![Lyndon LaRouche](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Lyndon_LaRouche.jpg)
The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late
Lyndon LaRouche
Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspira ...
and
his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals. LaRouche-aligned organizations include the
National Caucus of Labor Committees The National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC) is a political organization in the United States founded and controlled by political activist Lyndon LaRouche until his 2019 death. LaRouche sometimes described the NCLC as a "philosophical association. ...
, the
Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
, the
Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement
The Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement (WLYM or LYM) and the LaRouche Political Action Committee (LaRouche PAC or LPAC) are part of the political organization of controversial American political figure Lyndon LaRouche. The LYM's " war room" is in Le ...
and, formerly, the
U.S. Labor Party
The U.S. Labor Party (USLP) was a political party formed in 1973 by the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). . The LaRouche movement has been called "
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...
-like" by ''The New York Times''.
The movement originated within the radical leftist student politics of the 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of candidates ran in state
Democratic primaries in the United States on the 'LaRouche platform', while Lyndon LaRouche repeatedly campaigned for
presidential nomination
In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings:
# A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention ...
. From the mid-1970s the LaRouche network would adopt viewpoints and stances of the
far-right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
. During its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, the LaRouche movement developed a private intelligence agency and contacts with foreign governments.
In 1988, LaRouche and 25 associates
were convicted on fraud charges related to fundraising. The movement called the prosecutions politically motivated.
LaRouche's widow,
Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Helga Zepp-LaRouche (born 25 August 1948) is a German political activist. She is the widow of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche, and the founder of the LaRouche movement's Schiller Institute and the German ''Bürgerrechtsbewegung Soli ...
, heads political and cultural groups in Germany connected with her late husband's movement. There are also parties in France, Sweden and other European countries and branches or affiliates in Australia, Canada, the Philippines and several Latin American countries. Members engage in political organizing, fund-raising, cultural events, research and writing and internal meetings.
On February 24, 2021, Zepp-LaRouche denounced the
LaRouche Political Action Committee (LPAC) and its treasurer, Barbara Boyd, for going "in a direction which I consider contrary to the central policies that my husband stood for.
.. nce he passed away in February 2019, Mrs. Boyd and her associates
..have embarked on a path that I believe misrepresents both my and Mr. LaRouche's positions." and has stated that LPAC and Boyd do not represent the LaRouche movement. She has taken legal action against LPAC to "immediately cease and desist, both now and in the future" from "using Mr. LaRouche's name, likeness, and potentially other confusingly similar terms."
Main goals of the Lyndon LaRouche movement
*Restoration of Glass-Steagall. Since 2007, the movement has actively campaigned to restore the
Glass-Steagall Act, to separate commercial banking from speculative investment banking, protecting the former and not bailing out the latter.
*New Bretton Woods. Advocates the abandonment of
floating exchange rate
In macroeconomics and economic policy, a floating exchange rate (also known as a fluctuating or flexible exchange rate) is a type of exchange rate regime in which a currency's value is allowed to fluctuate in response to foreign exchange ma ...
s and the return to
Bretton Woods Bretton Woods can refer to:
*Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, a village in the United States
**Bretton Woods Mountain Resort, a ski resort located in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire
*The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference, also known as the "United Nations Mo ...
-style fixed rates, with gold, or an equivalent, used as under the gold-reserve system. This is not to be confused with the
gold standard
A gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the early 1920s, and from the l ...
, which LaRouche did not support.
*American System. Espouses the "American System" of infrastructure projects, a “regulated banking system” and tariffs. Named for the historical
American System of
Henry Clay, but owing more to the ideas of the expansive
American School.
*
Eurasian Land Bridge
The Eurasian Land Bridge (), sometimes called the New Silk Road (, ), is the rail transport route for moving freight and passengers overland between Pacific seaports in the Russian Far East and China and seaports in Europe. The route, a transc ...
. Lectures and writes on behalf of a "Eurasian land-bridge", a massive high-speed
maglev
Maglev (derived from '' magnetic levitation''), is a system of train transportation that uses two sets of electromagnets: one set to repel and push the train up off the track, and another set to move the elevated train ahead, taking advantage ...
railway project to span continents and re-invigorate industry and commerce.
*
Scientific pitch
Scientific pitch, also known as philosophical pitch, Sauveur pitch or Verdi tuning, is an absolute concert pitch standard which is based on middle C ( C4) being set to 256 Hz rather than 261.62 Hz, making it approximately 37.6 cents ...
. Argues in favor of what they call "Verdi tuning" in classical music, in which A=432 Hz, as opposed to the common practice today of tuning to
A=440 Hz.
*
Mars colonization. Recommends
colonization of the planet Mars, on similar basis as many others in the field, that human survivability depends on territorial diversification.
*
Strategic Defense Initiative. Supported
directed beam weapons for use against
ICBMs, and claims credit as the first to propose this to
Ronald Reagan. LaRouche did not support rocket-based defensive systems such as
anti-ballistic missiles.
*
Fusion Energy Foundation
Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF) was an American non-profit think tank co-founded by Lyndon LaRouche in 1974 in New York. It promoted the construction of nuclear power plants, research into fusion power and beam weapons and other causes. The FEF wa ...
. The LaRouche movement proclaimed an interest in fusion energy and "beam weapons"—while some scientists such as
John Clarke praised the movement, it was generally seen as a front for LaRouche's political aims. According to ''Fusion'', two members of the FEF went to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
to attend a conference on "laser interaction" in December 1978.
Political organizations
LaRouche-affiliated political parties have nominated many hundreds of candidates for national and regional offices in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Australia and France, for almost thirty years. In countries outside the U.S., the LaRouche movement maintains its own minor parties, and they have had no significant electoral success to date. In the U.S., individuals associated with the movement have successfully sought
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
office in some elections, particularly Democratic County Central Committee posts, and been nominated for state and federal office as Democrats, although the party leadership has periodically voiced its disapproval.
International
The
Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
and the
International Caucus of Labor Committees (ICLC) are international organizations associated by some with the LaRouche Movement. Schiller Institute conferences have been held across the world. The ICLC is affiliated to political parties in France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Mexico, the Philippines, and several South American countries. Lyndon LaRouche, who was based in
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun ...
, United States, and his wife,
Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Helga Zepp-LaRouche (born 25 August 1948) is a German political activist. She is the widow of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche, and the founder of the LaRouche movement's Schiller Institute and the German ''Bürgerrechtsbewegung Soli ...
, based in
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
, Germany, regularly attended these international conferences and met foreign politicians, bureaucrats, and academics.
According to London-based SciDev.Net, the LaRouche movement has "attracted suspicion for circulating conspiracy theories and advocating for grand infrastructure projects." The movement supports the
Transaqua
The Lake Chad replenishment project is a proposed major water diversion scheme to divert water from the Congo River basin to Lake Chad to prevent it drying up. Various versions have been proposed. Most would involve damming some of the right tribu ...
project to divert water from the
Congo River
The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...
to replenish
Lake Chad.
United States
Political activities
![LaRouche Supporters, 7th and H NW](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/LaRouche_Supporters%2C_7th_and_H_NW.jpg)
LaRouche ran for U.S. president eight times, in every presidential election from 1976 to 2004. The first was with the
U.S. Labor Party
The U.S. Labor Party (USLP) was a political party formed in 1973 by the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). . In the next seven campaigns he ran for the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
nomination. He received federal
matching funds in 2004. ''See
Lyndon LaRouche U.S. Presidential campaigns.''
LaRouche candidates who ran in various Democratic primaries, generally sought
George Wallace voters.
The LaRouche movement attracted media attention in the context of the
1986 Illinois gubernatorial election
The 1986 Illinois gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1986. Republican candidate James R. Thompson won a fourth term in office, defeating the Illinois Solidarity Party nominee, United States Senator Adlai Stevenson III, by around 40 ...
, when movement members
Janice Hart Janice Hart (born 1955) was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Illinois Secretary of State in 1986.
Hart, a political unknown and a LaRouche movement activist since the age of 17, unexpectedly won the Democratic Party's nomination. Her op ...
and
Mark J. Fairchild won the Democratic Primary elections for the offices of
Illinois Secretary of State
The Secretary of State of Illinois is one of the six elected executive state offices of the government of Illinois, and one of the 47 secretaries of states in the United States. The Illinois Secretary of State keeps the state records, laws, libr ...
and
Illinois Lieutenant Governor respectively. Until the day after the primary, major media outlets were reporting that
George Sangmeister, Fairchild's primary opponent, was running unopposed. More than 2 decades later, Fairchild asked, "how is it possible that the major media, with all of their access to information, could possibly be mistaken in that way?"
Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Adlai Stevenson III was favored to win this election, having lost the previous election by a narrow margin. He refused to run on the same slate with Hart and Fairchild, forming the
Solidarity Party and running with Jane Spirgel as the Secretary of State nominee. Hart and Spirgel's opponent, Republican incumbent
James R. Thompson
James Robert Thompson Jr. (May 8, 1936 – August 14, 2020), also known as Big Jim Thompson, was an American attorney and politician who served as the 37th governor of Illinois from 1977 to 1991. A moderate Republican who sometimes took more ...
, won the election with 1.574 million votes.
After that primary Senator
Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) accused his own party of pursuing a policy of ignoring the "infiltration by the neo-Nazi elements of Lyndon H. LaRouche", and said that too often, especially in the media, "the LaRouchites" are "dismissed as kooks." "In an age of ideology, in an age of totalitarianism, it will not suffice for a political party to be indifferent to and ignorant about such a movement", said Moynihan.
Moynihan had faced a primary challenge in 1982 from Mel Klenetsky, an associate of LaRouche.
In 1986 the LaRouche movement worked to place an AIDS initiative,
Proposition 64, on the California ballot, which lost by a 4–1 margin. It was re-introduced in 1988 and lost again by the same margin.
Federal and state officials raided movement offices in 1986. In the
ensuing trials, some leaders of the movement received prison terms for conspiracy to commit fraud, mail fraud, and tax evasion.
In 1988, Claude Jones won the chairmanship of the
Harris County Democratic Party in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, and was stripped of his authority by the county executive committee before he could take office. He was removed from office by the state party chairman a few months later, in February 1989, because of Jones's alleged opposition to the Democratic presidential candidate,
Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...
, in favor of LaRouche.
The LaRouche movement opposed the
UN sanctions against Iraq in 1991 and the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
in 1991. Supporters formed the "Committee to Save the Children in Iraq".
LaRouche blamed the sanctions and war on "Israeli-controlled Moslem fundamentalist groups" and the "Ariel Sharon-dominated government of Israel" whose policies were "dictated by Kissinger and company, through the
Hollinger Corporation
Hollinger Inc. was a Media of Canada, Canadian media company based in Toronto which was established by businessman Conrad Black. At one time, the company was the third-largest media empire in the world. The company went bankrupt in 2007.
History ...
, which has taken over ''
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper ...
'' for that purpose." Left-wing anti-war groups were divided over the LaRouche movement's involvement.
In
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, the Democratic Senatorial nominee in Wyoming, Mel Logan, was a LaRouche follower; the Republican incumbent,
Craig Thomas, won in a 76–23% landslide. In 2001, a "national citizen-candidates' movement" was created, advancing candidates for a number of elective offices across the country.
In 2006, LaRouche Youth Movement activist and Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee member Cody Jones was honored as "Democrat of the Year" for the 43rd Assembly District of California, by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. At the April 2007 California State Democratic Convention, LYM activist Quincy O'Neal was elected vice-chairman of the California State Democratic Black Caucus, and Wynneal Innocentes was elected corresponding secretary of the Filipino Caucus.
In November 2007, Mark Fairchild returned to Illinois to promote legislation authored by LaRouche, called the "Homeowners and Bank Protection Act of 2007", establishing a moratorium on home
foreclosures and establishing a new federal agency to oversee all federal and state banks. He also promoted LaRouche's plan to build a high-speed railroad to connect Russia and the United States, including a
tunnel under the Bering Strait.
["LaRouche follower returns to Capitol"](_blank)
''The State Journal-Register'', November 2, 2007, archived on January 25, 2008 fro
the original
/ref>
In 2009, a volunteer table in Mattituck, New York had a picture of Obama with a "drawn-in Hitler moustache" and "a picture of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi with Frankenstein-style bolts in her head." In Seattle in 2011 (?), an image of Obama with a "Hitler moustache" angered some. Police were called in regarding a LaRouche opponent telling a LaRouche volunteer "Look at me again and I'm going to punch your face." In another case, during the prior month, "the same officer was called to investigate an incident in which a man threatened to rip down several political signs displayed by LaRouche supporters." "Police investigated the incident as malicious harassment—the state's hate-crime law." At one widely reported event, Congressman Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a former American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democrat, Frank served as chairman of the House Financial Services Committ ...
referred to the posters as "vile, contemptible nonsense."
In March 2010, LaRouche Youth leader Kesha Rogers
Lakesha D. Rogers (born December 9, 1976) is an American political activist in the Lyndon LaRouche Youth Movement, a former candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, and a two-time Democratic Party nominee for Texas's 22nd con ...
won the Democratic congressional primary in Houston, Texas' 22nd District. The following day, a spokeswoman for the Texas Democratic Party stated that "La Rouche members are not Democrats. I guarantee her campaign will not receive a single dollar from anyone on our staff." In June 2012, Rogers won the Democratic congressional primary for a second time. In March 2014, Rogers received 22% of the vote in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary, placing her into a runoff election with David M. Alameel.
Controversy
The LaRouche movement has been accused of violence, harassment, and heckling since the 1970s.
= 1960s and Operation Mop-Up
=
In the 1960s and 1970s, LaRouche was accused of fomenting violence at anti-war rallies with a small band of followers. According to LaRouche's autobiography, it was in 1969 that violent altercations began between his members and New Left groups. He wrote that a faction of Students for a Democratic Society
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...
which later became the Weathermen began assaulting LaRouche's faction at Columbia University, and there were later attacks by the Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, and the SWP. These conflicts culminated in "Operation Mop-Up", a series of physical attacks by LaRouche's National Caucus of Labor Committees The National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC) is a political organization in the United States founded and controlled by political activist Lyndon LaRouche until his 2019 death. LaRouche sometimes described the NCLC as a "philosophical association. ...
(NCLC) on rival left-wing groups. LaRouche's ''New Solidarity'' reported NCLC confrontations with members of the Communist Party and Socialist Workers Party, including an April 23, 1973 incident at a debate featuring Labor Committee mayoral candidate Tony Chaitkin that erupted in a brawl, with chairs flying. Six people were treated for injuries at a local hospital.
In the mid-1973 the movement formed a "Revolutionary Youth Movement" to recruit and politicize members of street gangs in New York City and other eastern cities.[ The NCLC allegedly trained some members in terrorist and guerrilla warfare.][Blum & Montgomery (1979)] Topics included weapons handling, explosives and demolition, close order drills, small unit tactics, and military history.[
]
=The USLP vs. the FBI
=
In November 1973, the FBI issued an internal memorandum, later released under the Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request:
* Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act
* ...
. Jeffrey Steinberg, the NCLC "director of counterintelligence", described it as the "COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO (syllabic abbreviation derived from Counterintelligence, Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of Covert operation, covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation ( ...
memo", which he says showed "that the FBI was considering supporting an assassination attempt against LaRouche by the Communist Party USA." LaRouche wrote in 1998:
The FBI was allegedly concerned that the movement might try to take power by force. FBI Director Clarence Kelly testified in 1976 about the LaRouche movement:
=Association with Roy Frankhouser and Mitch WerBell
=
In the later 1970s, the U.S. Labor Party came into contact with Roy Frankhouser, a felon and government informant who had infiltrated a variety of groups. The LaRouche organization believed Frankhouser was a federal agent assigned to infiltrate right-wing and left-wing groups, and that he had evidence that these groups were being manipulated or controlled by the FBI and other agencies. Frankhouser introduced LaRouche to Mitchell WerBell III
Mitchell Livingston WerBell III (March 18, 1918 – December 17, 1983) was an OSS operative, mercenary, paramilitary trainer, firearms engineer, and arms dealer.
Early life and OSS service
WerBell was born in Philadelphia, the son of a Czarist c ...
, a former Office of Strategic Services operative, paramilitary trainer, and arms dealer. Some members allegedly took a six-day "anti-terrorist" course a training camp operated by WerBell in Powder Springs, Georgia. In 1979, LaRouche denied that the training sessions took place. WerBell introduced LaRouche to covert operations specialist General John K. Singlaub, who later said that members of the movement implied in discussions with him that the military might help "lead the country out of its problems", a view which he rejected. WerBell also introduced LaRouche to Larry Cooper, a Powder Springs, Georgia police captain. Cooper, Frankhouser and an associate of Frankhouser named Forrest Lee Fick later made allegations about LaRouche. Cooper said in an NBC broadcast interview in 1984 that LaRouche had proposed the assassination of Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
, Zbigniew Brzezinski
Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzeziński ( , ; March 28, 1928 – May 26, 2017), or Zbig, was a Polish-American diplomat and political scientist. He served as a counselor to President Lyndon B. Johnson from 1966 to 1968 and was President Jimmy Carter' ...
, Joseph Luns, and David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
.
/ref> In 1984, LaRouche said that he had employed WerBell as a security consultant, but that the allegations coming from Werbell's circle were fabrications that originated with operatives of the FBI and other agencies.
=Labor unions
=
In 1974 and 1975, the NCLC allegedly targeted the United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...
(UAW), United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
(UFW), and other trade unionists. They dubbed their campaign "Operation Mop Up Woodcock", a reference to their anti-communist campaign of 1973 and to UAW president Leonard Woodcock
Leonard Freel Woodcock (February 15, 1911 – January 16, 2001) was President of the United Auto Workers (UAW) and the first US ambassador to China after being the last Chief of the US Liaison Office in Beijing.
Early life
Woodcock was born in ...
. The movement staged demonstrations that allegedly turned violent. They issued pamphlets attacking the leadership as corrupt and perverted. The UAW said that members had received dozens of calls a day accusing their relatives of homosexuality, reportedly at the direction of NCLC "security staff". Leaflets called an Ohio local president a "Woodcocksucker". The leadership of the AFL–CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...
was also attacked. During the same period, the LaRouche movement was closely associated with the Teamsters
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the ...
union which was in a jurisdictional dispute with the UFW.
=1980 New Hampshire presidential primary
=
LaRouche put substantial effort into his first Democratic Primary, held February 1980 in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...
. Reporters, campaign workers, and party officials received calls from people impersonating reporters or ADL staff members, inquiring what "bad news" they had heard about LaRouche. LaRouche acknowledged that his campaign workers used impersonation to collect information on political opponents.[ Governor ]Hugh Gallen
Hugh J. Gallen (July 30, 1924 – December 29, 1982) was an American Car dealership, automobile dealer and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Littleton, New Hampshire. After serving in the New Hampshire House of Represe ...
, State Attorney General Thomas Rath and other officials received harassing phone calls. Their names appeared on a photocopied "New Hampshire Target List" acquired by the Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
, found in a LaRouche campaign worker's hotel room; the list stated, "these are the criminals to burn – we want calls coming in to these fellows day and night".[ LaRouche spokesman Ted Andromidas said, "We did choose to target those people for political pressure hopefully to prevent them from carrying out the kind of fraud that occurred in Tuesday's election." New Hampshire journalist Jon Prestage said he was threatened after a tense interview with LaRouche and his associates, and found several of his cats dead after he published an account of the meeting.] A LaRouche associate denied responsibility for the dead cats.[
]
=Political opponents
=
According to courtroom testimony by FBI agent Richard Egan, Jeffrey and Michelle Steinberg, the heads of LaRouche's security unit, boasted of placing harassing phone calls all through the night to the general counsel of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) when the FEC was investigating LaRouche's political contributions.
During the grand jury hearings followers picketed the courthouse, chanted "Weld is a fag", distributed leaflets accusing Weld of involvement in drug dealing, and "sang a jingle advocating that he be hanged in public".["Indictment says LaRouche wanted to smear official to block probe"](_blank)
, ''Houston Chronicle'' December 17, 1986, p. 14
The Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
sent a team of ten people, headed by James Bevel
James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 – December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and then as its Director of Direct ...
, to Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
, to pursue the Franklin child prostitution ring allegations
The Franklin child prostitution ring allegations began in June 1988 in Omaha, Nebraska and attracted significant public and political interest until late 1990, when separate state and federal grand juries concluded that the allegations were unfoun ...
in 1990. Among the charges investigated by the grand jury was that the Omaha Police Chief Robert Wadman and other men had sex with a 15-year-old girl at a party held by the bank's owner. The LaRouche groups insisted there was a cover-up. They distributed copies of the Schiller Institute's ''New Federalist'' newspaper and went door-to-door in Wadman's neighborhood, telling residents he was a child molester. When Wadman took a job with the police department in Aurora, Illinois, LaRouche followers went there to demand he be fired, and after he left there followed him to a third city to make accusations.
In the 1970s, Nelson Rockefeller was a central figure in the movement's theories. An FBI file described them as a "clandestinely oriented group of political schizophrenics who have a paranoid preoccupation with Nelson Rockefeller and the CIA." The movement strongly opposed Rockefeller's nomination for U.S. vice president and heckled his appearances. Federal authorities were reportedly concerned that the situation might turn violent.
One target of LaRouche's attention has been Henry Kissinger
Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...
. LaRouche allegedly has called Kissinger a "faggot", a "traitor", a British or Soviet agent and a "Nazi", and has linked him to the murder of Aldo Moro
Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July 1 ...
.[King (1989)] His followers heckled and disrupted Kissinger's appearances. In 1982, a member of LaRouche's Fusion Energy Foundation
Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF) was an American non-profit think tank co-founded by Lyndon LaRouche in 1974 in New York. It promoted the construction of nuclear power plants, research into fusion power and beam weapons and other causes. The FEF wa ...
, Ellen Kaplan, asked Kissinger at an airport terminal if it were true that he slept with young boys; Kissinger and his wife, Nancy, were on their way to a heart operation. In response, Nancy Kissinger grabbed the woman by the throat. Kaplan pressed charges and the case went to trial.[ In 1986 Janice Hart held a press conference to say that Kissinger was part of the international "drug mafia". Asked whether Jews were behind drug trafficking Hart replied, "That's totally nonsense. I don't consider Henry Kissinger a Jew. I consider Henry Kissinger a homosexual."
A LaRouche organization sold posters of Illinois politician ]Jane Byrne
Jane Margaret Byrne (née Burke; May 24, 1933November 14, 2014) was an American politician who was the first woman to be elected mayor of a major city in the United States. She served as the 50th Mayor of Chicago from April 16, 1979, until April ...
described by Mike Royko as "border(ing) on the pornographic." In 1986, two LaRouche candidates, Janice Hart Janice Hart (born 1955) was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Illinois Secretary of State in 1986.
Hart, a political unknown and a LaRouche movement activist since the age of 17, unexpectedly won the Democratic Party's nomination. Her op ...
and Mark Fairchild, won in the Democratic primaries for two statewide positions in Illinois, Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor. Campaign appearances by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Adlai Stevenson III, who refused to share the ticket with them and shifted instead to the "Solidarity Party" formed for the purpose, were interrupted by a trio of singers that included Fairchild and Chicago Mayoral candidate Sheila Jones. Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan
Neil F. Hartigan (born May 4, 1938) is an American lawyer and politician from Illinois. He served as the Attorney General of Illinois, the List of lieutenant governors of Illinois, 40th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois, Lieutenant Governor, and ...
's home was visited late at night by a group of LaRouche followers who chanted, sang, and used a bullhorn "to exorcise the demons out of Neil Hartigan's soul". Before the primaries a group of LaRouche supporters reportedly stormed the campaign offices of Hart's opponent and demanded that a worker "take an AIDS test".
In 1984 a reporter for a LaRouche publication buttonholed President Ronald Reagan as he was leaving a White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
press conference, demanding to know why LaRouche was not receiving Secret Service
A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...
protection. As a result, future press conferences in the East Room were arranged with the door behind the president so he can leave without passing through the reporters. In 1992, a follower shook hands with President George H. W. Bush at a campaign visit to a shopping center. The follower would not let go, demanding to know, "When are you going to let LaRouche out of jail?" The Secret Service had to intervene.
During the 1988 presidential campaign, LaRouche activists spread a rumor that the Democratic candidate, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis
Michael Stanley Dukakis (; born November 3, 1933) is an American retired lawyer and politician who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and again from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history a ...
, had received professional treatment for two episodes of mental depression. Media sources did not report the rumor initially to avoid validating it. However at a press conference a reporter for a LaRouche publication, Nicholas Benton, asked President Reagan whether Dukakis should release his medical records. Reagan replied "Look, I'm not going to pick on an invalid." Within an hour after the press conference Reagan apologized for the joke. The question received wide publicity, and was later analyzed as an example of how journalists should handle rumors. Republican candidate Vice President George H.W. Bush's aides got involved in sustaining the story, and Dukakis was obliged to deny having had depression. To avoid the negative backlash on his own campaign, Bush made a statement urging Congress to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, which he signed upon gaining office and which became one of his proudest legacies.
At a 2003 Democratic primary debate repeatedly interrupted by hecklers, Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
quoted John McCain, "no one's been elected since 1972 that Lyndon LaRouche and his people have not protested". The first reported incidence of heckling by LaRouche followers was at the Watergate hearings in 1973. Since then, LaRouche followers have repeatedly disrupted speaking events and debates featuring a large variety of speakers.
=Conflict with journalists
=
In the 1980s, journalists including Joe Klein
Joe Klein (born September 7, 1946) is an American political commentator and author. He is best known for his work as a columnist for ''Time'' magazine and his novel ''Primary Colors'', an anonymously written roman à clef portraying Bill Clinton' ...
and Chuck Fager
Charles Eugene Fager (born 1942), known as Chuck Fager, is an American activist, author, editor, publisher and an outspoken and prominent member of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers. He is known for his work in both the Civil Rights Mo ...
from Boston's alternative weekly, ''The Real Paper
''The Real Paper'' was a Boston-area alternative weekly newspaper with a circulation in the tens of thousands. It ran from August 2, 1972, to June 18, 1981, often devoting space to counterculture and alternative politics of the early 1970s. The o ...
'', and ''Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'' columnist Mike Royko alleged harassment and intimidation by LaRouche groups.[ After Royko wrote about a LaRouche organization, Royko said that leaflets appeared, alleging he had had a sex-change operation.] He also said his assistant found a note with a bullseye and a threat to kill her cat on her door; Also according to Royko, LaRouche supporters picketed the newspaper offices, calling Royko a "degenerate drug pusher" and demanding he take an AIDS test. LaRouche supporters denied such charges, saying they were part of a campaign against them by the "drug lobby."[
In 1984, Patricia Lynch co-produced an NBC news piece and a TV documentary on LaRouche. She was then impersonated by LaRouche followers who interfered with her reporting.][ LaRouche sued Lynch and NBC for libel, and NBC countersued. During the trial followers picketed the NBC's offices with signs that said "Lynch Pat Lynch", and the NBC switchboard received a death threat.][ A LaRouche spokesman said they had no knowledge of the death threat.][ An editor of the ''Centre Daily Times'' in ]State College, Pennsylvania
State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...
reported that a LaRouche TV crew led by Stanley Ezrol talked their way into his house in 1985 implying they were with NBC, then accused him of harassing LaRouche and producing unduly negative coverage. At the end of the interview, Ezrol allegedly asked, "Have you ever feared for your personal safety?", which the editor found to be "chilling". Another LaRouche group, including Janice Hart Janice Hart (born 1955) was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Illinois Secretary of State in 1986.
Hart, a political unknown and a LaRouche movement activist since the age of 17, unexpectedly won the Democratic Party's nomination. Her op ...
, forced their way into the office of ''The Des Moines Register''s editor in 1987, haranguing him over his paper's coverage of LaRouche and demanding that certain editorials be retracted.
Dennis King began covering LaRouche in the 1970s, publishing a twelve-part series in a weekly Manhattan newspaper, ''Our Town'', and later writing or cowriting articles about LaRouche in '' New Republic'', ''High Times
''High Times'' is an American monthly magazine (and cannabis brand) that advocates the legalization of cannabis as well as other counterculture ideas. The magazine was founded in 1974 by Tom Forcade.Danko, Danny"Norml Founder Retires – Exha ...
'', ''Columbia Journalism Review
The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, an ...
'', and other periodicals, culminating in a full-length biography published in 1989. King alleges numerous instances of anonymous harassment and threats. Leaflets appeared from the NCLC accusing King, a newspaper publisher, and Roy Cohn, the newspaper's lawyer, of being criminals, homosexuals, or drug pushers. One leaflet included King's home address and phone number. In 1984 a LaRouche newspaper, ''New Solidarity'', published an article titled "Will Dennis King Come out of the Closet?", copies of which were distributed in his apartment building.[ Jeffrey Steinberg denied the movement had harassed King. LaRouche said that King had been "monitored" since 1979, "We have watched this little scoundrel because he is a major security threat to my life."][
]
=Public altercations
=
From the 1970s to the 2000s, LaRouche followers have staffed tables in airports and other public areas. The tables have carried posters with topical slogans. LaRouche followers have been alleged to use a confrontational style of interaction. In 1986, the New York state elections board received dozens of complaints about people collecting signatures on nomination petitions, including allegations of misrepresentation and abusive language used towards those who would not sign.
In the mid-80s, the Secretary of State of California
The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeh ...
, March Fong Eu
March Kong Fong Eu ( Kong; March 29, 1922 – December 21, 2017) was an American politician. She was a member of the California State Assembly and went on to serve as Secretary of State of California.
Early life and education
Eu was born March ...
, received complaints from the public about harassment by people gathering signatures to qualify the " LaRouche AIDS Initiative" for the state ballot. She warned initiative sponsors that permission to circulate the petitions could be revoked unless the "offensive activities" stopped. An altercation in 1987 between a LaRouche activist and an AIDS worker resulted in battery charges filed against the latter, who was outraged by the content of some of the material on display; she was found not guilty.
In California in 2009, several grocery chains sought restraining orders, damages and injunctions against LaRouche PAC activists displaying materials related to Obama's health care plan in front of their stores, citing customer complaints.[Banicki, Elizabeth (September 4, 2009)]
"Trader Joe's Wants LaRouche PAC Barred"
, Courthouse News Service[Banicki, Elizabeth (September 4, 2009)]
, Courthouse News Service In Edmonds, Washington
Edmonds is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located in the southwest corner of the county, facing Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains to the west. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located ...
, a 70-year-old man from Armenia, grew irate at what he viewed as comparisons of Obama to Hitler. He grabbed fliers and tussled with LaRouche supporters, resulting in assault charges against him.
Canada
The North American Labour Party
The North American Labour Party was a Canadian political party that nominated candidates in federal elections in the 1970s. However, because it was not a registered political party under the rules of Elections Canada, its candidates were consider ...
(NALP) nominated candidates in federal elections in the 1970s. Its candidates only had 297 votes nationwide in 1979. LaRouche himself offered a draft constitution for the commonwealth of Canada in 1981. The NALP later became the Party for the Commonwealth of Canada and that ran candidates in the 1984, 1988 and 1993 elections. Those were more successful, gaining as many as 7,502 votes in 1993, but no seats. The Parti pour la république du Canada (Québec) nominated candidates for provincial elections in the 1980s under various party titles. The LaRouche affiliate now operates as the ''Committee for the Republic of Canada.''
Latin America
Brazil's Party for Rebuilding of National Order (Prona) was described as a "LaRouche friend" and one of its members has been quoted in the ''Executive Intelligence Review'' as saying "We associate ourselves with the wave of ideas which flow from Mr. LaRouche's prodigious mind". PRONA gained six seats in the Chamber of Deputies in 2002. After gaining two seat in the 2006 election, the party merged with the larger Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
forming the Republic Party. However, there is no independent evidence that the Prona or its leaders recognized LaRouche as an influence on their policies, and it has been described as being part of the right-wing Catholic integralist
In politics, integralism, integrationism or integrism (french: intégrisme) is an interpretation of Catholic social teaching that argues for an authoritarian and anti- pluralist Catholic state, wherever the preponderance of Catholics withi ...
political tradition.
The Ibero-American Solidarity Movement (MSIA) has been described as an offshoot of LaRouche's Labor Party in Mexico. During peace talks to resolve the Chiapas conflict
The Chiapas conflict ( Spanish: ''Conflicto de Chiapas'') comprises the 1994 Zapatista uprising, the 1995 Zapatista crisis and ensuing tension between the Mexican state and the indigenous peoples and subsistence farmers of Chiapas from the 1990 ...
, the Mexican Labor Party and the Ibero-American Solidarity Movement (MSIA) attacked the peace process and one of the leading negotiators, Bishop Samuel Ruiz García, whom it accused of fomenting the violence and of being controlled by foreigners. Posters caricaturing Ruiz as a rattlesnake appeared across the country.
The movement strongly opposes perceived manifestations of neo-colonialism
Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, g ...
, including the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
, the Falklands/Malvinas War, etc., and are advocates of the Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile act ...
.
Australia
LaRouche supporters gained control of the formerly far-right Citizens Electoral Council
The Australian Citizens Party (ACP), formerly the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC), is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement which was led by American political activist and conspir ...
(CEC) in the mid-1990s. The CEC publishes an irregular newspaper, ''The New Citizen''. Craig Isherwood and his spouse Noelene Isherwood are the leaders of the party. The CEC has opposed politician Michael Danby
Michael David Danby (born 16 February 1955) is an Australian politician who was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1998 until 2019, representing the Division of Melbourne Ports, Victoria. Danby was b ...
and the 2004 Australian anti-terrorism legislation. For the 2004 federal election, it nominated people for ninety-five seats, collected millions of dollars in contributions, and earned 34,177 votes.
The CEC is concerned with Hamiltonian
Hamiltonian may refer to:
* Hamiltonian mechanics, a function that represents the total energy of a system
* Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics), an operator corresponding to the total energy of that system
** Dyall Hamiltonian, a modified Hamiltonian ...
economics and development ideas for Australia. It has been critical of Queen Elizabeth II's ownership of an Australian zinc mine and believes that she exerts control over Australian politics through the use of prerogative power
The royal prerogative is a body of customary authority, privilege and immunity, recognized in common law and, sometimes, in civil law jurisdictions possessing a monarchy, as belonging to the sovereign and which have become widely vested in the ...
. It has been in an antagonistic relationship with the B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...
's Anti-Defamation Commission, which has been critical of the CEC for perceived anti-semitism. It has asserted that the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
is a descendant of the New Guard
The New Guard was an Australian fascist paramilitary organisation during the Great Depression. It was the largest and most successful fascist organisation in Australian history.
The New Guard, known for its violent agitation against Premier o ...
and other purported fascists such as Sir Wilfrid Kent Hughes
Sir Wilfrid Selwyn "Bill" Kent Hughes (12 June 1895 – 31 July 1970) was an Australian army officer and politician who had a long career in both state and federal politics, most notably as a minister in the Menzies Government. He also ...
and Sir Robert Menzies. The CEC also says it is fighting for "real" Labor policies (from the 1930–40s republican leanings of the Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...
).
Europe
The LaRouche Movement has a major center in Germany. The (BüSo) (Civil Rights Movement Solidarity) political party is headed by Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Helga Zepp-LaRouche (born 25 August 1948) is a German political activist. She is the widow of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche, and the founder of the LaRouche movement's Schiller Institute and the German ''Bürgerrechtsbewegung Soli ...
, LaRouche's widow. It has nominated candidates for elective office and publishes the ' newspaper. Zepp-LaRouche is also the head of the German-based Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
. In 1986 Zepp-LaRouche formed the "Patriots for Germany" party, and says it ran a full slate of 100 candidates. The party received 0.2 percent of the 4 million votes. In Germany, the leader of the Green Party, Petra Kelly
Petra Karin Kelly (29 November 1947 – 1 October 1992) was a German Green politician and ecofeminist activist. She was a founding member of the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence both nationally in Germany and wo ...
, reported receiving harassing phone calls that she attributed to BüSo supporters. Her speeches were picketed and disrupted by LaRouche followers for years.
Jeremiah Duggan, a student from the UK attending a conference organized by the Schiller Institute and LaRouche Youth Movement in 2003, died in Wiesbaden, Germany, after he ran down a busy road and was hit by several cars. The German police said it appeared to be suicide. A British court ruled that Duggan had died while "in a state of terror."["No Joke"]
By April Witt, ''The Washington Post'' Sunday, October 24, 2004; Page W12 Duggan's mother believes he died in connection with an attempt to recruit him. The German public prosecution service said her son committed suicide.[Degen, Wolfgang]
"Nur die Legende hat ein langes Leben"
''Wiesbadener Kurier'', April 19, 2007 (German)
Google translation
The High Court in London ordered a second inquest in May 2010, which was opened and adjourned. In 2015, a British coroner rejected the suicide verdict and found that Duggan's body bore unexplained injuries which indicated an "altercation at some stage before his death."
''Solidarité et progrès'' (Solidarity and Progress), headed by Jacques Cheminade
Jacques Cheminade (; born 20 August 1941) is a French-Argentinian political activist. He is the head of Solidarity and Progress, the French arm of the LaRouche movement, and has thrice run for President of France.
Education and professional li ...
, is the LaRouche party in France. The party was previously known as ''Parti ouvrier européen'' (European Workers' Party) and ''Fédération pour une nouvelle solidarité'' (Federation for a New Solidarity). Its newspaper is ''Nouvelle Solidarité''. Cheminade ran for President of France
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
in 1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
, 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
and 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
, finishing last each time. The French LaRouche Youth Movement is headed by Élodie Viennot. Viennot supported the candidacy of Daniel Buchmann for the position of mayor of Berlin.
Sweden has an office of the Schiller Institute: Schillerinstitutet/EAP in Sweden, and the political party European Worker's Party (EAP). The former leader of the EAP, Ulf Sandmark, started as a member of the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League
The Swedish Social Democratic Youth League ( sv, Sveriges Socialdemokratiska Ungdomsförbund ; SSU) is a branch of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation in Sweden. The president has been Lisa Nåbo, since ...
(SSU), and was assigned to investigate the EAP and the ELC. After joining the EAP, he had his membership in SSU revoked. Following the Olof Palme assassination
On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen. Lisbeth Pa ...
on February 28, 1986, the Swedish branch of the EAP came under scrutiny as literature published by the party was found in the apartment of the initial suspect, Victor Gunnarsson
Victor Gunnarsson (March 31, 1953 – 3 or 4 December 1993) was a Swedish right-wing extremist, who was a suspect in the 1986 assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme. He emigrated to the United States, and was later murdered in 1993 in North Ca ...
. Soon after the assassination, NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television in the U.S. speculated that LaRouche was somehow responsible. Later, the suspect was released. No connection with LaRouche was shown.
In Denmark, four candidates for parliament on the LaRouche platform (Tom Gillesberg, Feride Istogu Gillesberg and Hans Schultz) won 197 votes in the 2007 election (at least 32,000 votes are needed for a local mandate). The Danish LaRouche Movement (Schiller Instituttet)'s first newspaper distributed 50,000 copies around Copenhagen and Aarhus.
The (MSA) is an Italian political party headed by Paolo Raimondi that supports the LaRouche platform.
Ortrun Cramer of the Schiller Institute became a delegate of the Austrian International Progress Organization in the 1990s, but there is no sign of ongoing relationship.
Polish newspapers have reported that Andrzej Lepper, leader of the populist Samoobrona party, was trained at the Schiller Institute and has received funding from LaRouche, though both Lepper and LaRouche deny the connection.
Nataliya Vitrenko
Nataliya Mykhailivna Vitrenko ( uk, Натáлія Михáйлівна Вітрéнко; born December 28, 1951) is a pro-Russian Ukrainian politician and scientist.
Presidential candidacy
Born in Kyiv, she was a candidate in the 2004 Ukrain ...
, leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
The Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (PSPU) is a banned Pro-Russian National Bolshevik political party in Ukraine led by Nataliya Vitrenko. The party was represented in Ukraine's national parliament between 1998 and 2002.
History
The p ...
, has stated multiple times that she supports LaRouche's ideals
In February 2008, the LaRouche movement in Europe began a campaign to prevent the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...
, which, according to the U.S.-based LaRouche Political Action Committee, "empowers a supranational financial elite to take over the right of taxation and war making, and even restore the death penalty, abolished in most nations of Western Europe." LaRouche press releases suggest that the treaty has an underlying fascist agenda, based on the " Europe a Nation" ideas of Sir Oswald Mosley
Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
.
Asia, Middle East and Africa
The Philippines LaRouche Society calls for fixed exchange rates, US/Philippine withdrawal from Iraq, denunciation of former US Vice President Dick Cheney, and withdrawal of U.S. military advisor
Military advisors, or combat advisors, advise on military matters. Some are soldiers sent to foreign countries
to aid such countries with their military training, organization, and other various military tasks. The Foreign powers or organizations ...
s from Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. In 2008 it also issued calls for the freezing of foreign debt payments, the operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, and the immediate implementation of a national food production program. It has an office in Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, operates a radio show and says on its website, "Lyndon LaRouche is our civilization's last chance at world peace and development. May God help us." On the matter of internal politics, LaRouche operative Mike Billington wrote in 2004, "The Philippines Catholic Church, too, is divided at the top over the crisis. The Church under Cardinal Sin">aimeSin, who is now retired, had given its full support to the 'people's power' charade for the overthrow of Marcos Marcos may refer to:
People with the given name ''Marcos''
*Marcos (given name)
Sports
;Surnamed
* Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century)
* Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer
* Nélson Marcos, Portug ...
and Estrada, but other voices are heard today." Later that year, he wrote:
According to Billington, representatives of LaRouche's ''Executive Intelligence Review
''Executive Intelligence Review'' (''EIR'') is a weekly newsmagazine founded in 1974 by the American political activist Lyndon LaRouche. Based in Leesburg, Virginia, it maintains offices in a number of countries, according to its masthead, incl ...
'' and Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
had met with Marcos in 1985, at which time LaRouche was warning that Marcos would be the target of a coup, inspired by George Shultz and neoconservative
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and count ...
s in the Reagan administration, because of Marcos' opposition to the policies of the International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
.[ In 1986, LaRouche asserted that Marcos was ousted because he hadn't listened to LaRouche's advice: "he was opposed to me and he fell as a result."]
The LaRouche movement is reported to have had close ties to the Ba'ath Party of Iraq. In 1997, the LaRouche movement, and the Schiller Institute in particular, were reported to have campaigned aggressively in support of the National Islamic Front
The National Islamic Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية القومية; transliterated: ''al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah'') was an Islamist political organization founded in 1976 and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi that influenced th ...
government in Sudan. They organized trips to Sudan for state legislators, which according to ''The Christian Science Monitor
''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...
'' was part of a campaign directed at African Americans.
The Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee (LaRouchePAC) has been vocal in its support for the construction of the Thai Canal
The Thai Canal, also known as Kra Canal or Kra Isthmus Canal, refers to proposals for a canal that would connect the Gulf of Thailand with the Andaman Sea across the Kra Isthmus in southern Thailand. Such a canal would significantly reduce tra ...
across the Kra Isthmus
The Kra Isthmus ( th, คอคอดกระ, ) in Thailand is the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula. The western part of the isthmus belongs to Ranong Province and the eastern part to Chumphon Province, both in Southern Thailand. The ...
of Thailand.
Periodicals and news agencies
The LaRouche organization has an extensive network of print and online publications for research and advocacy purposes.
Executive Intelligence Review
The LaRouche movement maintains its own press service, ''Executive Intelligence Review''. According to its masthead, ''EIR'' maintains international bureaus in Bogotá, Berlin, Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Lima, Melbourne, Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
, New Delhi, Paris, and Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...
, in addition to various cities in the U.S.
Broadcast
In 1986, the LaRouche movement bought WTRI, a low-powered AM radio station that covered western Maryland, northern Virginia, and parts of West Virginia. It was sold in 1991.
In 1991, the LaRouche movement began producing ''The LaRouche Connection'', a Public-access television
Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...
cable TV program. Within ten months it was being carried in six states. Dana Scanlon, the producer, said that "We've done shows on the JFK assassination, the 'October Surprise' and shows on economic and cultural affairs".
Internet
In January 2001, LaRouche began holding regular webcasts every 1–2 months. These were public meetings, broadcast in video, where LaRouche gave a speech, followed by 1–2 hours of Q and A over the internet. The last occurred on December 18, 2003.
Other
*''The New Federalist'' (U.S.), weekly newspaper
**New Solidarity International Press Service (NSIPS)
**NSIPS Speakers Bureau
**''Nouvelle Solidarité'', French news agency
**''Neue Solidarität'', published by Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität in German
*''Fidelio'', a "Journal of Poetry, Science, and Statecraft", published quarterly by Schiller Institute
*''21st Century Science and Technology
Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF) was an American non-profit think tank co-founded by Lyndon LaRouche in 1974 in New York. It promoted the construction of nuclear power plants, research into fusion power and beam weapons and other causes. The FEF wa ...
'', a quarterly magazine covering scientific topics
*''ΔΥΝΑΜΙΣ'' (Dynamis), the "Journal of the LaRouche Riemann method of physical economics"[McLemee, Scott]
The LaRouche Youth Movement
, '' Inside Higher Ed'', July 11, 2007
Dynamis website
Books and pamphlets
*LaRouche, Lyndon, ''The Power of Reason'' (1980) (autobiography)
*LaRouche, Lyndon, ''There Are No Limits to Growth'' (1983)
*LaRouche, Lyndon, ''So, You Wish To Learn All About Economics'' (1984)
*LaRouche, Lyndon, ''The Power of Reason 1988'' (1988)
*LaRouche, Lyndon, ''The Science of Christian Economy'' (1991)
Defunct periodicals
*''New Solidarity''
*''Fusion
Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole.
Fusion may also refer to:
Science and technology Physics
*Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
''
*'' International Journal of Fusion Energy''
*''The Loudon County News''
*''Investigative Leads ''
*''War on Drugs ''
*''The Young Scientist''
*''Campaigner Magazine ''
*''American Labor Beacon''
*''Middle East Insider''
Lawsuits
In 1979, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was sued by the U.S. Labor Party
The U.S. Labor Party (USLP) was a political party formed in 1973 by the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). , the National Caucus of Labor Committees The National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC) is a political organization in the United States founded and controlled by political activist Lyndon LaRouche until his 2019 death. LaRouche sometimes described the NCLC as a "philosophical association. ...
, and several individuals including Konstandinos Kalimtgis, Jeffrey Steinberg, and David Goldman, who claimed libel, slander, invasion of privacy, and assault on account of the ADL's accusations of anti-Semitism. A New York State Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...
judge ruled that it was "fair comment
Fair comment is a legal term for a common law defense in defamation cases ( libel or slander). It is referred to as honest comment in some countries.
United States
In the United States, the traditional privilege of "fair comment" is seen as a pr ...
" to describe them as anti-Semites
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
.
''United States v. Kokinda'' was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990. The case concerned the First Amendment rights of LaRouche movement members on Post Office property. The Deputy Solicitor General arguing the government's case was future Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including '' Nat ...
. The Court confirmed the convictions of Marsha Kokinda and Kevin Pearl, volunteers for the , finding that the Postal Service's regulation of solicitors was reasonable.
Characterizations
According to a biography produced by the LaRouche-affiliated Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
, the movement is based on a commitment to "a just new world economic order", specifically "the urgency of affording what have been sometimes termed 'Third World nations,' their full rights to perfect national sovereignty, and to access to the improvement of their educational systems and economies through employment of the most advanced science and technology."
The LaRouche movement has attracted devoted followers and developed some specific and elaborate policy initiatives, but has also been referred to variously as Marxist, fascist, anti-Semitic, a political cult, a personality cult
A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...
, and a criminal enterprise. The LaRouche movement has often been considered a far-right political movement.[King 1989, pp. 132–133.] In 1984, LaRouche's research staff was described by Norman Bailey, a former senior staffer of the United States National Security Council
The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...
, as "one of the best private intelligence services in the world".["Some Officials Find Intelligence Network 'Useful'"](_blank)
, ''The Washington Post'', January 15, 1985 The Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
called it "one of the strangest political groups in American history", and ''The Washington Monthly
''Washington Monthly'' is a bimonthly, nonprofit magazine of United States politics and government that is based in Washington, D.C. The magazine is known for its annual ranking of American colleges and universities, which serves as an alterna ...
'' called it a "vast and bizarre vanity press".
The LaRouche movement is seen by some as a fringe political cult.
Journalist and John Birch Society
The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...
activist John Rees wrote in his ''Information Digest'' that the movement has "taken on the characteristics more of a political cult than a political party", and that LaRouche is given "blind obedience" by his followers. He has also called the movement a " cult of personality". In rebuttal, LaRouche called the accusations of being a cult figure "garbage", and denied having control over any of the groups affiliated with him.
According to longtime critics Chip Berlet
John Foster "Chip" Berlet (; born November 22, 1949) is an American investigative journalist, research analyst, photojournalist, scholar, and activist specializing in the study of extreme right-wing movements in the United States. He also stu ...
and Matthew N. Lyons:
In the summer of 2009, LaRouche followers came under criticism from both Democrats and Republicans for comparing President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
. Media figures as politically diverse as Rush Limbaugh
Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American conservative political commentator who was the host of '' The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated on AM and FM r ...
and Jon Stewart criticized the comparison.
Organizations
Current organizations
*''Executive Intelligence Review'' Press Service (U.S.), a hub of the LaRouche movement
*National Caucus of Labor Committees The National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC) is a political organization in the United States founded and controlled by political activist Lyndon LaRouche until his 2019 death. LaRouche sometimes described the NCLC as a "philosophical association. ...
(U.S.)
*Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement
The Worldwide LaRouche Youth Movement (WLYM or LYM) and the LaRouche Political Action Committee (LaRouche PAC or LPAC) are part of the political organization of controversial American political figure Lyndon LaRouche. The LYM's " war room" is in Le ...
(international)
* LaRouche Political Action Committee (U.S.)
*Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
(international, based in Germany and U.S.)
*Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität
Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität (BüSo), or the Civil Rights Movement Solidarity, is a German political party founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the widow of U.S. political activist Lyndon LaRouche.
The BüSo is part of the worldwide LaRouche mo ...
(Germany)
* International Caucus of Labor Committees (international, especially Canada, Australia, and others)
*Citizens Electoral Council
The Australian Citizens Party (ACP), formerly the Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC), is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement which was led by American political activist and conspir ...
(Australia)
* Philippine LaRouche Society
* European Workers Party (Sweden)
* Comités Laborales de Nuevo León (Mexico)
* Solidarité et progrès (France)
United States businesses
* PMR Printing, Virginia
* World Composition Services, Inc. (a.k.a. WorldComp) (Ken Kronberg, former president)
* New Benjamin Franklin House Publishing Company, Inc., Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a town in the state of Virginia, and the county seat of Loudoun County. Settlement in the area began around 1740, which is named for the Lee family, early leaders of the town and ancestors of Robert E. Lee. Located in the far northeas ...
* American System Publications Inc., Los Angeles (Maureen Calney, president)
* Eastern States Distributors Incorporated, Pittsburgh (Starr Valenti, president)
* South East Literature (South East Political Literature Sales & Distribution, Inc.) Halethorpe, Maryland
Halethorpe is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The community is considered to be a sub-section of Arbutus by the United States Census Bureau. It is bordered by the main portion of Arbutus to the north, Balt ...
* Southwest Literature Distribution, Houston, Texas (Daniel Leach, president)
* Midwest Circulation Corp., Chicago
* Hamilton System Distributors, Inc., Ridgefield Park, New Jersey
Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the village's population was 12,729,[The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...]
'', LaRouche has told his followers that they are "golden souls", a term from '' The Republic'' of Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
. In his 1979 autobiography he contrasted the "golden souls" to "the poor donkeys, the poor sheep, whose consciousness is dominated by the infantile world-outlook of individual sensuous life". According to Dennis King, LaRouche believed that cadres "must be intellectually of a superior breed—a philosophical elite as well as a political vanguard".[ In 1986, LaRouche said during an interview, "What I represent is a growing movement. The movement is becoming stronger all the time..."
During the criminal trials of the late 1980s, LaRouche called upon his followers to be martyrs, saying that their "honorable deeds shall be legendary in the tales told to future generations". Senior members refused plea agreements that involved guilty pleas as those would have been black marks on the movement.
Former members report that life within the LaRouche movement is highly regulated. A former member of the security staff wrote in 1979 that members could be expelled for masturbating or using marijuana. Members who failed to achieve their fundraising quotas or otherwise showed signs as disloyal behavior were subjected to "ego stripping" sessions.] Members, even spouses, were encouraged to inform on each other, according to an ex-member. Although LaRouche was officially opposed to abortion, a former member testified that women were encouraged to have abortions because "you can't have children during a revolution." Another source said some group leaders coerced members into having abortions. John Judis, writing in ''The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', stated that LaRouche followers worked 16-hour days for little wages.
Former members have reported receiving harassing calls or indirect death threats. They say they have been called traitors. ''New Solidarity'' ran obituaries for three living former members.[ Internal memos have reportedly contained a variety of dismissive terms for ex-followers.][ One former member said that becoming a follower of LaRouche is "like entering the Bizarro World of the Superman comic books" which makes sense so long as one remains inside the movement.][
E. Newbold Smith, who married a du Pont, was indicted along with four associates for planning to have his son, Lewis du Pont Smith, and daughter-in-law abducted and " deprogrammed" after they joined the LaRouche movement and donated $212,000 of Lewis's approximately $10 million inheritance to a LaRouche publishing arm. The incident resulted in serious legal repercussions but no criminal convictions for those indicted, including private investigator Galen Kelly. E. Newbold Smith also successfully had his son declared "incompetent" to manage his financial affairs in order to block him from possibly turning over his inheritance to the LaRouche organization.
Kenneth Kronberg, who had been a leading member of the movement, committed suicide in 2007, reportedly because of financial issues concerning the movement.][ His widow, Marielle (Molly) Kronberg, had also been a longtime member. She gave an interview to ]Chip Berlet
John Foster "Chip" Berlet (; born November 22, 1949) is an American investigative journalist, research analyst, photojournalist, scholar, and activist specializing in the study of extreme right-wing movements in the United States. He also stu ...
in 2007 in which she made critical comments about the LaRouche movement. She was quoted as saying, "I'm worried that the organization may be in danger of becoming a killing machine." In 2004 and 2005, Kronberg made contributions of $1,501 to the Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. Political action committee, political committee that assists the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republi ...
and the election campaign of George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
,[ despite the LaRouche movement's opposition to the Bush administration. According to journalist Avi Klein, LaRouche felt that this "foreshadowed her treachery to the movement."][ Kronberg had been a member of the movement's governing National Committee since 1982 and was convicted of fraud during the ]LaRouche criminal trials
The LaRouche criminal trials in the mid-1980s stemmed from federal and state investigations into the activities of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche and members of his movement. They were charged with conspiring to commit fraud and solici ...
.
Associates and managers
*Helga Zepp-LaRouche
Helga Zepp-LaRouche (born 25 August 1948) is a German political activist. She is the widow of American political activist Lyndon LaRouche, and the founder of the LaRouche movement's Schiller Institute and the German ''Bürgerrechtsbewegung Soli ...
, widow, head of Schiller Institute
The Schiller Institute is a German based political and economic think tank founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, with stated members in 50 countries. It is among the principal organizations of the LaRouche movement. The institute's stated aim is to app ...
and Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität
Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität (BüSo), or the Civil Rights Movement Solidarity, is a German political party founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the widow of U.S. political activist Lyndon LaRouche.
The BüSo is part of the worldwide LaRouche mo ...
* Amelia Boynton Robinson, SI vice chairwoman
* Michael Billington, fundraiser (convicted of mail fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...
)
*William Wertz, chief fundraiser (convicted of mail fraud)
*Edward W. Spannaus, legal adviser (convicted of mail fraud)
*Dennis Small, fundraiser (convicted of mail fraud)
*Paul Greenberg, fundraiser (convicted of mail fraud)
*Joyce Rubinstein, fundraiser (convicted of mail fraud)
*Paul Gallagher
*Anita Gallagher, born Anita Gretz (1947– )
*Laurence Hecht
*Donald Phau
*Robert Primack (deceased)
* Ulf Sandmark, leader of European Workers Party, the Swedish section of the LaRouche Movement.
* Debra Freeman, national spokeswoman for the East Coast, chairwoman of the LaRouche campaign (1988)
* Kenneth Kronberg, editor and cofounder of ''Fidelio'' (deceased; suicide)
Political candidates
*Mel Logan, Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Senate in Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...
in 2000
*Janice Hart Janice Hart (born 1955) was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Illinois Secretary of State in 1986.
Hart, a political unknown and a LaRouche movement activist since the age of 17, unexpectedly won the Democratic Party's nomination. Her op ...
, ran for Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...
Secretary of State in 1986, won Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
nomination
*Mark J. Fairchild, ran for Illinois lieutenant governor in 1986, won Democratic Party nomination
*James Bevel
James Luther Bevel (October 19, 1936 – December 19, 2008) was a minister and leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement in the United States. As a member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and then as its Director of Direct ...
, vice presidential running mate
A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pr ...
, 1992
*Craig Isherwood, head of Australian CEC
*Jacques Cheminade
Jacques Cheminade (; born 20 August 1941) is a French-Argentinian political activist. He is the head of Solidarity and Progress, the French arm of the LaRouche movement, and has thrice run for President of France.
Education and professional li ...
, French politician
*Nancy Spannaus, ran for U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, 2002
*Eliott Greenspan, ran for Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...
in 2001
*Ron Bettag, ran for mayor of Chicago, Illinois (announced his candidacy with press release datelined "Germany". Most local issue: "Washington, D.C. General Hospital now under KKK-Katie Graham siege")
* William Ferguson, ran for U.S. Congress in Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
in 2001
*Kesha Rogers
Lakesha D. Rogers (born December 9, 1976) is an American political activist in the Lyndon LaRouche Youth Movement, a former candidate in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Texas, and a two-time Democratic Party nominee for Texas's 22nd con ...
, Democratic candidate for Congress in 2010 and 2012 in 22nd Texas district
* Daniel Burke, candidate for US Senate in New Jersey in 2020
* Diane Sare, candidate for U.S. Senate in New York in 2022.
Researchers, writers and spokespersons
* Jeffrey Steinberg, Director of Counterintelligence
Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ...
, ''EIR''
*Allen Salisbury, author of ''The Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
and the American System''
*Anton Chaitkin, co-author of ''The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush''
*Jonathan Tennenbaum
*Harley Schlanger, U.S. West Coast Spokesman
*Marsha Freeman, writer[
*Richard Freeman, senior economics staff, ''EIR''
*John Hoefle, banking columnist, ''EIR'']
* Marcia Merry-Baker[
* Tony Papert][
* Kathy Wolfe, economist, ''EIR'' (former member)
]
Former associates
* Nicholas F. Benton, aide to LaRouche, Washington, D.C. bureau chief, and White House Correspondent for ''Executive Intelligence Review''
* Ortrum Cramer, a member of the management of the Schiller Institute
* Robert Dreyfuss
Robert "Bob" Dreyfuss is an American investigative journalist and contributing editor for ''The Nation'' magazine. His work has appeared in ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Diplomat'', '' Mother Jones'', ''The American Prospect'', TomPaine.com, and other ...
, co-author of ''Hostage to Khomeini''
* F. William Engdahl, author of ''A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order''
* Roy Frankhouser, security consultant (deceased)
*David P. Goldman
David Paul Goldman (born September 27, 1951) is an American economist, music critic, and author, best known for his series of online essays in the ''Asia Times'' under the pseudonym Spengler with the first column published January 1, 2000. The p ...
, a.k.a. Spengler, co-author of ''The Ugly Truth About Milton Friedman'' and ''Dope, Inc.: Britain's Opium War against the U.S.''
* Laurent Murawiec, former contributor and editor of ''Executive Information Review'' (deceased)"The PowerPoint That Rocked the Pentagon: The LaRouchie defector who's advising the defense establishment on Saudi Arabia."
'' Slate'' August 7, 2002
*Webster Tarpley
Webster Griffin Tarpley (born September 1946) is an American author, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. A one-time follower of Lyndon LaRouche, Tarpley is known for his role in the 9/11 truth movement, believing 9/11 was a false flag o ...
, co-author of ''The Unauthorized Biography of George Bush'', former president of the Schiller Institute in the U.S.
Notes
References
External links
; Organizations
LaRouche Political Action Committee
''Executive Intelligence Review''
LaRouche Publications
Schiller Institute
Twenty First Century Science and Technology
aRouche-affiliated Science organization
The LaRouche Youth Movement
Solidarity and Progress
he French LaRouche Movement–affiliated party
; Criticism of the LaRouche Movement
"Lyndon LaRouche: Fascist Demagogue"
Political Research Associates collection of articles critical of LaRouche (PublicEye.Org archive)
The Larouch Network
an "institutional analysis" from the Heritage Foundation
The Heritage Foundation (abbreviated to Heritage) is an American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that is primarily geared toward public policy. The foundation took a leading role in the conservative movement during the preside ...
{{LaRouche movement
Neoplatonists
Environmental skepticism