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Christian Nationalist Crusade was an American political advocacy organization founded byGerald L. K. Smith in 1947. It nominated Smith for President in 1948 andDouglas MacArthur in 1952.
The Christian Nationalist Crusade promotedantisemitic and racist causes, including the sale and distribution ofThe International Jew. It subscribed to the antisemitic views embodied inThe Protocols of the Elders of Zion which it also published. According to details published by theLibrary of Congress, Smith "prepared"The International Jew for publication, date possibly in the 1950s.[1]
As much as the CNC was focused on political causes, it also served as a platform for promotingChristian Identity doctrine.
After being the presidential candidate for theAmerica First Party in the 1944 election,Gerald L. K. Smith announced a renaming of the party to the Christian Nationalist Party in August, 1947.[2] Also in 1947,Gerald L. K. Smith founded the Christian Nationalist Crusade in St. Louis, Missouri.[3] Initially, Smith announced that the party would not nominate a candidate for the 1948 election.[2]
The organization engaged in publication and distribution of texts advocating its views, and produced monthly magazine calledThe Cross and the Flag. Particular targets identified by its head, Gerald L. K. Smith, included radio commentatorDrew Pearson,Hollywood communists, andjazz music.
The Christian Nationalist Crusade engaged in the circulation of petitions urging national action opposingdesegregation. As a political party, the Christian Nationalist Party unsuccessfully ran candidates in the Missouri general election of 1950. The party nominatedDouglas MacArthur for president in 1952. MacArthur's name appeared on the ballot in Missouri, where he received 535 votes, but without his endorsement.[4]
The Rev. Alvin Mayall, ofBakersfield, Calif., headed the organization in 1968 when he also was named head of the Wallace-for-President campaign. Wallace campaign organizers concluded Mayall "had far more interest in Jew-baiting than in electingGeorge Wallace."[5]
The organization moved its offices toGlendale, California, in 1953.[6] Following Smith's death in 1976, control of the CNC passed to his nephew, Roland Lee Morgan. As editor ofThe Cross and the Flag, Morgan shorted the publication's standard length, doubled the subscription price, and published mostly reprinted articles from Smith rather than new content.[7] In December 1977, Morgan moved the headquarters to Eureka Springs, Missouri.[7]
The organization's purpose was to "preserveAmerica as aChristian nation being conscious of a highly organized campaign to substituteJewish tradition for Christian tradition".[8][9] The Christian Nationalist Crusade opposedcommunism,world government andimmigration. It also aimed to "fightmongrelization and all attempts to force the intermixture of the black andWhiteraces".[8]
The organization advocated for the deportation ofZionists and blacks, and the dismantling of the United Nations and "Jewish Gestapo organizations".[10]
As much as Smith and the Christian Nationalist Crusade were concerned with politics, they also sponsored events that were focused onChristian Identity doctrine.[11] The organization held events that included Christian Identity figures such asWesley A. Swift,Bertrand Comparet, andConrad Gaard.[12] Comparet also served as legal counsel, a planner for CNC events, and a contributor toThe Cross and the Flag.[13]
