Ticket 2 Ride

America’s deep-seated fascination with authoritarianism, especially fascism. Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism (2023, Crown), by Rachel Maddow is a powerful gathering of historical events that tell an important, frightening and unbelievable story of fascist support inside of America leading up to, and during World War II. It really happened.

The love affair with fascism by many Americans reaches back to the 1800s, but grew exponentially in the first half of the 20th Century, with a lot of help from Germany. Such luminaries as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh helped spread the virtues of what was happening in Germany, and supported organizations such as America First, which had political muscle and substantial membership. It’s widely known that Hitler looked to America for the way this country had treated Chinese immigrants, Indigenous people and African Americans. The instrument of enforcement were Jim Crow laws enacted in not only the South, but in many parts of the country to limit housing, jobs, education, voting and other opportunities.

Fascism tells people what they want, creating romanticized visions and pumping their emotions with feelings of righteousness, moral superiority, and being saved; led to greatness by a charismatic figure.

Lindbergh was a popular speaker and a face of both isolation from getting involved in foreign matters, and admiration for the Nazi buildup. He even authored an article, “Aviation, Geography and Race.” Lindbergh was a national hero, and the German propaganda machine courted him and other influencers as part of their expansive efforts in America. Maddow traces many of the tentacles that reached into industry, government, religion and the social fabric of America.

Maddow digs deep into American history, a part of history that is ugly, violent and threatening. This is the history that is controversial because it exposes very unAmerican efforts that make many uncomfortable. History is not always kind or reaffirming, as it is a record of actions that took place, regardless of whether they were good or bad, it’s the unvarnished reality. This ugliness offends, and Maddow’s book presents it.

“AWAKE, CHRIS-TIAN AMERICA AND CLAIM YOUR BIRTHRIGHT … Let’s Be Frantically American. LET’S SAVE U.S. FOR US.” – leaflet distributed by the National Peace Crusade

It is important to point out the connection between authoritarianism and race. Race protection, is a fancy term for the policies and actions invented to segregate, suppress, punish and murder. Race is such a sensitive subject today, that even talking about it historically triggers the existing racial divide in this country. That’s a warning, because race is fundamental to fascism. Keeping America white, and then expanded to include Christian, was the “policy” of the early 20th century. Local and federal laws, in addition to housing and employment practices, along with not so subtle attitudes, were perfect for the German propaganda machine.

Maddow tells how the rise of Nazism in Germany reached out and infected other countries. The Nazi propaganda machine was well financed and imbedded in long standing German organizations in America, and courted influencers in politics, government, religion, industry and academia. The strategy was to build nationalism in America, which was already ripe, but also to promote isolationism and acceptance of Germany’s right to govern themselves without foreign interference. The propaganda machine was pretty slick, building relationships with those with access to mass audiences, and getting those influencers to promote ideas and issues, consistent with authoritarian talking points, to their audiences. Slick and effective. The propaganda machine built “mailing lists containing the names of 650,000 teachers, 157,000 clergymen, 162,000 physicians, 144,000 lawyers, 73,000 dentists, 46,187 of the larger investors, 21,345 newspapers, 15,000 municipal officials, 11,687 millionaires, 11,000 libraries, 7,419 members of state legislatures, 7,000 accountants, 5,500 judges, 4,612 college fraternities and sororities.”

Grand rallies, in the pageantry of Nazi rallies, were held across America, using similar tactics successfully used by Nazis to charm and seduce attendees. Railing against FDR, communism, corruption, warning of the death of democracy, and Jewish treachery, these gatherings were like religious revival meetings. Records show that the Nazis were actively involved in election efforts to defeat FDR in 1936, 1940 and 1944, spending millions of dollars.

“Both the Republican and Democratic parties had adopted planks in their respective 1940 platforms pledging that America would not involve itself in any foreign war.” The Nazi effort was actively working on members of both parties.

While I am familiar with much of Maddow’s book, there were a few bold, new discoveries. I had never heard of the Silver Shirts, the Americanized version of the Nazi Brown Shirts. The Silver Shirts were entangled in a conservative religious organization, which began using hatred and enemies in their publications and radio broadcasts. Pick an enemy and demonize them for your troubles and a threat to your life. Thankfully, there was the Silver Shirts Christian militia. The Christian Front, the German American Bund, American Nationalist Confederation, White American Guard, Militant Christian Patriots, the Christian Constitutionalists, the Defenders of Christian Civilization, the Christian Mobilizers, the Christian Front, the Country Gentlemen, and so on. Father Charles Coughlin was a popular radio evangelist. He had a newsletter Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Maddow offers a quote from Father Coughlin, “Nazism is only a defense mechanism against communism,” and German Jews had brought the situation on themselves.

Henry Ford, not only made cars, he published a regular newsletter, The International Jew, which had readership across the world. Wherever there’s trouble, there’s a Jew, Ford was quoted. Antisemitism had an audience. This was a cornerstone of fascism, find an enemy and ramp up the blame and hatred. Hate unites and empowers those who feel left out and powerless.

These two sentences sadly define the thinking of many in America during the 1930’s: Jewish communists were to blame and Hitler was only saving Germany from the Jewish problem. Communist Jews, not German fascist, were public enemy number one.

I knew of the 1939 film, Confessions of a Nazi Spy, but I have to admit ignorance on the backstory.

The Great Sedition Trial of 1944 is something new to me. The United States Department of Justice had been investigating numerous individuals for their alleged efforts in supporting Germany and acting against the United States. Maddow wraps up the book with this case, as it threads together much of the activities by a number of people. Conducting a trial of this sort during wartime, and with pushback from many who charged government overreach while sidetracking the trial at every turn. The presiding judge died of a heart attack during the trial and the Justice Department was noncommittal about retrying after a mistrial was declared.

The resulting report, by prosecuting attorney O. John Rogge, supplemented by files obtained when he served the military tribunal in Nuremberg, was shelved by the Truman Administration. America was recovering from the war experience and moving forward, the powers that be felt releasing material showing cooperation by some Americans toward Germany would be dragging the country back into the ugliness of the war. Besides, America had a new enemy: Communism.

At the end of her book, Maddow tells us what happened to the main characters going forward. Most of those she featured who in some way supported the Nazis went on to live normal, even prosperous lives. The odd seditionist went to prison, most maintained they were just in opposition to FDR and generally supportive of the efficient authoritarian government of Hitler.

There were a handful of people who worked tirelessly to investigate, prosecute and write about the Nazi sympathizers who actively worked to sow division, promote untruths and organize armed militant groups. When Rogge finally got permission (from the Justice Department) to publish his book based on his prosecutorial research, in 1961, no one cared. Nazis and fascism were passé, it was the Cold War era. Nazis had been dealt with at Nuremberg, the Israelis were hunting those who were hiding from justice, and Germany was a divided state, a Cold War battleground.

Maddow focuses on the pre-World War II years because that’s when fascism evolved, in Europe and America. It’s not a dirty secret, it’s a dirty, but true part of our history. Maddow doesn’t have to jump up and down saying, “Look, it’s back!” The point is, the tentacles of fascism never left.

There are areas that Maddow did not wade into very far: eugenics, and anti-Semitic violence are two. She does deep in how some members of Congress not only supported Nazis, but used public resources to write and distribute pro-German and anti-Semitic publications. America was a dangerous place in the early decades of the 20th Century. Thousands of Americans would attend rallies with speakers who dazzled the audience with nationalist fervor, hatred, isolationism, and untruths about Hitler’s actions in Europe. Tell the people what they want to hear, appeal to their emotions, national pride, and give them an enemy to focus on. The playbook.

Read this book. 4.5/5