Authority Subverted: The Intellectual Life of Fr. Charles Coughlin
“Thus a group of men who unwisely or unjustly accumulate unreasonable or unpayable debts is simply ruining their nation’s spending money,” [1] said Father Charles Coughlin in 1934 on his radio show, “The Golden Hour of the Little Flower”. The “group of men” to which he referred is the community of International Bankers that he and many others blamed for the Great Depression. The same sentiment could be heard today from any number of radio and/or television pundits. The idea of a political commentator did not originate with Coughlin, but he was certainly the first of his kind.
Charles Coughlin was a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit stationed at the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Michigan. He began broadcasting his sermons on the radio in 1926 to raise funds to build a permanent church for his parish. Within five years of his first broadcast Coughlin had moved from religious teachings into the political spectrum. At the height of his popularity Coughlin could summon his followers to deluge Congress with telegrams to have a bill vote go the way he wanted it to go. By the end of his career on the radio Coughlin was a radical figure, polarizing the nation with his ideas and urging his followers into extremist actions. The term “lunatic fringe” was coined in reference to Coughlin.
Fr. Coughlin had a very strange relationship with authority. He always wanted to be in charge and to be loved by the people who were in charge of him. Coughlin’s attitude toward authority, both while trying to gain attention from authority and once he had authority, altered his views and his opinions on a variety of issues. When he changed his opinion, millions of people were convinced and there were real consequences for both Coughlin, his radio audience, and the nation as a whole.
A few main authority figures in Coughlin’s life affected his character and actions throughout his life and career. Coughlin’s Mother, Amelia, had a profound effect of him as a child and charted his career path from the moment he was born. Franklin D. Roosevelt was an authority figure to which Coughlin attached himself, supporting Roosevelt in the 1932 election and subsequent New Deal policies. When Roosevelt tried to hold Coughlin outside of the administration’s Brain Trust Coughlin turned against Roosevelt and tried as best he could to remove Roosevelt from office during the 1936 elections. Later in his career the fascist dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini became Coughlin’s authority figures du jour. Coughlin’s late 1930s broadcasts exhibit a fascist leaning. After being silenced by his superiors in the Archdiocese of Detroit Coughlin tried many ways to regain influence but nothing more than fleeting attention was ever paid.
The first authority figure in Coughlin’s life that he tried to be praised by and rebel against was his mother. Amelia Coughlin had thought about becoming a nun herself, after marrying Thomas Coughlin in 1890; she did not lose her religious ardor.[2] Charles Coughlin was born in Hamilton, Ontario in October, 1891. Immediately after giving birth to Charles she decided that he belonged in the priesthood.[3] Charles’ childhood home was between St. Mary’s Cathedral and its school. His father worked as the sexton in the church; the church organ could be heard regularly from the Coughlin’s kitchen.[4]
Many parents have a career in mind for their children; many also go to great lengths to ensure that their children eventually get the preferred job. Amelia Coughlin wanted to control every aspect of Charles’ life when he was a child.[5] Priests and nuns from St. Mary’s were often guests in the Coughlin home. When Charles was five years old he “was sent off to St. Mary’s school dressed in a white middy blouse and a pleated blue skirt, his brown hair in long ringlets. At the boys’ entrance of the school, he was turned back by a priest who sent the child home to ask his mother whether he was a girl or a boy.”[6] Amelia Coughlin wanted the only focus of Charles’ life to be her and the church. She was unwilling to allow Charles to escape from the path to the priesthood that she had set in her mind. This situation in which Charles grew up was a major contributing factor to his attitudes and actions later in life.
Despite his mother’s urgings and protectiveness, Charles was known in the neighborhood to be an athletic and outgoing child. Despite Amelia’s urging that Charles come home directly after school to play sedentary indoor games, he could usually be found outside in the neighborhood with other children playing vigorous sports and getting dirty. The more Amelia urged Charles to be quiet and careful, the more he was attracted to violent and athletic activities.[7] As an only child Charles became accustomed to constant attention and praise. This trait continued throughout his life and caused him to do many odd or outrageous things.
While Charles was attending high school at St. Michael’s in Toronto and later the University of Toronto his parents visited every Sunday, never allowing Coughlin to forget their tie to him and his to the Catholic Church. While in high school and college, Coughlin did not post an impressive academic record, a mainly C student, but he did gain a reputation for his eloquence and rhetoric.[8] The admiration of his classmates and instructors fed Coughlin’s ego and made him more and more reliant on his power of persuasion rather than preparation. This attitude toward evidence and accuracy would be seen later in his career while broadcasting. Often Coughlin included in his sermons “facts” and figures that were known by experts to be unreliable but that proved his point.
Upon graduating from the University of Toronto Coughlin entered St. Basil’s Seminary that, like his high school St. Michael’s, was run by the Basilian Order. The Basilians were known to be an intellectually and socially engaged Order that embraced the emerging Catholic idea that the clergy should take an active role in society and change the lives of their parishioners.[9] This was one lesson of the Basilians that Coughlin took to heart, there were others however that he did not learn or chose to ignore.
After Coughlin was ordained in 1916 he took a teaching position at the Basilian Assumption College in Windsor, Ontario. Two years later by Papal decree he was required to either join the Basilian Order outright or to become a diocesan priest. Joining the Basilian Order would have required a vow of poverty, a vow that Coughlin was not prepared to make. He left the order and became a diocesan priest in Detroit.[10]
After becoming a priest in Detroit Coughlin taught at Assumption until 1923. He made quite an impression. He made it clear to other faculty members that he was not a team player. He seemed more concerned about making a name for himself than for the education of his students or the growth of the College. He taught a theatre class that took up a disproportionate amount of his students’ time, spread rumors about the faculty or reported to the administration things that had been told to him in confidence and served as the Associate Pastor at two churches in Detroit. In his last year at Assumption he used student labor to build himself a house on campus, which he rarely used. The ending of his time at Assumption was not a happy parting, the faculty believed he acted as if he were better than everyone and that he was intentionally sowing discord among the other priests.[11]
Upon leaving Assumption College Coughlin was assigned to build a church in the small Detroit suburb of Royal Oak. His Bishop, Michael Gallagher, encouraged him to name the church the Shrine of the Little Flower, after the newly canonized St. Therese. Coughlin took out a large loan, over $70,000, to build a permanent stone church for his parish. To raise funds and to counter the discrimination he felt he had to endure from the local Ku Klux Klan and the other non-Catholics in the city in 1926 he began broadcasting his weekly sermons over the radio on WJR.[12] This is where Coughlin’s career really began.
For the first four to five years of its existence Coughlin’s radio broadcast emphasized religious topics, often explaining Catholic doctrine to children. His first nonreligious broadcast was against socialism in America in 1928. Immediately Coughlin met protests and challenges for his beliefs and opinions. Coughlin’s reaction at this point was the same as his reaction in later controversies; he portrayed himself as a martyr for the truth struggling nobly against oppression. In 1930 Coughlin found an issue for which he became famous- anti-Communism.[13] The anti-communist addresses on WJR brought Coughlin national attention. A few weeks after they had aired he was testifying in front of a Congressional hearing in Detroit looking into communists in America. Coughlin was the star witness, naming names and using his rhetorical power to attract attention.[14]
With Coughlin’s celebrity ensured by the communism issue, he was freed from religious broadcasts and began to focus more on political and social topics. The grand arena into which Coughlin waded first was the 1932 Presidential Campaign. Herbert Hoover was very unpopular.[15] Coughlin demonized Hoover on his broadcasts and deified his challenger, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“My friend and future savior of the United States,” announced Coughlin. “It was either Roosevelt or Ruin.”[16] With those three words, “Roosevelt or Ruin”, Coughlin had changed his career path. He moved from a priest who used his pulpit to denounce the evils of secular society to being a political commentator, trying to convince people of who to vote for in the next election. This choice had grave consequences for him and the nation. When Roosevelt was elected, Coughlin’s already impressive ego was inflated greatly. He began to believe that he was responsible for Roosevelt’s success and wanted to be recognized and listened to by the administration.[17]
When Roosevelt was first elected Coughlin was a huge supporter of his policies and their agencies. Coughlin truly believed that Roosevelt was the right man for the job and that Coughlin would be working closely with Roosevelt to implement the agenda that they both agreed upon. Coughlin did not realize that Roosevelt was the consummate politician; he was only allowing Coughlin to make these claims and demands because Coughlin commanded an extremely large radio audience. Roosevelt found Coughlin distasteful and did not like him personally.[18]
Coughlin was either ignorant of these feelings toward him or chose to ignore them to become a more popular radio orator. Both of these situations seem equally likely. On the one hand Coughlin had a huge ego and often did not realize the feelings of others toward him, but on the other hand he was an astute person. If he did know that Roosevelt was trying to keep him out of the administration’s inner circle he never let that on in his addresses. The reason for that could be that he was making a lot of money through donations made to his radio program, money that was being used to build his enormous church and to keep him living a comfortable lifestyle. The lack of a vow of poverty was becoming an asset in the early 1930s.
In 1933 Coughlin turned his attention to the problem of money in the economy. He came to believe that the valuation of gold was the main problem of the credit and banking systems of the time. While Coughlin did not want to eliminate the gold standard entirely and move to a completely fiat currency, he believed that there needed to be a revaluation of gold to cause inflation and lessen the national and personal debt.[19] Coughlin claimed that soon after the airing of his broadcast Roosevelt would be nationalizing all of the gold in America. Coughlin’s basis for this claim was Roosevelt’s “word of honor” to Coughlin, this action never materialized.[20]
The series of radio broadcasts dealing with the gold standard and the New Deal’s economic policy suggest a major shift in philosophy. Coughlin had always been against America’s involvement in World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. In the discussion of the gold standard Coughlin became angry and placed more blame for the problems since the war. His discourses were peppered with reasons that the enactment of his economic plans would lessen the chances and causes of future wars and counteract the influence of past wars. Coughlin claimed that the disproportionate accumulation of gold by the Allied powers forced the Central Powers into World War I and that the redistribution or revaluation of gold would solve all of the problems that started World War I.
Discussing his views on the gold standard and the problems caused by the banking system Coughlin began to direct his ire toward a specific group, the Jews. Coughlin chose the term “International Bankers” as his code for Jews. In a radio address that was first broadcast shortly after the gold standard issue was brought up Coughlin attributed blame for the credit crisis. International Bankers took money and business away from America and led to the imbalance of credit.[21] Coughlin spent the rest of the address railing against the people who he feels are responsible. The closing of the address reaffirms where Coughlin’s prejudices lie. He relates the tale of Jesus driving the moneychangers from the temple, and then adds a conclusion onto the tale of the dispersed Jews plotting to kill Jesus after he had cast them out. Finally, Coughlin ends the broadcast with a denunciation of the “deceitful Herods of International Finance”.[22]
This change in tone from supportive of the administration to critical of the people Coughlin felt were to blame was the outward sign of the changes in the relationship between Roosevelt and Coughlin. While Coughlin thought that he was a valued member of the administration and that his thoughts were being heeded he kept his more controversial views to himself. When Roosevelt began to shun him, Coughlin began to lash out. Just as he had protested his mother’s overprotective nature by playing rough sports and ignoring his piano lessons, now Coughlin protested Roosevelt’s even keeled political savvy by espousing radical beliefs and making no apologies for his opinions.
Coughlin moved further away from the administration, both personally and politically, until a climax was reached in 1936. During the presidential election, with Roosevelt running for re-election, Coughlin fielded a third party candidate. The candidate was William Lemke, a Congressman from North Dakota.[23] Lemke ran for the newly created Union Party, which grew out of Coughlin’s earlier association, the National Union for Social Justice.[24] The lifespan of the Union Party was quite brief. None of their candidates was elected to national office and the party disappeared after the 1936 election. The change in Coughlin’s disposition was permanent. He was now committed to being a political force against Roosevelt, the authority figure who had scorned him. Had Coughlin been born in the United States, rather than Canada, it was likely he would have run for President himself. Coughlin became more and more of an outspoken critic of the New Deal, blaming much of the later legislation on a group of International Bankers that had turned Roosevelt away from the people’s wishes.
While Coughlin was losing the attachment he had felt to Roosevelt, he was gaining a great respect and desire for recognition from two foreign leaders that ruled their respective countries with even less opposition than did Roosevelt.
In the late 1930s Coughlin began to follow closely the changing political ideologies of the world. His first foray into foreign politics was supporting Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Coughlin believed that the Spanish government was hostile to the Catholic Church and the clergy in Spain.[25] Coughlin continued to support and praise the early fascist governments in Europe throughout the 1930s. He agreed with the Catholic Church organization in praising Mussolini’s leadership in Italy and met with leading fascists in Great Britain.[26]
Gradually it became clear that Roosevelt was no longer an object of Coughlin’s affections and Coughlin had now moved on to Hitler and Mussolini in his quest for attention and admiration. It is important to remember that in the mid-1930s none of the atrocities associated with these two men, Hitler and Mussolini, had occurred. They were just two extremely right wing leaders who ruled their nations with an iron fist. Totalitarianism was not uncommon in the rest of the world in the 1930s. Hitler and Mussolini were not popular nor were their views accepted in the United States. Coughlin was seen by some to be guilty of treason, or at least sedition, in broadcasting his support for fascist leaders.
A large part of Coughlin’s explanation of his support for fascist leaders was the growing fear of communism. Coughlin believed that there would be a clash between fascism on the right and communism on the left. In this conflict the whole world would have to take sides, the winner would reign supreme forever. Coughlin was a staunch anti-communist, who rejected the philosophy because of its stance on religion and its persecution of religion and clergy.
Coughlin called communism a “religion of atheism” and said “Let us attack Communism and destroy it from the face of the earth.”[27] Coughlin also resorted to an old tactic of his to help more people to support his position and strike out against communism, he played the martyr “Would not a dispassionate judge be inclined, then, to conclude that the effort on the part of my critics to assail my person…is related to their desire to protect Communism?”[28] In his desire to stop what he saw as the march of communism in the world Coughlin supported the fascist leaders that he believed were doing what they had to do to prevent communism from advancing into Western Europe.
As Coughlin became more enamored of fascist ideology and politics, he paid lip service to his opposition of “Naziism, which no sensible American Christian can logically support.”[29] At the same time, his magazine “Social Justice” was reprinting Nazi propaganda and speeches from Joseph Goebbels. The propaganda relationship worked both ways for Coughlin; the Nazis were using his words and broadcasts as propaganda in Germany while he was using theirs in America.[30]
A main fixture of Coughlin’s message in the late 1930s was anti-Semitism. His addresses had always contained some slight anti-Semitic ideas and phrases but with the rise of Hitler in Germany and the deepening economic crisis in America Coughlin began to make anti-Semitism his main point.
Early in Coughlin’s radio career he had brought Jews to the forefront on issues concerning their banking practices. Coughlin blamed “International Bankers,” for starting World War I, and the economic turmoil that resulted from the war.[31] The public for a variety of reasons overlooked many of these comments, first many of the claims that Coughlin made seemed reasonable and it was easy for people to believe an authority figure. Also, Coughlin was talking about corrupt business dealings by a large group of people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, anti-Semitism did not stand out. Finally, Coughlin had a large number of Jewish listeners and had the support of many Jewish community leaders. In the Shrine of the Little Flower there was a marble relief of the 10 Commandments written in Hebrew.
In late 1938 four successive radio broadcasts were concerned solely with anti-Semitic topics. This month of broadcasts turned the tide of public opinion on Coughlin’s anti-Semitism. He lost many listeners and became associated with far right political groups who wanted to bring Hitler’s program to America. The four radio broadcasts that change Coughlin’s public image were “Persecution- Jewish and Christian” (November 20, 1938), “Let Us Consider the Record” (November 27, 1938) “Not Anti-Semitism but Anti-Communism” (December 4, 1938) and “A Chapter on Intolerance” (December 11, 1938). In each Coughlin is trying to make his anti-Semitic argument while claiming brotherhood with the Jews and discrediting his critics.
The main thrust of Coughlin’s anti-Semitic arguments is that the Jews are responsible for the war and economic collapse in the early 1900s. The largest atrocity that Jews committed in Coughlin’s mind was to start the Russian Revolution. Coughlin said, “The first [Russian] revolution was devoid of atheistic Jewish domination and for the reason, possibly, was a failure.”[32] Coughlin lists the names of the leaders of the Bolshevik revolution along with their “ethnic” group; all but Lenin are listed as “Jewish”.[33] Coughlin also brought outside sources in for evidence to prove his point, he reprinted the famous forgery “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” in “Social Justice” magazine and included an anti-Semitic treatise by Donald Fahey in the publication of his 1938-39 broadcast season.[34]
Another attempt to avoid backlash from the Jewish community, or liberal Christians uncomfortable with his anti-Semitism, Coughlin tried to explain his position. “I hold no animosity toward the Jews,” he said, “I distinguish most carefully between good Jews and bad Jews as well as I do between the good gentiles and bad gentiles.”[35] Coughlin blamed “international-minded Jews”[36] for the problems in the world today. This strategy did not dissuade many of his critics from challenging his beliefs and his facts. Coughlin allowed the Jewish community to respond to his arguments, even offering “use the facilities of my network on this hour and at my expense. The General Jewish Council…declined the invitation.”[37]
Despite the attempts by Coughlin to hide his anti-Semitic feelings under a veil of facts and figures and expert testimony many people understood that Coughlin was truly an anti-Semite. This new realization brought him into association with the pro-fascist and pro-Nazi groups in the public’s mind. This new realization by the public and the government’s investigative agencies brought about his downfall a few short years later.
Even into World War II, after Pearl Harbor had been bombed, Coughlin continued to protest the war and claim that it was all the fault of International Bankers and government ministers trying to support the arms industry. He continued to broadcast pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic ideas until 1942. In that year the government had finally collected enough evidence to indict Coughlin for sedition. There was never a trial due to the influence of the Catholic Church.[38]
Coughlin never recanted his beliefs; his ego would not have allowed him to admit to making a mistake of that magnitude, despite the evidence against him. Coughlin never was allowed to move through his normal progression with Hitler and Mussolini. Both leaders did not try to remove him from their circle of influence they needed him more than he needed them. Both Hitler and Mussolini wanted to gain a group of supporters in the United States, Coughlin’s influence would be invaluable to gaining support for fascism. Having a respected voice in the United States supporting their cause was more than money could buy. Due to the state of Coughlin’s relationship with Hitler and Mussolini at their deaths, Coughlin was frozen in the admiration and imitation phase of their relationship. He would continue to espouse the beliefs of these two men, especially Hitler’s anti-Semitism until his death.
In 1942 Coughlin was finally silenced. His Bishop, Edward Mooney, ordered him to stop broadcasting or be removed from the priesthood. Coughlin reluctantly agreed, under threat of indictment for sedition, and discontinued his radio program. After the silencing Coughlin still ran and contributed to “Social Justice” Magazine despite the orders to have no part in its publication. Eventually this outlet was cut off and Coughlin was truly silenced.[39]
After he was removed from the public stage, Coughlin ran the Shrine of the Little Flower as an imperial figure. Staff and associate pastors lived in fear of his quick temper and harsh words to subordinates.[40] This follows the pattern that was established during his radio career. He was constantly trying to gain authority and power over others. Once he had a position of authority over others, even if he had held that position since 1926, Coughlin lorded his power over others to support his massive ego and his desire for validation.
Coughlin had a very strange relationship with authority. He always wanted to be in charge and to be loved by the people who guided him. The feeling toward authority changed the way that Coughlin thought and presented issues to his vast radio audience. Coughlin’s changing opinions in turn affected millions of Americans as well as the votes of Congress and the laws of the nation.
His Mother, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Hitler and Mussolini primarily influenced Coughlin. Coughlin’s drive to gain the favor and attention of these figures led him to make exorbitant claims and engage in radical shifts of opinion throughout his life and career.
Charles Coughlin died in 1979.[41] His direct political influence had ended with his radio broadcast in 1942. Despite the time elapsed since Coughlin was a polarizing figure in America, his words and legacy are a relevant today. Coughlin was a master of mass communication; he could bend people to his will from thousands of miles away through the radio. Today, there are multiple cable news channels, radio and television pundits and political commentators. Charles Coughlin perfected today’s system of tailoring views and arguments to one segment of the population. With the modern technology enjoyed by today’s pundits it is hard to imagine the influence that Coughlin would have had on the nation.
Coughlin’s views also shape the climate of today. The economic climate that Coughlin was working in, during the early 1930s, is similar to today. The lack of credit available and the irresponsibility of bankers to prevent the economic collapse and a new President are similar to today.
[1] Charles Coughlin, Eight Discourses on the Gold Standard and Other Kindred Subjects (Michigan State University Special Collections. HG 551.C6. 1932-1933), 47.
[2] Allen Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, & the Great Depression (New York: Vintage, 1983), 84.
[3] Ibid. 84.
[4] Donald Warren, Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, The Father of Hate Radio (Free Press, 1996), 9.
[5] Ibid. 9.
[6] Ibid. 9.
[7] Brinkley, Voices, 85.
[8] Ibid. 86.
[9] Brinkley, Voices, 86.
[10] Warren, Radio Priest, 11.
[11] Ibid. 12-13.
[12] Warren, Radio Priest, 15.
[13] Ibid. 28.
[14] Ibid. 32.
[15] Paul Conkin, The New Deal. (New York: Harlan Davidson Inc, 1992), 3.
[16] Charles Coughlin, “Speech at the Democratic Convention”, 1932. Quoted in Warren, Radio Priest, 40.
[17] Warren, Radio Priest, 44.
[18] Brinkley, Voices, 109.
[19] Charles Coughlin, “Gold- Master or Servant”. Eight Discourses on the Gold Standard and Other Kindred Subjects (Michigan State University Special Collections. HG 551.C6. 1932-1933)
[20] Charles Coughlin, “Roosevelt or Ruin and the Gold Law”. Eight Lectures on Labor, Capital and Justice (Michigan State University Special Collections, American Radicalism Collection. HC 106.3.C76. 1934), 41.
[21] Charles Coughlin, “Rubber Credit Money- The Int’l Bankers”. Eight Discourses on the Gold Standard and Other Kindred Subjects (Michigan State University Special Collections. HG 551.C6. 1932-1933)
[22] Coughlin, “Rubber Credit”, 55.
[23] Warren, Radio Priest, 87.
[24] Ibid. 84.
[25] Warren, Radio Priest, 112.
[26] Ibid. 116.
[27] Charles Coughlin, “Not Anti-Semitism but Anti-Communism” (Archdiocese of Detroit, Mooney-Coughlin Collection. Box 11. 1938)
[28] Ibid.
[29] Coughlin, “Not Anti-Semitism”
[30] Warren, Radio Priest, 244.
[31] Coughlin, “Rubber Credit”
[32] Coughlin, “Not Anti-Semitism”
[33] Charles Coughlin, “Persecution- Jewish and Christian and Let Us Consider the Record” (Archdiocese of Detroit, Mooney-Coughlin Collection. Box 11. 1938)
[34] Charles Coughlin, Am I an Anti-Semite? (Archdiocese of Detroit, Mooney-Coughlin Collection. Box 11. 1939)
[35] Coughlin, Charles. “Persecution- Jewish and Christian and Let Us Consider the Record” (Archdiocese of Detroit, Mooney-Coughlin Collection. Box 11. 1938)
[36] Coughlin, “Not Anti-Semitism”
[37] Charles Coughlin, “A Chapter on Intolerance” (Archdiocese of Detroit, Mooney-Coughlin Collection. Box 11. 1938)
[38] Warren, Radio Priest, 265.
[39] Warren, Radio Priest, 250.
[40] Ibid. 293.
[41] Warren, Radio Priest, 303.
The History Stop 