Charles Coughlin | |
|---|---|
 Father Coughlin in 1933 | |
| Church | Catholic |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1916 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charles Edward Coughlin (1891-10-25)October 25, 1891 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | October 27, 1979(1979-10-27) (aged 88) Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, U.S. |
| Buried | Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield, Michigan |
| Education | University of Toronto |
Charles Edward Coughlin (/ˈkɒɡlɪn/KOG-lin; October 25, 1891 – October 27, 1979), commonly known asFather Coughlin, was a Canadian-AmericanCatholic priest based nearDetroit. He was the founding priest of theNational Shrine of the Little Flower. Dubbed "The Radio Priest " and considered a leadingdemagogue,[1] he was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience. During the 1930s, when the U.S. population was about 120 million, an estimated 30 million listeners tuned in to his weekly broadcasts.[2]
Coughlin was born inOntario to working-class Irish Catholic parents. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1916, and in 1923 he was assigned to the National Shrine of the Little Flower inRoyal Oak, Michigan. Coughlin began broadcasting his sermons during a time of increasinganti-Catholic sentiment across the globe. As his broadcasts became more political, he became increasingly popular.[3]
Initially, Coughlin was a vocal supporter ofFranklin D. Roosevelt and hisNew Deal; he later fell out with Roosevelt, accusing him of being too friendly to bankers. In 1934, he established theNational Union for Social Justice, a political organization whose platform called for monetary reforms, nationalization of major industries and railroads, and protection of labour rights. Its membership ran into the millions but was not well organized locally.[4]
After making attacks on Jewish bankers, Coughlin began to use his radio programGolden Hour to broadcastantisemitic commentary. In the late 1930s, he supported some of the policies ofNazi Germany andFascist Italy. The broadcasts have been described as "a variation of the Fascist agenda applied to American culture".[5] His chief topics were political and economic rather than religious, using the slogan "Social Justice".
After the outbreak ofWorld War II in Europe in 1939, theNational Association of Broadcasters forced the cancellation ofGolden Hour. In 1942, the Archdiocese of Detroit forced Coughlin to close his newspaperSocial Justice and forbade its distribution by mail. Coughlin vanished from the public arena, working as a parish pastor until retiring in 1966. He died in 1979 at age 88.[6][7][8]
Charles Coughlin was born on October 25, 1891, inHamilton, Ontario, the only child of Irish Catholic Amelia (née Mahoney) and Thomas Coughlin. Born in a working-class neighbourhood, he lived in a modest home situated between a Catholic cathedral and convent.[9] His mother, who had regretted not becoming anun, was the dominant figure in the household and instilled a deep sense of religion in Charles.[10]
After his secondary education, Coughlin attended theUniversity of Toronto, enrolling inSt. Michael's College, run by theCongregation of St. Basil, and graduating in 1911.[11][12] Coughlin then entered the Basilian Fathers. The Basilians were a traditional order that denouncedusury and supportedsocial justice. Coughlin prepared for the priesthood at St. Basil's Seminary and was ordained in Toronto in 1916. The Basilians then assigned him to teach atAssumption College, their institution inWindsor, Ontario.[13]
In 1923, a reorganization of Coughlin's religious order resulted in his departure. The Vatican ordered the Basilians to change from asociety of common life to amonastic life. The members of the order were required to take the traditional three religious vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.[citation needed][14]
Unwilling to accept the monastic life, Coughlin applied forincardination, or transfer, out of the Basilians to the Archdiocese of Detroit. He was accepted in 1923 and moved to Detroit. The archdiocese assigned Coughlin to pastoral positions in several parishes. In 1925, when Coughlin was exiting a building in Detroit, he saw a man stealing a trunk from the back of his car. When Coughlin confronted the thief, he dropped the trunk and swung at him. The fight continued until Coughlin knocked him unconscious. The incident received coverage in the Detroit newspapers.[15]
In 1926, he was assigned to the newly foundedShrine of the Little Flower, a congregation of 25 families inRoyal Oak, Michigan.
In 1926, Coughlin began broadcasting his Sunday sermons from local radio stationWJR. He later said that he started his radio show in response to theKu Klux Klan burning a cross at the shrine and wanted to provide support to local Catholics. However, the broadcast also provided him with extra income to pay back the diocesan loan owed by the shrine.[16] Coughlin started on WJR with a weekly, hour-long radio program. A gifted speaker, he had a rich speaking voice and used a careful cadence.[17]
When the Goodwill Stations radio network acquired WJR in 1929, ownerGeorge A. Richards recognized Coughlin's talent as a broadcaster. Richards encouraged Coughlin to focus his program more on politics than religion.[18] Coughlin then started attackingincome inequality, blaming the American banking system and the Jews for the poverty of American workers. TheColumbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio network signed a contract for Coughlin's program in 1930 for national broadcast. It was called theRadio League of the Little Flower.[18]
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By 1931, Coughlin had raised enough money fromRadio League to construct the huge Charity Crucifixion Tower at the Shrine of the Little Flower.[19]
In 1931, CBS received complaints from several affiliate stations about Coughlin's political views. CBS management was also concerned about his attacks on the administration of US PresidentHerbert Hoover.[19] CBS then demanded a review of Coughlin's scripts prior to broadcast, which he refused. When Coughlin's contract with CBS ended, the network decided not to renew it.[20]
Coughlin and Richards then established an independently financed radio network. His show became theGolden Hour of the Shrine of the Little Flower, with WJR andWGAR inCleveland serving as core stations.[18][21] With Coughlin paying for the airtime on a contractual basis, the number of affiliates carryingGolden Hour increased to 25 stations by August 1932.[22] Regional radio networks, such as theYankee Network, the Quaker State Network, the Mohawk Network and the Colonial Network, also started carryingGolden Hour.[23] Coughlin's radio network became the largest one of its type in the United States. Leo Fitzpatrick, who had given Coughlin his initial airtime over WJR in 1926 and was retained as a part-owner when Richards purchased the station,[24] continued to serve as a confidant and advisor to Coughlin.[25]
With the United States suffering through theGreat Depression, Coughlin strongly endorsed New York GovernorFranklin D. Roosevelt for president in the1932 Presidential election. He was invited to attend the June 1932Democratic National Convention in Chicago. An early supporter of Roosevelt's New Deal reforms, Coughlin coined the popular phrase "Roosevelt or Ruin". Another phrase Coughlin created was "The New Deal is Christ's Deal".[26] After Roosevelt was elected in November 1932, he politely received Coughlin's policy proposals, but showed no interest in enacting them.[19]
By 1933,Securities and Exchange Commission PresidentJoseph P. Kennedy Sr., a strong New Deal and Roosevelt supporter who had befriended Coughlin, warned that he was "becoming a very dangerous proposition in the whole country" and "an out and out demagog [sic]" in a letter toFelix Frankfurter.[27] That same year,The Literary Digest wrote, "Perhaps no man has stirred the country and cut as deep between the old order and the new as Father Charles E. Coughlin."[28]
In 1934, Coughlin founded theNational Union for Social Justice (NUSJ), a nationalistic workers' rights organization. Its leaders were impatient with what they considered the Roosevelt's unconstitutional and pseudo-capitalisticmonetary policies. The NUSJ soon gained a strong following amongnativists and opponents of the Federal Reserve, especially in theAmerican Midwest.
By 1934, Coughlin was perhaps the most prominent Catholic speaker on political and financial issues. His radio audience included tens of millions of Americans every week. HistorianAlan Brinkley wrote that "by 1934, he [Coughlin] was receiving more than 10,000 letters every day" and that "his clerical staff at times numbered more than a hundred."[29] He foreshadowed moderntalk radio andtelevangelism.[30] However, theUniversity of Detroit Mercy states thatGolden Hour's peak audience was in 1932.[19]
It is estimated that at peak, one-third of the nation listened to his broadcasts.[31] TheGolden Hour office was receiving up to 80,000 letters per week from listeners. Author Sheldon Marcus said that the size of Coughlin's radio audience "is impossible to determine, but estimates range up to 30 million each week".[32]
In 1934, Roosevelt sent Kennedy and Detroit MayorFrank Murphy to visit Coughlin and try to temper his attacks.[33] Coughlin visited Roosevelt several times at his estate inHyde Park, New York.[34] In a bid to control the excesses of the radio industry, Congress passed theCommunications Act of 1934, establishing theFederal Communications Commission (FCC). FCC ChairmanFrank R. McNinch warned that it would not allow broadcasters to use their networks or stations as "...an instrument of racial or religious persecution".[35]
Coughlin's attacks on Roosevelt continued to increase. He began denouncing him as a tool ofWall Street. Coughlin opposed the New Deal with growing vehemence, attacking Roosevelt, capitalists and alleged Jewish conspirators. He encouraged the third-party candidacy of Louisiana GovernorHuey Long for president in the 1936 election, but that was cut short by Long's assassination in 1935. Under Coughlin's direction, the NUSJ founded theUnion Party in preparation for the 1936 elections.
In early 1936, at Kennedy's urging, BishopFrancis Spellman and CardinalEugenio Pacelli tried to mute Coughlin's vitriol.[36] While the American Catholic hierarchy did not approve of Coughlin, only Coughlin's superior—BishopMichael Gallagher of Detroit—had the canonical authority to curb him. Gallagher was a strong supporter of Coughlin and refused to stop him.[37] The church hierarchy also feared the backlash from Coughlin's Catholic supporters if they reprimanded him.[37]
Coughlin opened a new church building at the Shrine of the Little Flower in 1936, anoctagonal structure shaped like a tent. One of its unique features was an altar positioned at the center of worship. This design did not become common in Catholic churches until the reforms of theSecond Vatican Council in the 1960s.[19]
With the start of the1936 U.S. presidential election, Coughlin was ready to support a third party candidate running against Roosevelt. At a NUSJ rally atCleveland Municipal Stadium on May 11, 1936, Coughlin predicted that NUSF would "take half of Ohio" in the upcomingprimary election, citing multiple congressional candidates with NUSJ backing.[38] After the outbreak of theSpanish Civil War in July, Coughlin accused Roosevelt of "leaning towardinternational socialism" by his failure to support the Nationalists under GeneralFrancisco Franco. Coughlin presided over theTownsend Convention held in July atCleveland Public Hall on July 23. In his speech on July 16, Coughlin called Roosevelt a liar and a communist, referring to him as "Franklin Doublecross Roosevelt."[39]
At the Union Party convention at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland on August 16, Coughlin endorsed the party's presidential candidate, House RepresentativeWilliam Lemke.[40] Coughlin fainted near the end of his speech.[15] In an August 16Boston Post article, Coughlin referred to Kennedy as the "shining star among the dim 'knights' in the [Roosevelt] Administration".[41]
Coughlin promised his radio audience that he would retire from broadcasting if he failed to deliver nine million votes for Lemke; he only received 850,000 votes.[42] Roosevelt won the election on November 5 by a landslide.[42] According to a 2021 study in theAmerican Economic Review, Coughlin's criticisms did reduce Roosevelt's share of votes versus the 1932 election.[43] After the election, both the Union Party and its parent organization, the NUSJ, disbanded; Coughlin took a two-month retirement fromGolden Hour.[44]
After Bishop Gallagher died in January 1937,Pope Pius XI replaced him withEdward Mooney, the first Archbishop of Detroit. Coughlin then left retirement to return toGolden Hour, in memory of Gallagher. In October 1937, Mooney rebuked Coughlin for casting aspersions on Roosevelt's sanity over his nomination of U.S. SenatorHugo Black to theU.S. Supreme Court.[45]
By 1938,Golden Hour was being broadcast to a peak of 58 affiliates.[23][46] In May 1938, Coughlin called for a "crusade against the anti-Christian forces of theRed Revolution" inSocial Justice. That led him to found a new organization, theChristian Front.[47] Its membership numbered several thousand. Unlike the NUSJ, the Christian Front membership was mainly of Irish-American men in New York City and other eastern cities.
On November 9 and 10, 1938, Nazi organizations and sympathizers attacked Jewish businesses and synagogues throughout Germany in what became known as theKristallnacht. When the owner ofWMCA in New York,Donald Flamm, saw the preliminary script for the November 20 broadcast ofGolden Hour, he immediately demanded that Coughlin change inflammatory references to Jews. However, Flamm did not get to view the final script.
On the November 20 broadcast, Coughlin deflected blame from the Nazis for Kristallnacht. He referred to 'millions' of Christians who had allegedly been murdered in theSoviet Union by its government. Speaking of Germany, Coughlin said, "Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted."[48] After the broadcast finished, the WMCA booth announcer said, "Unfortunately, Father Coughlin has uttered many misstatements of fact."[49]
After the broadcast, WMCA, WIND and WJJD all demanded advance copies of the script for the November 27 program. When Coughlin failed to deliver them, all three stations canceled it. Flamm remarked that the show "was calculated to stir up religious and racial hatred and dissension in this country."[42][50] Coughlin then pulled all the future broadcasts from the three stations, accusing them of being under "Jewish ownership".[49][42][50][a] In the December 5 issue ofSocial Justice, Coughlin wrote a column that plagiarized portions of a 1935 speech by the German Propaganda MinisterJoseph Goebbels, a rabid antisemite.[35]
On December 14, CardinalGeorge Mundelein, archbishop of Chicago, issued the first formal condemnation of Coughlin by the Catholic hierarchy. Mundelein said that Coughlin was: "...not authorized to speak for the Catholic Church, nor does he represent the doctrine or sentiments of the Church."[46]
Four days later, thousands of Coughlin's followers, many associated with the Christian Front, picketed WMCA's studios in protest. Some of them yelled antisemitic statements, such as "Send Jews back where they came from in leaky boats!" and "Wait until Hitler comes over here!" The protests at WMCA continued for 38 weeks.[42][51] Coughlin attended some of the protests.[42]
While the Federal Communications Commission wondered whether they could legally sideline Father Coughlin, the National Association of Broadcasters changed its code of ethics in July, 1939, to bar the sale of airtime for the presentation of controversial issues except in political races.[52]
Later court decisions found that although theFirst Amendment protectedfree speech, it did not necessarily apply to broadcasting because the radio spectrum was a "limited national resource" and as a result was regulated as a publicly ownedcommons.[citation needed]
When Coughlin's operating permit was denied, he was temporarily silenced. Coughlin worked around the new restrictions by purchasing air time and playing his speeches via transcription. However, having to buy the weekly air time on individual stations severely reduced his reach and also strained his financial resources.[b]
In 1939, theInstitute for Propaganda Analysis used Coughlin's radio talks to illustrate propaganda methods in their bookThe Fine Art of Propaganda, which was intended to show propaganda's effects against democracy.[53] Coughlin was praised in January 1939 byRegime Fascista, an Italian newspaper aligned with thefascist government of Italy.[54]
Afterthe outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939, Coughlin appealed toGolden Hour listeners to travel to Washington, D.C. as "an army of peace". His aim was to stop the repeal by Congress of theNeutrality Acts, a series ofarms embargoes passed during the 1930s to ensure American neutrality in a European conflict. This call led Coughlin's opponents to accuse him of stokingincitement bordering oncivil war.[46]
Coughlin's call for a march on Washington finally motivated theNational Association of Broadcasters (NAB) to take action againstGolden Hour.[55] Fearing FCC intervention, NAB formed aself-regulating Code Committee that limited the sale of air time to controversial individuals.[56] The Committee created a code, which was ratified in October 1939, that required all radio broadcasters to submit their scripts to the radio stations for review before broadcast. Stations that did not comply with the code faced the threat of license revocation.[57][58] This code was drafted specifically as a response to Coughlin andGolden Hour.[46] WJR, WGAR and the Yankee Network, all of which carriedGolden Hour, threatened to quit the NAB over the new code, but eventually adopted it.[c][59][60]
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In January 1940, theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the Brooklyn headquarters for the Christian Front, arresting 17 men on charges of plotting to overthrow the U.S. government. Coughlin then issued a statement, saying that while he was not a member of the Christian Front and disavowed violence, he did not disassociate himself from the group.[61][62] He called the Front "pro-American, pro-Christian, anti-Communist and anti-Nazi".[63] The trials for the 17 men ended in acquittals andhung juries; one of the defendants took his own life.[citation needed]
Both Coughlin and renowned aviatorCharles Lindbergh would serve as the lead spokesmen for the isolationistAmerica First Committee.[64]
In the September 23, 1940, issue ofSocial Justice, Coughlin announced that he was cancellingGolden Hour, forced "...by those who control circumstances beyond my reach".[65] Coughlin now had to rely onSocial Justice to reach his followers. In 1940, reversing his previous position, Kennedy attacked Coughlin'sisolationism.[66][67][33] After the December 1941 Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor and the U.S. declaration of war against theAxis Powers, anti-interventionist movements rapidly lost public support. Isolationists such as Coughlin were tagged as enemy sympathizers.[citation needed]
On April 14, 1942, U.S. Attorney GeneralFrancis Biddle wrote a letter to Postmaster GeneralFrank Walker, suggesting that he revoke the second-class mailing privilege ofSocial Justice.[68] Using theEspionage Act of 1917 as its legal justification, Walker temporarily suspended the mailing permit forSocial Justice on April 14.[69][70][71] Walker scheduled a hearing on its permanent suspension for April 29, later postponed until May 4.[72] Unable to mailSocial Justice to its subscribers, Coughlin was confined to distributing it by private delivery trucks only in the Boston area.[73]
Biddle also convened afederal grand jury to considersedition charges againstSocial Justice and Coughlin.[74] Biddle asked bankerLeo Crowley, a Roosevelt appointee, to offer a deal to Archbishop Mooney; theUS Justice Department would not prosecute Coughlin if he closedSocial Justice and stopped all his political activities.[75]
On May 1, Mooney ordered Coughlin to confine himself only to the pastoral duties of the Shrine of the Little Flower. The alternative was his suspension from active ministry and federal indictment. Coughlin complied with Mooney's order andSocial Justice ceased publication. The May 4 hearing before the Postmaster General was canceled.[citation needed]
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Coughlin served as pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower until his retirement in 1966. During this period, the Archdiocese of Detroit reviewed all of Coughlin's public speeches in advance.[19] In 1951, he attended Richards's funeral.[76] Richards died following a long legal fight to keep his broadcast licenses amid accusations of antisemitism and of using the stations to further his political interests.[77][78]
Coughlin died inBloomfield Hills, Michigan, in 1979 at age 88.[12] Church officials stated that he had been bedridden for several weeks.[11] He was buried in theHoly Sepulchre Cemetery inSouthfield, Michigan.[79]
Pope Francis designated the Shrine of the Little Flower as aminor basilica in 2015.[80][81]
In November 1934, as a "Preamble" for his National Union of Social Justice, Coughlin issued "Sixteen Principles of Social Justice," prominently influenced by the ideas expounded in two Papal Encyclicals on social justice, Pope Leo XIII,Rerum Novarum, and Pius XI,Quadragesimo Anno (Brinkley 86-87, 94, 112, 129-130 & 162). These include liberty of conscience and education, work rewarded by "a just and living wage," "nationalizing public necessities ... too important to be held in the control of private individuals. ...banking, credit and currency, power, light, oil and natural gas and our God-given natural resources;" "upholding the right of private property yet controlling it for the public good;" abolition of the Federal Reserve; abolition of tax-exempt bonds; taxation of wealth; "in the event of war, conscription of wealth as well as men;" "preferring the sanctity of human rights to the sanctity of property rights." (Brinkley 287–288 reprints the complete Preamble).
In January 1930, Coughlin began attackingsocialism andSoviet Communism, both ideologies strongly opposed by the Catholic Church. In 1933, Coughlin criticized Roosevelt's decision to extenddiplomatic recognition by the United States of theSoviet Union.[46]
Coughlin criticized American capitalists, stating that their greed was makingcommunist ideologies attractive to workers. He warned, "Let not the workingman be able to say that he is driven into the ranks of socialism by the inordinate and grasping greed of the manufacturer."[82]
The historianMichael Kazin wrote that Coughlin's followers saw capitalism and communism as equally evil. They believed that they were defending those people who were joined more by piety, economic frustration, and a common dread of powerful, modernizing enemies than through any class identity.[83] In a 1930 broadcast, Coughlin stated:
“We have lived to see the day that modern Shylocks have grown fat and wealthy, praised and deified, because they have perpetuated the ancient crime of usury under the modern racket of statesmanship.”[84]
Coughlin proclaimed in 1935:
"I have dedicated my life to fight against the heinous rottenness of moderncapitalism because it robs the laborer of this world's goods. But blow for blow I shall strike against Communism, because it robs us of the next world's happiness."[85]
The NUSJ's articles of faith included work and income guarantees, the nationalization of key industries,wealth redistribution through increased taxation of the wealthy, federal protection oflabor unions, and limiting property rights in favor of government control of the country's assets for public good.[87] Coughlin said:
We maintain the principle that there can be no lasting prosperity if free competition exists in industry. Therefore, it is the business of government not only to legislate for a minimum annual wage and maximum working schedule to be observed by industry, but also so to curtail individualism that, if necessary, factories shall be licensed and their output shall be limited.[88]
One of Coughlin's slogans was "Less care for internationalism and more concern for national prosperity",[89] which appealed toisolationists and many Irish Catholics.[90]
Coughlin spoke about the negative influence of what he termed as "money changers". He also condemned what he called the government "...permitting a group of private citizens to create money..." at the nation's expense.[91] He said that the Great Depression was a "cash famine" and proposed the nationalization of theFederal Reserve System as the solution. In January 1934, Coughlin testified before theUS Congress, saying:
"If Congress fails to back up the President in his monetary program, I predict a revolution in this country which will make theFrench Revolution look silly!" He also said to the Congressional hearing, "God is directing President Roosevelt."[92]
Coughlin urged Roosevelt to use the unlimited coinage ofsilver to inflate the money supply and reorganize the financial system.[19] The US Government increased investment in silver for a limited period following theAmerican Silver Purchase Act of 1934, which resulted in U.S. silver mines being nationalized between 1934 and 1943 through stamp taxes.[93]
In the 1930s, Coughlin called onCongress to take back control of themoney supply from theFederal Reserve Banks. He pointed out that Congress has the authority underArticle I of the US Constitution tocoin money and regulate its value.[84]
As the 1930s progressed, Coughlin's views changed. Eventually he became "openly antidemocratic", according to the political scientistsSteven Levitsky andDaniel Ziblatt, "calling for the abolition of political parties and questioning the value of elections".[94] His views mirrored those of Richards, who heldreactionaryconservative beliefs.[18]
In 1936, Coughlin expressed sympathy for the fascist governments ofAdolf Hitler in Germany andBenito Mussolini in Italy, terming them as an antidote to Communism.[95] ANew York Times report from Berlin in 1938 identified Coughlin as "the German hero in America for the moment" with his sympathetic statements towards Nazism as "a defensive front against Bolshevism".[49]
However, in February 1939, when the American Nazi organization theGerman American Bund held a large rally in New York City,[96] Coughlin immediately distanced himself from them. OnGolden Hour, he said:
"Nothing can be gained by linking ourselves with any organization which is engaged in agitating racial animosities or propagating racial hatreds. Organizations which stand upon such platforms are immoral and their policies are only negative."[97]
The television producerNorman Lear recounts in his autobiography how Coughlin's radio broadcasts disturbed him deeply at age nine. As a Jew, they made him aware of the widespreadantisemitism in American society.[98]
Coughlin believedJewish bankers were behind the 1917October Revolution in Russia that brought theBolsheviks into power, backing theJewish Bolshevism conspiracy theory.[99][100][101] During the last half of 1938,Social Justice printed weekly installments from the 1903Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fraudulent antisemitic text.[102]
Coughlin denied being antisemitic on several occasions.[103] However, he received indirect funding from the German Government.[104]
Coughlin was critical ofProhibitionism, which he said was the work of "fanatics".[105]
Ku Klux Klan shrine of the little flower.
