae heKenney ainaion

M BELL ou ha soe thoughts about Seato Keeat the tie he was Seato a exesse those

M WELCH ha i igh.M BELL Whih iiate to abo who ea that tha

ou thought he was ue soe ki o Couist iueeM WELCH on know ha yu woul gahe ha wa

quie ciical of im an hi wa in 1958, in he Blue Book youae alking abou hink in which we inicae hee oualmo ceiny ha he anie in 1960 woul be Kenney

an Nixon o we wee alking abou a poliical campaign woyea in aance an wa quie ciica of me hing haSenao Kenney ha one epecially oe of i peeche onbehalf of he Algeian ebel bu in ay anyhing abouSenao Kenney ha wa anywhee nealy a ba a ome ofhi opponen igh wihin he Democaic Pay wee ayingMigh u a hi ha ince he campaign i oe an he inow Peien on he ecommenaion of he Council of heociey we hae aken ha ou of he Blue Book of he Sociey

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h iio i i o hr bca h cmpaigh go by. ha a rfly propr ha im

R BELL ou hae acted the a pacca way to absoePesde Keedy o beg ueced by Commuss

R. WELCH old o ay ha ac o bol himW mry r o caryig i h Bl Book o criicim har ma cio ih a forhcomig poiical campago yar bfor h cmpaig

R BELL M Wech does hs wpe he whoe hg ou?R WELCH o a alR BELL I you just ake t out o he Blue Book?R. WELCH o a bi ad o car o h i ipd

o I do p i o ay mor ha ayhig yo col obo Prid rma haig calld ihor Fi,

hch bli h didor a lo of ohr hg ha h bi ch caR BELL st thee a mae o moaty coceed

hough? ou potest about you uoatos abou Esehwebeg used

R WELCH R BELL ou admt hat you wote hem athough you say

t was a pate ete Bu st hee jus as much moayoed wtg a pate ete as thee s pubshg abook?

R WELCH o m i o m o b i h amcgory pcially h yo ar riig o lliformdfri o ak hm o com hrogh h corrco, rror,aio o l yo hik mo hioria ri hr orfor rf of hir book a od cpi a k forcricm d comm, d hy my mak hir mry procai, oo

R. BELL Dd ay ed wte back to you ad ask you oake hat Esehowe statemet ou o he ete?

R. WELCH o ko, b hd may r from myfr ommig i may y o i, hich i ha ha hd may fri i h Joh Birch ociy ho ok i do agr ih i, o bli i a ll

A my poi o, ic yo r lkg ab h JohBirch ocy primarily, ha h ocm yo rfr o pcicy iao h fodig mig of h Joh Birchociy as hg o par i h blif of h Joh Birch ociy y y r ha h Prid Eihr himlfid h col r hy o my of hi fr r

joig Joh Birch ociy W ca ll him hy H h lo of goo fri ha ar a aiCommi a yo ad r a hy joi h Joh Birch ocy ba hy hik r bl o gh Cmmim hy a probably mor hor ri h aybody a ha ar rp o ha ai orh b qo hr b hy i hik a ghig Com mim d hy ar joig h ocy

R. BELL Thak you o cludg me amog he atCo

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unists r WelchR WELC I erainly was erainly wasR WILSON r Welch ur Sciet is described b ur

sel as under authritarian cntrl nlithic Is this the kind

a vernent u want t ise un the United States anauthritarian and nlthic vernent like ur Sciet?

R WELC No si We ae i ery lear ha we i no.We ae i ery lear ie aer ie ha we hin he bes al rs o goernen s a onsiional repbl an hewors o a ors o goernen is a eoray We wil sanby ha an arge i all ay ong a h as yo wan Wa weare aling ao here is perey lear i yo go ahea n heBle Booi is he inernal srre o he John Bir Soieyan as r eers a wel now ha is solely or he prposeo proeing s We o no wan Coniss oing n anaing oer or hapers an so we re able o rop he roebership i neesary. We haen ha o se i o any exena alhree peope so ar in w years ha we ae roppean ony one o he bease he was a robe aer B wehae i here o proe orsee an ha is all is or

R WILSON Yu are nterested in ettin se kind litical result in cnsnance with ur cnservative views?

R WELC Or ineres realy is in eaing noring

or elow iiens sieny so ha hey will o he righhing poliiallyR WILSON o wroe in yor Bllein o May 1s ha

ner he genera aws o Massahses he John Bir Soieyi se as a nnpro eaional orporaion

R WELC CorreR WILSON And thus u are nt authrized nr d u

wish t take an direct art in liticsR WELC AppreialyR WILSON Yet in ther arts ur literature which

s vluinus u seak the activit n behal Senatrldwater seak the activit n behal Vice PresidentNixn Y are cnstantl reerrin t achievin

R WELC May I nerrp yo Mr WilsonR WILSON Excuse e Wuld u erit e t nish the

questin I want t ask i ur tax exet status is revcablein assachusetts i u d cntinue t take art in litics?

R WELC Le e show yo how ar yo are iqoinge. We hae pone o oer an oer an oeran yo an

go ba o he Blleins o las a n i spelle o ieaer ieha I persnaly hae een or Gowaer or Presenor any grea oe I hae een airer o his oryears an as a priae iien sil ha a righ o e or Gowaer an was b h he Soiey was ang no par an no ae any par n een he priary apagn An aere piary apaign we spele o ao eleen ieren wayso oing an rie o spel o wha eah one ean an sai"Follow yor own onsiene he John Brh Soey ells yo

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ntng As a as th Sty's takng a pat, n th pmayampagn M Wlsn, s a as w ul tll twths ummbs wk Gwat th nmnatn an abutnt xn an w snt th sam matal t bth tm t wk n

R WSON: Undr dral ax aws is T Jon BircSocity tax xmpt?R WEC t s nt. W a nt n app tR WSON: rad o you a statmnt rom a nws

papr in Santa Barbara T Santa BarbaraR WECH: h s nly n n Santa Babaa a w

knw wat t slant that n s.R WSON: T Sana Barbara NwsExprssR WECH: wsPssR WSON: Nwsrss, at i rit t says tat, "H,

Wlc, "also said tat dus ar wavr t br wants toak t wi a minium o $24 pr yar or n and $12 orwomn On million mmbrs, wic ty say is your goadividd qualy btwn n and won, would bring im $8miio a yar And t nwspapr cmmnts a tat is quita sum t pay wit, witout accounability And as undrstandit, you rus to a any accountability o t ony yourciv

R WECH: Wh yu gt tat, M Wlsn?

R WSON: Wl

R WECH: Lt m answ yu qustnR WSON: Ar you rady to accun or it now?R WECH: I am ay t unt tR WSON: How uc mony did you gt, and ow did

you spnt it?R WEC: h auts a wkng ght nw an ha

bn tw th wks n pbably th mst mpt autthy a ma n yas y w w wl g t ymmb u unl W ha 26 tp ght Amans n

tat un an thy a nm as t ythng w nlung ytng nana, an thy wll a th auts'pt at t nxt mtng u unl, whh s n abut twan a a wks, mlt W ha t thm m th bgnnng, w nt suppy nanal pts t u mmbs thmss an thy m n knwng that baus w a bun ta mmunsts wthn u mmbshp Yu annt suppymplt pts wthut gng away t muh yu nmatn. W a just nt gng t t an w tl thm s, but w

g mplt pts t th mmbs u ulR WSON: Wa was t incom o T Jon Birc Socity in 960?

R WECH: W a nt gng t tl yu that, M. WlsnW a nt gng t tl anyby xpt th mmbs uunl an ths w lgaly ha t knw t.

R SVAK: r Wlc, i your Socity acivd its majorobjctivs, wouldnt you accompis wat Sovi Union wants

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to aompsh: Destroy NATO, the UN weaken our deenses?R WELCH: Wll M Spva-R SPVAK: Stop oregn ad, arent a tose tngsR WELCH: W ou ovn m a Sov Uo

was o dso Ud Naos n I w au w ouI s o o jusf a su assumpo pod bdpon ad v o n a w pnd a upsw Ud Naos n od o Aman oplmo wln o ap

R SUVAK: They dont want to destroy NATO?R WELCH: wa o dso an posbl vss

of NAO w I as b p wl dsod I avv bn ovd a NAO was v a al Bu waw a o do s o so wa as b los of a osu

oal Aman publ as ou foud fas av o usand w a wo owads a v wa w ow owR SPVAK: r We, you ave taken n, tnk, hun

dreds o tousands o doars, and you ave spent hundreds otousands o doars n The Jon Brh Soety Wat woud yosay you ave aompsed wt tat expendture and the eortyou have paed and te years you ae been gong-n thedreton you seek t aompsh?

R WELCH: I would sa a paps mos sa

s w av aomplsd a o w av bou o aa aans us. Ou popl _av pobabl mad mosows of a m "Opao Abolo sow Com munss aad sa n usual os as owada ov s ou o a mal sal a all o oupspu o I am p u ou op av sow mo of m sp Commusm o Map w sows oap all advan of Communsm o ou sos ov pas as a al os pu o ad w av al as fw mo wad up uds of ousadsof ou fllow s o d bw a dmoa ada publ and o f a w av a publ o a dmo a ad w wa o p a pub

R SPVAK: n your book The ife of John Bhw was pubsed n ' you ad ts t say about a dedatedCommunst "sgused as a patrot, e w dstort te ams otrue patrots and ep to run ter areers by budng up teprestge o oter trators ke mse Coudnt you on thebass o tat statement be arged wth beng a Communst sne

tere are so many tngs tat te Communsts want tat yo tooare seekng to aomps?

R WELCH: I an anl b ad bu w av of ousads of v abl fomd Amas wo ablv ows ad a wl o suppo and follow m CouldI asw o po abouof ous w a ow a amllo mmbs w a ow a a sab fao of bu f w v a ad wo 18 mllo a M

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Wso s tag abot e ave abot onetr as mc toor t as some bg abor o c s gtng or te oterse

R. cCOICK: Unde you socled pncpe of eeswc s e Counss e nee w ey seem o be

nd w ey see o b ey nee e unde coudnyou ognzon be upeced of beng Communs o?

R. WELC: Tat s te qeston ogt a anserg. t s jst te matter o te conece o ca obtan fromtegent peope

R. cCORICK: Wy do yu nk peope soud usyu sesece ognzon ny moe n ey us nybody ese?

R. WELC: Ors s ot semsecret Mr McCormc We

ave abote no secretsR. cCORICK: I beg you pdon you us od us bousome of e

R. WELC: Or bacgro metos a prposes are aa ot n te Be Boo of Te on Brc Socet c an bo ca get for $2 from Bemont Massacetts b jst senng for t Or materas are a free.

Mr. Wson as jst qotng from or Betn or Ma Weave absote otng secret We o not te te names of ormembers or ter nmber an ont o of an organato

tat o can ame of a atrotc tat oes. Tere snotng secret abot or organaton

R BELL: Wec I woud ke o e you bef comen on e Apl 6 emen mde by Aoney Genel RbKennedy. In spekng o e Bc ocey e d "I nkey ke no conbon n y eson o e g gnsCounm ee n e Uned es In fc I nk f nyng ey e ndnce W s yo econ o semen by e ce eg oce of e Uned es goenmen?

R. WELC: We dsagree t m ver vgoros an as trg to so o some o te tngs togt e ereong We on't object to crtcsm an e are concosenog o te sot o or poston. We ont eve object torce; e are gettng some o t. We tn tat most o terce toa stems from te arrogance o gnorance stea ote mt of tre scoarsp n tose o refse to get teropnos prefabrcate.

R BELL: W e you done s elly o sop Cousm o Comuns non?

R. WELC: f song te "Operaton Aboto m aman osans o tmes as or peope ave one t asntepe on' o at o. song "Commnsm ote Map as ma tosan o tmes as or peope ave song tem n broa perspectve te Commnst avance oestI on't no at co

R. BROOK: Genteme tn at ts pont ave toterrpt Or tme s p Tan o ver mc for beng t s.

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M E E T HE PRE 5 5

a boadcas naonwde by he Naona roadcasng Copany nc are prned and ad avaabe o he ub ofurher neres n para dscussons of quesons ae ng he pubc efare ranscrps ay be obaned b seng samped sef addressed enveope ad e cens for e

cop o:

e g Yn., (g c !t J rf1{ 1, C

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Robert Welch on NBC Meet the Press 19610521