The Grand Wizard (later the Grand and Imperial Wizard simplified as the Imperial Wizard and eventually, the National Director) referred to the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and abroad. The title "Grand Wizard" was used by the first Klan which was founded in 1865 and which existed during the Reconstruction era until 1872. The second Klan, founded in 1915, styled their national leader the "Imperial Wizard." National officers were styled "Imperial" officers. State or "Realm" officers were styled "Grand" officers. For example, a "Grand Dragon" was the highest-ranking Klansman in a given state.

National Leaders of the Ku Klux Klan

This list excludes those Grand or Imperial Wizards of independent Klan factions:

The First Klan (1865-1872)

The Ku Klux Klan was founded by six confederate veterans in 1865 but did not elect a Grand Wizard until after Nathan Bedford Forrest joined in 1867. * Nathan Bedford Forrest, Grand Wizard, 1867-1869, Forrest resigned in 1869 and ordered the KKK dissolved although the group remained active until 1872

The Second Klan (1915–1944)

William Joseph Simmons William Joseph Simmons (May 7, 1880 – May 18, 1945) was an American preacher and fraternal organizer who founded and led the second Ku Klux Klan from Thanksgiving evening 1915 until being replaced in 1922 by Hiram Wesley Evans. Early life Si ...

, Imperial Wizard, second Klan, 1915–1922 *

Hiram Wesley Evans Hiram Wesley Evans (September 26, 1881 – September 14, 1966) was the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, an American white supremacist group, from 1922 to 1939. A native of Alabama, Evans attended Vanderbilt University and became a denti ...

, Imperial Wizard, second Klan, 1922–1939 *

James A. Colescott James Arnold Colescott (January 11, 1897 – January 11, 1950) was an American white supremacist who was Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Under financial pressure from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for back taxes, he di ...

, Imperial Wizard, second Klan, 1939–1944; Colescott disbanded the KKK in 1944.

The Third Klan (Post World War II)

Major Klan leaders following the disbandment of the second Klan: * Samuel Green, Imperial Wizard, Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 1949, Green reformed the KKK in 1946 *

Samuel Roper Samuel Roper (died 1658) was an English antiquary. Life He was the eldest son of Thomas Roper of Heanor, Derbyshire, by his second wife, Anne, daughter and co-heir of Alvered Gresbrooke of Middleton, Warwickshire. Roper claimed ancestry going ...

, Imperial Wizard, Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan 1949-1950 *

Eldon Edwards Eldon Lee Edwards (June 8, 1909 – August 1, 1960) was an American Ku Klux Klan leader. Biography Edwards was an automobile paint sprayer from Atlanta, Georgia, and rebuilt the Klan beginning in 1953. In his book ''The Informant: The FBI, the ...

, Imperial Wizard, Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 1950-1959, *

Roy Elonzo Davis Roy Elonzo Davis (April 24, 1890 - August 12, 1966) was a leader and founding member of the 1915 Ku Klux Klan. Davis was Second Degree (second in command) of the KKK under William J. Simmons and later became National Imperial Wizard (leader) o ...

, Imperial Wizard, Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Knights of the Flaming Sword 1959-1964. Both organizations disbanded. * Robert Shelton, Grand Wizard, United Klans of America Inc., 1961-1987, Shelton started a new branch of the KKK *

David Duke David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, far-right politician, convicted felon, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. From 1989 to 1992, he was a member ...

, Imperial Wizard, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 1974-1981, Duke started a new branch of the KKK *Bill Wilkinson, Imperial Wizard, Invisible Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 1975-1981, Wilkinson formed a competing branch which, at the time, was the largest national KKK organization *Stanley McCollum, Imperial Wizard, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 1981-1989 *Thomas "Thom" Robb, National Director, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, 1989-

Imperial Wizards in the United Kingdom

* James K. Dale, Imperial Wizard, UK Branch, 2014–2017 * Rad U. Estherson, Imperial Wizard, UK Branch, 2017–

References