Attacked: Before Trump, There Was JBS
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was shot multiple times and killed as he, his wife, and other dignitaries made their way through Dallas in a convertible. In the hours thereafter, many politicians and major segments of the media began to say that “Birchers,” as in members of The John Birch Society, were to blame. Later, overwhelming evidence proved this to be false.
However, leftist extremists vandalized the JBS headquarters in Belmont, Massachusetts. Carloads of young people were continuously driving around the JBS buildings and eventually threw a rock through the window, not far from where JBS founder Robert Welch was working. In Phoenix, some miscreant fired several bullets into a JBS office; the bullets lodged in the reception desk and back wall.
What had caused the eye of suspicion to turn to “Birchers” when President Kennedy was killed? In short, it was a propaganda campaign — ordered by communists — that had been sweeping the country since 1961. The smear campaign continued for many years, until it stopped, seemingly, overnight. It was probably because all of the negative publicity had led to a large growth in membership for the Society.
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