George Van Horn Moseley
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George Van Horn Moseley (September 28, 1874 – November 7, 1960) was a
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
general. Following his retirement in 1938, he became controversial for his fiercely anti-immigrant and
antisemitic 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 ...
views.


Early life and career

Moseley was born in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...
, on September 28, 1874. He graduated from the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
in 1899 and was commissioned second lieutenant in the cavalry. He served in the Philippines twice, from 1900 to 1903 and 1906 to 1907, where his assignments included commanding a troop of the 1st Cavalry and serving as Aide-de-Camp to Generals J. M. Bell and J. M. Lee. In 1901 Moseley, accompanied by only one other officer, without escort and under conditions of great danger, penetrated a major Philippine insurgent stronghold. 2nd Lt. Moseley and 1st Lt. George Curry convinced Brigadier General
Ludovico Arejola Ludovico () is an Italian masculine given name. It is sometimes spelled Lodovico. The feminine equivalent is Ludovica. Persons with the name Ludovico Given name * Ludovico D'Aragona (1876–1961), Italian socialist politician * Ludovico Ario ...
to sign the peace agreement in Taban, Minalabac (Philippines) on March 25, 1901. The honor graduate of the Army School of the Line in 1908, Moseley also graduated from the Army Staff College in 1909 and the Army War College in 1911. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Moseley served as assistant chief of staff for logistics (G-4) on the staff of the
American Expeditionary Force The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...
headquarters. Avery D. Andrews (left) with fellow generals George Moseley and Charles Treat in 1918 Moseley married Mrs. Florence DuBois in July 1930.''TIME'' , accessed January 7, 2023 Moseley held camp and Washington assignments from 1920–1929. He was a member of several important commissions, including the
Harbord Commission The Harbord Commission was a U.S. commission tasked by President Wilson to study the relationship between the United States and Armenia following World War I. Major General James G. Harbord led the group and produced the final report which came to ...
to investigate
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n issues. After commanding the Second Field Artillery Brigade, in 1921 he was detailed as assistant to General Dawes in organizing the newly created Bureau of the Budget. In 1921 he was promoted brigadier general, Regular Army. Commanding the 1st Cavalry Division (1927–1929), he successfully interceded, under fire, with principals in a 1929 Mexican insurrection. His actions stopped stray gunfire from Juarez, Mexico, from endangering life and property in adjacent
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...
, and precluded further incidents. In 1931 he was promoted major general, Regular Army.


Senior assignments

Moseley was the executive for the Assistant Secretary of War, from 1929 to 1930 and Deputy Chief of Staff of Army from 1930 to 1933. He served as General
Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
's Deputy Chief of Staff during the 1932
Bonus March The Bonus Army was a group of 43,000 demonstrators – 17,000 veterans of U.S. involvement in World War I, their families, and affiliated groups – who gathered in Washington, D.C., in mid-1932 to demand early cash redemption of their servic ...
on Washington, D.C., in the course of which he recorded his fears of a Communist conspiracy against the United States and his identification of Jews with radicals and undesirables. He wrote in a private letter: In 1934, Moseley asked MacArthur to consider the immigration issue in terms of military manpower, contrasting a group of "southern lads" of "good Anglo-Saxon stock" with their counterparts from the North with names "difficult to pronounce" that "indicated foreign blood". Moseley linked the latter to labor problems and "so much trouble in our schools and colleges." MacArthur expressed skepticism in response to Moseley's argument that "It is a question of whether or not the old blood that built this fine nation ... is to continue to administer that nation, or whether that old stock is going to be destroyed or bred out by a lot of foreign blood which the melting pot has not touched." Moseley was Commanding General of the 5th Corps Area, from 1933 to 1934 and 4th Corps Area from 1934 to 1936. His final assignment was as commander of the
Third United States Army Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...
from 1936 to 1938.


Controversy

While still on active service, Moseley expressed controversial opinions in public. In 1936, he proposed that the
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was a major part of ...
be expanded "to take in every 18-year-old youth in the country for a six-month course in work, education and military training." In the late 1930s, when admitting refugees from Nazi persecution was a matter of national controversy, Moseley supported admitting refugees but added the proviso "that they all be sterilized before being permitted to embark. Only that way can we properly protect our future."


Retirement

Moseley retired from the Army in October 1938 with a statement that described the
New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...
as a growing dictatorship: "We do not have to vote for a dictatorship to have one in America ... We have merely to vote increased government responsibility for our individual lives, increased government authority over our daily habits, and the resultant Federal paternalism will inevitably become dictatorship." Secretary of War Harry Woodring called his statement "flagrantly disloyal." In April 1939 he attacked Jews and said that he foresaw a war fought for their benefit. He attacked President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
for appointing Felix Frankfurter to the U.S. Supreme Court. He predicted that the U.S. Army would not follow the orders of FDR's leftist administration if they "violate all American tradition." He described
fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
and
nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
as good "antitoxins" for the United States, adding that "the finest type of Americanism can breed under their protection as they neutralize the efforts of the Communists." Moseley understood that as a retired general, he remained subject to the War Department's jurisdiction, writing to a friend: "The only good I can do now is in keeping up quite a large correspondence with men who are in a position to influence public affairs. The enemy has completely silenced me, and I am handicapped, as I am still a Government official."Kastenberg 594, 610 Moseley also tried to lobby the New York National Guard adjutant to "cleanse" the state forces of all Jews and persons of color. ''Time'' reported his view that "more money should be spent on syphilis prevention and less on national defense"''TIME'': , accessed January 7, 2023 Two months after leaving the military, he questioned the President's proposed increases in military spending: "Much of our present weakness is in the fear and hysteria being engendered among the American people for ... political purpose. ... A nation so scared and so burdened financially is not in a condition to lick anybody. And then, who in hell are we afraid of? With Japan absorbed ... with the balance of power so nearly equal in Europe, where is there an ounce of naval or military strength free to threaten us?" He became increasingly more outspoken and instead of the language of Social Darwinism expressed anti-Semitic and conspiratorial views overtly. In Philadelphia, he told the National Defense Meeting that Jewish bankers had financed the Russian Revolution and that "The war now proposed is for the purposes of establishing Jewish hegemony throughout the world." He said that Jews controlled the media and might soon control the federal government.Bendersky, 255 In June 1939, Moseley testified for five hours before the
House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...
. He said that a Jewish Communist conspiracy was about to seize control of the U.S. government. He believed the President had the authority to counteract the planned coup and could do so "in five minutes" by issuing an order "to discharge every Communist in the government and everyone giving aid and comfort to the Communists." He said the President could use the Army against "the enemy within our gates" but did not seem willing to do so. He said he held no anti-Semitic views and that "the Jew is an internationalist first ... and a patriot second." He praised the "impressively patriotic" German-American Bund and said its purpose was to "see that Communists don't take over the country." Among Moseley's supporters who attended the hearing were Donald Shea, head of the American Gentile League and James True of America First Inc. The Committee found a prepared statement he read into the record so objectionable it was deleted from the public record. A few days later, Thomas E. Stone, head of the Council of United States Veterans, accused Moseley of treason and wrote that his praise of the Bund "abets a foreign government in the preparation of disruption against the eventuality of possible future hostilities, and that this he is acting in treason to our national safety." Moseley held anti-immigrant views throughout his life. In his unpublished autobiography, he quoted approvingly from
Madison Grant Madison Grant (November 19, 1865 – May 30, 1937) was an American lawyer, zoologist, anthropologist, and writer known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist, and as an advocate of scientific racism. Grant is less noted f ...
's '' The Passing of the Great Race''. He used the language of Social Darwinism to describe the problem the United States faced: Moseley described the Jew as a permanent "human outcast." They were "crude and unclean, animal-like things ... something loathsome, such as syphilis."Bendersky, 256 Following the Nazi invasion of France he wrote that in order to match the Nazi threat, the U.S. needed to launch a program of "selective breeding, sterilization, the elimination of the unfit, and the elimination of those types which are inimical to the general welfare of the nation." In December 1941, Moseley wrote that Europe's Jews were "receiving their just punishment for the crucifixion of Christ ... whom they are still crucifying at every turn of the road." He proposed a "worldwide policy which will result in bleeding all Jewish blood out of the human race." Shortly after the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Moseley wrote to former president Herbert Hoover alleging that a conspiracy of the British government and Jews in the United States goaded Japan to make war on the United States. In 1947, Moseley said of his years as a West Point cadet, "there was one Jew in my class, a very undesirable creature, who was soon eliminated." In the 1950s he became a critic of the Eisenhower Administration and championed the rehabilitation of convicted Nazi war criminal, Karl Doenitz. In 1951, the president of Piedmont College in Georgia invited Moseley to speak. Students and faculty protested because of his racist views. ''TIME'' called him a "trumpeter for Aryan supremacy." One faculty member was fired for speaking in opposition to the speaking engagement. Calls for the president's resignation followed. Almost the entire faculty and 9 trustees resigned in the next two years and enrollment fell by two thirds. In 1959, Moseley was one of the founders of Americans for Constitutional Action, an anti-Semitic successor to America First.Bendersky, 410 In retirement Moseley lived at the
Atlanta Biltmore Hotel The Atlanta Biltmore Hotel and Biltmore Apartments is an historic building located in Atlanta, Georgia. The complex, originally consisting of a hotel and apartments, was developed by William Candler, son of Coca-Cola executive Asa Candler, with ...
in Atlanta, Georgia. He died in Atlanta from a heart attack on November 7, 1960, and was buried at West Point Cemetery. Although he had disappeared from the public's view, he continued to influence a generation of other officers, including
Albert Wedemeyer General Albert Coady Wedemeyer (July 9, 1896 – December 17, 1989) was a United States Army commander who served in Asia during World War II from October 1943 to the end of the war. Previously, he was an important member of the War Planning Board ...
who shared similar bigoted beliefs. According to Professor Joshua Kastenberg at the University of New Mexico, prior to the January 6, 2021
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on the United States Capitol in Washington D.C., Moseley was the most extreme example of a retired officer seeking to subvert the Constitution.


Awards

Moseley's awards included the
Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. Th ...
(one oak leaf cluster); Commander of the Order of the Crown (Belgium);
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(United Kingdom);
Commander of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
and
Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
with Palm (France); and Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy. He was also a recipient of the Philippine Campaign Medal, Mexican Service Medal and the World War I Victory Medal.


Family

Moseley had three sons. He married Alice Dodds in 1902 and married Florence DuBois in July 1930. Alice was mother to George & Francis, Florence was mother to James. * Colonel George Van Horn Moseley Jr. led the
502d Parachute Infantry Regiment The 502nd Infantry Regiment (502nd IR), previously titled the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (502nd PIR), is an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment was established shortly after U.S. entry into World War II, and was ass ...
into Normandy in 1944. * Francis L. Moseley was an inventor and Vice President at the
Hewlett-Packard Company The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
. *
James W. Moseley James Willett Moseley (August 4, 1931 – November 16, 2012) was an American observer, author, and commentator on the subject of unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Over his nearly sixty-year career, he exposed UFO hoaxes and engineered hoaxes ...
was a longstanding figure in the
UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
enthusiast community.


Notes


Sources

* Bendersky, Joseph W., ''The Jewish Threat'' (Basic Books, 2002) * James, D. Clayton, ''The Years of MacArthur'', vol. 1: 1880–1941 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970) * Smith, Richard Norton, ''An Uncommon Man: The Triumph of Herbert Hoover'' (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1981, ) * Weintraub, Stanley, ''15 Stars: Eisenhower, MacArthur, Marshall, Three Generals Who Saved the American Century'' (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2007, ) * Kastenberg, Joshua E., "The Crisis of June 202: The Case of the Retired General and Admirals and the Clarion Calls of their Critics in Lex Non Scripta (Historic) Perspective", 99 ''University of Nebraska Law Review'', 594, 610 (2021)


External links


United States Third Army biography

George Van Horn Moseley papers
at
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
*
Finding Aid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moseley, George Van Horn 1874 births 1960 deaths United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel American conspiracy theorists American white supremacists Commanders of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Military personnel from Illinois Old Right (United States) People from Evanston, Illinois Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) United States Army generals of World War I United States Army generals United States Army War College alumni United States Military Academy alumni American anti-communists United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni Burials at West Point Cemetery