Book Review: ‘Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right’

Conservatives have long understood that nothing new is ever truly new. Old ideas and old movements never truly disappear, and no victory is ever truly permanent. As the United States grapples with radicalism on both sides of the aisle, it may seem tempting to think this moment is uniquely bad. But the history of American society is riddled with the husks of extremist movements. Matthew Dallek, historian and professor at George Washington University, writes a timeline of one such movement in Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right.

In only 288 well-written pages, Birchers captures in great detail the rise, fall, and resurrection of the John Birch Society (JBS), a radical right-wing group that was a focal point of American politics in the 1960s. It skillfully fleshes out the relationship between the society at its zenith and the contemporary players in American politics. In his effort to portray the society’s effects on the American Right, however, Dallek obfuscates or ignores the serious conflicts between the JBS and other conservative groups (including National Review under William F. Buckley Jr). As the book moves past the heyday of the JBS, Dallek’s attempted connections between the group’s ideas and contemporary politics grow tenuous. But it still provides valuable insight into the heritage of the contemporary Right’s more-extreme elements.

SH

About the Author

Scott Howard

Scott Howard is a University of Florida alumnus and former intern at National Review.

Featured Tags

Manage following

Conservatism

American History

William F. Buckley Jr.

Conservatives have long understood that nothing new is ever truly new. Old ideas and old movements never truly disappear, and no victory is ever truly permanent. As the United States grapples with radicalism on both sides of the aisle, it may seem tempting to think this moment is uniquely bad. But the history of American society is riddled with the husks of extremist movements. Matthew Dallek, historian and professor at George Washington University, writes a timeline of one such movement in Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right.

In only 288 well-written pages, Birchers captures in great detail the rise, fall, and resurrection of the John Birch Society (JBS), a radical right-wing group that was a focal point of American politics in the 1960s. It skillfully fleshes out the relationship between the society at its zenith and the contemporary players in American politics. In his effort to portray the society’s effects on the American Right, however, Dallek obfuscates or ignores the serious conflicts between the JBS and other conservative groups (including National Review under William F. Buckley Jr). As the book moves past the heyday of the JBS, Dallek’s attempted connections between the group’s ideas and contemporary politics grow tenuous. But it still provides valuable insight into the heritage of the contemporary Right’s more-extreme elements.