Father Charles E. Coughlin is perhaps the most famous of those American figures labeled as “fascist” in their own time. This is so because even to this day his name is still regularly invoked, not because he was the most radical or the most truly fascist but simply because of the sheer numbers he attracted as a radio personality. The massive size of his audience made him one of the most widely known and significant figures on the political fringe in inter-war America. He was born, Charles Edward Coughlin, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada to Irish Catholic parents on October 25, 1891. He entered the Church and was ordained priest in Toronto in 1916. After teaching in Windsor, Ontario he moved to Detroit, Michigan in 1923. In 1926 he first began broadcasting on the radio in response to cross burnings on the grounds of his parish by the Ku Klux Klan (whose strident anti-Catholicism at that time is often forgotten). When the CBS radio network wanted final approval of what he would say on air, Father Coughlin left them and started his own radio network which was quickly a great success.
One thing Father Coughlin was not throughout his career was entirely consistent. For example, in the 1932 Presidential election he openly endorsed and ardently supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, the man who would later be his greatest enemy. He likewise sang the praises of the New Deal enacted by FDR and warned his millions of listeners that American survival depended on supporting the President. In his words, the choice was “Roosevelt or Ruin”. Father Coughlin was even called to testify before Congress in support of the President. He said, “The New Deal is Christ’s Deal” and warned Congress that if they did not enact the economic changes FDR wanted that America would fall into a revolution that would make the Reign of Terror in France pale in comparison. Father Coughlin went so far as to portray President Roosevelt as having divine powers saying that, “God is directing President Roosevelt”. However, in 1934 his support for Roosevelt began to fall away, not because of the socialistic aspects of the New Deal but because Father Coughlin viewed FDR as too capitalistic.
Father Coughlin condemned the finance community, all “money changers” as he called them and anyone who profited, as he saw it, at the expense of the public welfare. He called for greater collectivization and wanted the Federal Reserve to be nationalized. He even founded his own workers organization to push for “social justice”. Despite his modern label as a fascist, most of what Father Coughlin called for would today be considered socialistic, or even more far-left than that. He wanted guaranteed work and income, nationalization of industries, wealth redistribution, more protection for unions, decreasing private property rights while increasing government power to violate private property rights in the name of the “public good”. This last point particularly was, beyond socialism, bordering on communism. In many ways Father Coughlin had become the most famous Catholic national figure in American history, but his increasingly strident opposition to the administration turned some of the most powerful Catholics against him. Catholics had long been almost exclusively members of the Democratic Party and many powerful Catholic Democrats were none too pleased about Father Coughlin attacking their Democrat President as the pliant stooge of the evil, wealthy elites of Wall Street and the finance industry.
As his audience grew Father Coughlin became even more outspoken against the policies of FDR, the New Deal and Jewish influence in the banking industry. Many powerful Catholics allied to FDR tried to get Fr. Coughlin off the air, enlisting the support of such illustrious churchmen as Cardinal Francis Spellman and, in the Vatican, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (soon to be Pope Pius XII). Their efforts were unsuccessful due to the fact that Coughlin was supported by his local bishop who had final and absolute authority over his diocese. Father Coughlin supported the populist politician Huey Long (himself often accused of having dictatorial aspirations) until Long was assassinated in 1935. That same year Father Coughlin proclaimed his equal disdain for communism as well as capitalism, though for different reasons. He argued that capitalism robbed workers of happiness in this life while communism robbed them of happiness in the next. He denounced Roosevelt as a leader of international socialism for his support of the pro-communist republican forces in Spain. People from across the political spectrum were drawn to his powerful oratory that condemned capitalism and communism while supporting an isolationist foreign policy.
The Midwest states provided the largest core of support for Father Coughlin and his following had a particularly nativist flavor, especially with his calls for nationalism rather than internationalism. This marked a major change in American history since nativists had traditionally been very anti-Catholic but now had a Catholic priest as their vocal champion. He was very popular with Irish Catholics who, in the past, had been the primary targets of attacks by nativists. It was a symbol of how integrated the Irish Catholic community had become in American life. Father Coughlin co-founded the Union Party which ran William Lemke for President. The radio priest promised to close up shop if his candidate got less than nine million votes. When the election came and Lemke won only 900,000 Father Coughlin did briefly leave the airwaves but was back by 1937. It was at that point that he began openly praising the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and the Nazis under Adolf Hitler. His broadcasts became more openly anti-Semitic, blaming Jewish bankers for the Great Depression and Jewish agents for being behind the Bolshevik Revolution and international communism. It was men like Hitler and Mussolini, Father Coughlin said, who were the bulwark of the west against the threat of Soviet domination.
These positions became more controversial as Nazi Germany became more widely seen as an enemy of the United States. Father Coughlin protested his opposition to any racial hatred and called for solidarity between Catholics and Protestants as well as with the ‘good’ Jews against the ‘bad’ ones. He published his own magazine called “Social Justice” and defended the crackdown on Jews in Nazi Germany as following a prior persecution of Christians by Jews. This caused many stations to stop broadcasting Father Coughlin but he carried on and toned down none of his rhetoric. He voiced support for the Christian Front which later accused of being a treasonous organization and this caused a further decline in his popularity. The Church tried to silence him due to his controversial politics but, due to the support of his local bishop, he remained untouchable. An exasperated President Roosevelt finally enacted new regulations on the radio waves, still with us today, requiring government permits for broadcasting all in order to silence Father Coughlin. The campaign against him was stepped up when Coughlin opposed selling arms to the Allies in World War II. Finally the new regulations forced Father Coughlin off the air.
Father Coughlin tried to continue on in the print media but was blocked by the government yet again. The Roosevelt administration simply ordered the U.S. Post Office to refuse him service. Ironically, the same President that Father Coughlin had supported, and the growing power of the government he had backed for other ends was finally used in silencing him. After the attack on Pearl Harbor what little support remained for him totally evaporated. In 1942 the Archbishop of Detroit ordered Father Coughlin to confine himself to the duties of a simple parish priest or face expulsion from the priesthood. This Father Coughlin did, working as an ordinary parish priest at the Shrine of the Little Flower until his retirement in 1966. He did though occasionally put out pamphlets condemning Jews for the plague of communism engulfing the world. He died in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1979 at the age of 88.
One thing Father Coughlin was not throughout his career was entirely consistent. For example, in the 1932 Presidential election he openly endorsed and ardently supported Franklin D. Roosevelt, the man who would later be his greatest enemy. He likewise sang the praises of the New Deal enacted by FDR and warned his millions of listeners that American survival depended on supporting the President. In his words, the choice was “Roosevelt or Ruin”. Father Coughlin was even called to testify before Congress in support of the President. He said, “The New Deal is Christ’s Deal” and warned Congress that if they did not enact the economic changes FDR wanted that America would fall into a revolution that would make the Reign of Terror in France pale in comparison. Father Coughlin went so far as to portray President Roosevelt as having divine powers saying that, “God is directing President Roosevelt”. However, in 1934 his support for Roosevelt began to fall away, not because of the socialistic aspects of the New Deal but because Father Coughlin viewed FDR as too capitalistic.
Father Coughlin condemned the finance community, all “money changers” as he called them and anyone who profited, as he saw it, at the expense of the public welfare. He called for greater collectivization and wanted the Federal Reserve to be nationalized. He even founded his own workers organization to push for “social justice”. Despite his modern label as a fascist, most of what Father Coughlin called for would today be considered socialistic, or even more far-left than that. He wanted guaranteed work and income, nationalization of industries, wealth redistribution, more protection for unions, decreasing private property rights while increasing government power to violate private property rights in the name of the “public good”. This last point particularly was, beyond socialism, bordering on communism. In many ways Father Coughlin had become the most famous Catholic national figure in American history, but his increasingly strident opposition to the administration turned some of the most powerful Catholics against him. Catholics had long been almost exclusively members of the Democratic Party and many powerful Catholic Democrats were none too pleased about Father Coughlin attacking their Democrat President as the pliant stooge of the evil, wealthy elites of Wall Street and the finance industry.
As his audience grew Father Coughlin became even more outspoken against the policies of FDR, the New Deal and Jewish influence in the banking industry. Many powerful Catholics allied to FDR tried to get Fr. Coughlin off the air, enlisting the support of such illustrious churchmen as Cardinal Francis Spellman and, in the Vatican, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (soon to be Pope Pius XII). Their efforts were unsuccessful due to the fact that Coughlin was supported by his local bishop who had final and absolute authority over his diocese. Father Coughlin supported the populist politician Huey Long (himself often accused of having dictatorial aspirations) until Long was assassinated in 1935. That same year Father Coughlin proclaimed his equal disdain for communism as well as capitalism, though for different reasons. He argued that capitalism robbed workers of happiness in this life while communism robbed them of happiness in the next. He denounced Roosevelt as a leader of international socialism for his support of the pro-communist republican forces in Spain. People from across the political spectrum were drawn to his powerful oratory that condemned capitalism and communism while supporting an isolationist foreign policy.The Midwest states provided the largest core of support for Father Coughlin and his following had a particularly nativist flavor, especially with his calls for nationalism rather than internationalism. This marked a major change in American history since nativists had traditionally been very anti-Catholic but now had a Catholic priest as their vocal champion. He was very popular with Irish Catholics who, in the past, had been the primary targets of attacks by nativists. It was a symbol of how integrated the Irish Catholic community had become in American life. Father Coughlin co-founded the Union Party which ran William Lemke for President. The radio priest promised to close up shop if his candidate got less than nine million votes. When the election came and Lemke won only 900,000 Father Coughlin did briefly leave the airwaves but was back by 1937. It was at that point that he began openly praising the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and the Nazis under Adolf Hitler. His broadcasts became more openly anti-Semitic, blaming Jewish bankers for the Great Depression and Jewish agents for being behind the Bolshevik Revolution and international communism. It was men like Hitler and Mussolini, Father Coughlin said, who were the bulwark of the west against the threat of Soviet domination.
These positions became more controversial as Nazi Germany became more widely seen as an enemy of the United States. Father Coughlin protested his opposition to any racial hatred and called for solidarity between Catholics and Protestants as well as with the ‘good’ Jews against the ‘bad’ ones. He published his own magazine called “Social Justice” and defended the crackdown on Jews in Nazi Germany as following a prior persecution of Christians by Jews. This caused many stations to stop broadcasting Father Coughlin but he carried on and toned down none of his rhetoric. He voiced support for the Christian Front which later accused of being a treasonous organization and this caused a further decline in his popularity. The Church tried to silence him due to his controversial politics but, due to the support of his local bishop, he remained untouchable. An exasperated President Roosevelt finally enacted new regulations on the radio waves, still with us today, requiring government permits for broadcasting all in order to silence Father Coughlin. The campaign against him was stepped up when Coughlin opposed selling arms to the Allies in World War II. Finally the new regulations forced Father Coughlin off the air.
Father Coughlin tried to continue on in the print media but was blocked by the government yet again. The Roosevelt administration simply ordered the U.S. Post Office to refuse him service. Ironically, the same President that Father Coughlin had supported, and the growing power of the government he had backed for other ends was finally used in silencing him. After the attack on Pearl Harbor what little support remained for him totally evaporated. In 1942 the Archbishop of Detroit ordered Father Coughlin to confine himself to the duties of a simple parish priest or face expulsion from the priesthood. This Father Coughlin did, working as an ordinary parish priest at the Shrine of the Little Flower until his retirement in 1966. He did though occasionally put out pamphlets condemning Jews for the plague of communism engulfing the world. He died in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1979 at the age of 88. 
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