The national leader of the Ku Klux Klan is called either a

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

or an Imperial Wizard, depending on which KKK organization is being described.

Second Ku Klux Klan

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

(1880–1945) was the leader of the second Ku Klux Klan between 1915 and 1922. *

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

(1897–1950), Imperial Wizard, 1939-1944. Colescott dissolved the organization after it was hit with a $685,000 lien by the IRS. * Samuel Green (1889–1949), Imperial Wizard for 1 day.

Other Ku Klux Klan movements

* Jeff Berry (1968–2013) *

Samuel Bowers Samuel Holloway Bowers (August 25, 1924 – November 5, 2006) was a convicted murderer and a leading white supremacist in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. He was Grand Dragon of the Mississippi Original Knights of the Ku Klux Kla ...

(1924–2006) *

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

(born 1950) * Virgil Lee Griffin (ca. 1944–2009) * Thomas Robb (born 1946) * David Wayne Hull (born 1962) *

Johnny Lee Clary Johnny Lee Clary (June 18, 1959 – October 21, 2014) was an American former professional wrestler, white supremacist, and later preacher. Clary served as a Ku Klux Klan leader before he became a Pentecostal Christian, traveling around the world ...

(1959–2014), Imperial Wizard in 1989 of the White Knights Organization but subsequently renounced his membership and became an

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

Christian minister speaking against racism and movements such as the Ku Klux Klan. *Ron Edwards, Imperial Wizard of the

Imperial Klans of America The Imperial Klans of America, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IKA) is a white supremacist, white nationalist, neo-Nazi paramilitary organization. Until the late 2000s, it was the second largest Klan group in the United States, and the largest at o ...

. * Robert Shelton (1930–2003), Imperial Wizard of the now defunct

United Klans of America The United Klans of America Inc. (UKA), based in Alabama, is a Ku Klux Klan organization active in the United States. Led by Robert Shelton, the UKA peaked in membership in the late 1960s and 1970s,Abby Ferber. '' White Man Falling: Race, Gender, ...

. * Louis Beam (born 1946) * Bill Wilkinson, Imperial Wizard of the "Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan", from 1975–1981. * Don Black (born 1953), formally imprisoned

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

and Imperial Wizard, from 1981–1987. *

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

(1909–1960), Imperial Wizard of the KKK from 1953–1960. *

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

(1890-1967) Second in command of 1915 KKK under William Simmons, Grand Dragon of Texas under Eldon Edwards, Imperial Wizard of Original Knights of KKK 1958-1966 * Samuel Roper (1895–1986), law enforcement officer turned Imperial Wizard of the KKK, from 1949–1950. He was preceded by Samuel Green, and was later succeeded by Eldon Lee Edwards. * Bob Jones (1930–1989), Grand Dragon of the United Klans of America in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

from 1963–1967.Cunningham, David. Klansville, U.S.A.: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights-Era Ku Klux Klan. Massachusetts: Oxford Scholarship Online, 2012. Print. *

Tom Metzger Thomas Linton Metzger (April 9, 1938 – November 4, 2020) was an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi skinhead leader and Klansman. He founded White Aryan Resistance (WAR), a neo-nazi organization, in 1983. He was a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux ...

(1938–2020), Grand Wizard of the KKK in the 1970s. Founder of the

White Aryan Resistance White Aryan Resistance (WAR) is a white supremacist and neo-Nazi organization in the United States which was founded and formerly led by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Tom Metzger. It is based in Warsaw, Indiana, and it is also incorporated ...

(WAR).

References

{{Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan