The Rise and Fall of Father Charles Coughlin

by Thom Jennings

Soon after Father Charles Coughlin took over a small parish in Royal Oak Michigan, a Detroit suburb, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in the churchyard. This act of hatred is what the Priest claimed was the impetus of his radio broadcasts.[1]  Some accounts claim Father Coughlin reasoned that a radio program about the catholic faith would increase understanding of the Catholic faith and combat racist groups like the Klan, others simply state the impetus for the program as strictly financial.[2] Ironically, Coughlin’s name became synonymous with racial hatred and as his popularity increased, the message became less focused on the Catholic Church and its traditions and more about the politics of the day.

Coughlin’s first program aired on October 17, 1926. The program appeared on one station, WJR in Detroit. Within three years, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) syndicated the program and, at it peak, its audience grew to forty million listeners. The revenue from the program, largely in the form of one-dollar donations sent through the mail, financed a massive shrine where Coughlin claimed to be the very spot where the KKK had burned a cross in an attempt to intimidate the priest.[3]

This work will examine the rise and fall into obscurity of one of the most controversial and earliest media superstars, Father Charles Coughlin. The Radio Priest extended his following beyond his Catholic base. Father Coughlin pioneered a new medium, and a master of populist demagoguery and as one author coined him, the father of hate radio. Father Coughlin’s support of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at least in Coughlin’s mind, was a key to Roosevelt’s victory in the 1932 Presidential election. Coughlin’s reversal of support for Roosevelt a few years later culminated in Coughlin’s formation of an opposition party in an attempt to unseat Roosevelt. If Roosevelt was fighting Coughlin, Roosevelt emerges out of the era as the clear victor as Coughlin fades into relative obscurity until his death in 1979. At the pinnacle of his radio career Coughlin was “the most revered, most loved, most hated and most feared American of his time.”[4]

Charles Coughlin was born in a predominantly Irish middle-class neighborhood near Hamilton Ontario Canada on October 25, 1891. Charles Coughlin’s father, Thomas, was a foreman at a local bakery. Coughlin’s mother, Amelia, was a devout Catholic who attended Catholic mass everyday at St. Mary’s Church in Hamilton; the church bordered the Coughlin home. St. Mary’s was also the church where Thomas Coughlin met Amelia when Thomas, ten years her senior, served as sexton. Charles had one sibling, a sister Agnes, who was born fifteen months after Charles. Agnes died in infancy.[5]

Charles attended grammar school at St. Mary’s after which his parents enrolled him at St. Michael’s prep school at the age of twelve. St. Michael’s primary purpose was to train Catholic priests. St. Michael’s was located forty miles from the Coughlin family home, and marked the first extended separation of Coughlin from his protective mother. During his first year there, St Michael’s did not allow communication between Coughlin and his protective mother. Amelia missed her son so much that she sent a letter to Charles during his first year at the school and begged him to come home. School censors intercepted the letter and destroyed it.[6] Author Sheldon Marcus noted that Charles Coughlin’s “grades were generally good although he had difficulty in economics.”[7]

In June of 1907, Coughlin enrolled at the University of Toronto, from which he graduated in 1911. Upon completion of college, Charles Coughlin contemplated a career in politics or entrance into the Catholic priesthood, he chose the latter. Charles Coughlin attended St. Basil’s seminary in Toronto from 1911 until his ordination as priest in June of 1916 and member of the Basilian Order, an order founded in France and opposed “modern economic developments and the role of money.”[8]

On June 30, 1916, Father Charles Edward Coughlin celebrated his first mass at St. Joseph’s Covenant in Hamilton Ontario. Coughlin’s first assignment as priest began in the fall of 1916 at Assumption College located in Sandwich Ontario, near the border of Michigan. Coughlin taught a variety of subjects including history, literature and drama. In addition to his teaching duties at the Assumption, Coughlin assumed priestly duties at St. Agnes Church in the Detroit Michigan area.

In June of 1918, Coughlin left the Basilian order rather than take a vow of poverty, and thus he became a secular priest and subject to the control of the local bishop. In 1923, Coughlin left his teaching position at Assumption and took an assignment as assistant pastor of St. Augustine’s located in Kalamazoo Michigan. The assignment at the sleepy parish lasted only a few months, after which the Detroit Archbishop Michael Gallagher assigned Coughlin to St. Leo’s in Detroit, a parish that boated over ten thousand members. Coughlin’s role as assistant pastor at St. Leo’s lasted only eighteen months; Bishop Gallagher then assigned Coughlin his own parish in North Branch Michigan.

             After witnessing the canonization of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux - a young nun also known as “The Little Flower”- in Rome Italy, Bishop Gallagher decided to establish a parish in her honor.[9] Bishop Gallagher chose the Detroit Suburb of Royal Oak Michigan for its location. Even though there were few Catholic families in the area, Gallagher felt that the community had tremendous potential for growth as autoworkers sought homes in the suburbs. Royal Oak was a “stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan.”[10]

            Father Coughlin borrowed approximately $78,000 to construct a small church known as “The Shrine of the Little Flower.” The parish’s official website described it as “A simple wooden building with a shingle roof.”[11] Simple or not, the construction cost amounted to over $100 thousand, and subsequently Coughlin found his small parish in deep debt before the doors were even opened. According to some, the parish debt caused Coughlin to look for creative ways to raise funds for the church. In an interview in 1970, Coughlin described the makeup of his parish this way, “I had only twenty-eight families, thirteen of which were mixed marriages. It wasn’t too bad when the husband was Catholic, but when the wife was Catholic I couldn’t expect much money.”[12]

            In order to pay church debt, he asked his friend Wish Egan, a scout for the Detroit Tigers if he would be willing to have a few of his ballplayers help with fundraising. Egan not only delivered players from the Tigers, he arranged to have Yankee Babe Ruth as one of the ushers. The event not only garnered headlines, it brought in a great deal of money. Coughlin also started a magazine entitled, The Shower of the Roses.[13]

            Nonetheless, Coughlin still needed to come up with other creative ways to raise funds, and his next gimmick was to buy airtime on a local radio station. In spite of fears by some of his parishioners that the broadcasts would lose money, Coughlin went ahead with his plans to broadcast his fiery sermons from the pulpit of The Shrine of the Little Flower, and he had the blessings of Bishop Gallagher.

            According to Coughlin, there was $5,000 left over from the loan to build the church.  During the second week of September 1926, Coughlin approached WJR station manger Leo Fitzpatrick with the idea for the radio program and Fitzpatrick not only agreed, he arranged to have the church pulpit wired for sound. Coughlin’s radio career began a month later on one station in front of a small group of parishioners and the Catholic station manager Leo Fitzpatrick in attendance.[14]

            On October 17, 1926, at 2:00 pm, Father Charles Coughlin broadcast the first of his fiery sermons over the airwaves. The broadcast on local radio station WJR resulted in the receipt of only five letters.[15] Coughlin answered all of them personally. Fitzpatrick agreed to make Coughlin’s program a regular feature. Only four months after preaching his first sermon at The Shrine of the Little Flower, Father Coughlin was the star of his own radio program.

            Coughlin’s radio program, “The Children’s Hour,” featured traditional Catholic sermons along with organ and choir music. As the program grew in popularity in the Detroit area, Coughlin began receiving attention from the press. When asked the appeal of his program, Coughlin simply stated, “We avoid prejudicial subjects, all controversies and especially bigotry.”[16] The Shrine of the Little Flower’s website’s sanitized version of Coughlin’s radio program states, “The priest’s sermons clarified the principles of Christianity and answered thousands of questions concerning faith and morals.”[17]

            The format of the original show, which appeared only on WJR from 1926 to 1929, was simple. The program was divided into three sections, the first part devoted to music, followed by a traditional twenty-minute sermon and finally a short question and answer section about the Catholic faith. Coughlin claims he did not miss a single broadcast over the three years.[18]

The Children’s Hour soon evolved into, “The Golden Hour of the Little Flower” and expanded from one to three radio stations by the end of 1929, adding stations in Cincinnati and Chicago.  Coughlin’s fundraising strategy, simple and effective, was to beg listeners to join “The Radio League of the Little Flower” by sending in one dollar. The resulting wave of contributions- reportedly amounting to over $1 million dollars-not only paid off the church’s debt in short order, they provided enough funds for Coughlin to begin plans for a newer, significantly larger church complete with a seven-story shrine with a large crucifix on its face.

In the preface to Radio Sermons Complete 1930-31, Coughlin writes,

:           Although this hour is primarily dedicated to an exposition of Catholic Doctrine and of Christian morality, we have at no time been remiss in discussing both the evils and remedies of such topics as Communism-Socialism, which, like a red serpent, is slowly insinuating itself into the folds of our national life.  This last year we were happy to assist in our own way in pointing out the nature of Communism, which has been officially condemned by our Church because it is both immoral and unpatriotic.  Its internationalism and pacifism strike out at the root of our Constitution and American civilization.  Its ambition, in the words of its great exponent, “is bent upon tearing God from His false throne.”  Its theory of economics will not be satisfied until it will have constructed a massive prison whose walls are both the Gulf and the Great Lakes, the Atlantic and Pacific – and we, the free citizens of that new Siberia, shall become slaves, disfranchised of our vote, dispossessed of our property, despoiled of our religion and destitute of our families.[19]

 On January 12, 1930, Coughlin’s sermons took on a political bent with a sermon entitled “The Christian Family.” The sermon attacked news out of Russia that the government abolished Christmas celebrations. Coughlin used the occasion to attack Bolshevism, and blame it for the destruction of the American Family. In typical firebrand, Coughlin noted, “We Americans are seriously tainted with the purple poison of Bolshevism and its doctrine,” and then goes on to note that in the previous twelve months one in six marriages ended in divorce.[20]    

             Two weeks later, On January 30, 1930 Coughlin delivered a more overt attack on Bolshevism entitled, “Christ or the Red Serpent.” The sermon, an attack on Russia, continued Coughlin’s foray into national politics and listeners responded favorably. As the nation entered into the Great Depression, Coughlin sounded the warning that the country was on the brink of a communist revolution.

             In July of 1930, Coughlin testified before the Fish Committee, formed by Hamilton Fish II to investigate communist activities in the United States. Coughlin warned, “Communism is increasing rapidly and there will be a revolution in the United States by 1933.” [21] To Fish’s surprise, Coughlin leveled an attack at Henry Ford for signing a $13 million agreement with the Soviet Union to build truck and tractor factories in the communist nation. In spite of the virulent criticism by Coughlin, Ford and Coughlin became friends by the mid 1930s.

            In the fall of 1930, the Columbia Broadcasting System signed Father Coughlin to a national contract. The CBS network deal meant that Coughlin’s radio program appeared on sixteen stations and in twenty-three states.[22] The first nationally broadcast program broadcast on October 5, 1930 and propelled Coughlin into the national spotlight within three weeks. Coughlin’s national contract brought him into 40 million homes and marked the height of his broadcasting career.

            Coughlin’s national platform increased his popularity and the amount of mail filled with financial contributions. Three weeks after Coughlin’s first national broadcast, he employed over fifty clerks to handle the influx of mail.[23] For the first three months of his stint on CBS, Coughlin stuck with his bread and butter topics, anti-communism, attacks on international bankers and calls for social reform. Coughlin’s appearance on CBS occurred near the height of the Great Depression, and his message found a highly receptive audience.

            According to official Coughlin biographer Luis B. Ward, January 3, 1931 marked a turning point in Father Coughlin’s career under “peculiar” circumstances.[24] The subject of the January 4, 1931 broadcast was The Treaty of Versailles and how its terms brought on The Great Depression ironically entitled “Prosperity.” Congressman Louis McFadden of Pennsylvania provided the basic concept and statistical data.

            The “peculiar circumstances” arose when according to Ward, Coughlin was “in the habit of verifying statistics provided to him,” and thus had his secretary contact McFadden’s office and go over the data with the McFadden. [25] While trying to contact McFadden’s office, Coughlin’s secretary reported that there was an “unusual delay” and then afterward a voice came on the phone saying, “This is the White House Speaking.”[26] The secretary asked to speak to McFadden and then someone claiming to be McFadden answered and went over the statistics with the secretary. McFadden later claimed to Coughlin that he had not spoken to anyone on Coughlin’s staff about the sermon.

            Around midnight on the eve before Coughlin was to deliver the sermon on the Treaty of Versailles, Coughlin reported that he received a long distance phone call from a CBS executive in New York while Coughlin rehearsed for the next morning’s broadcast. The executive, Edward Klauber, reportedly told Coughlin that the network had received a number of complaints about the inflammatory nature of some of Coughlin’s remarks and in essence told Coughlin to remove all potentially inflammatory statements from Coughlin’s upcoming broadcast. Coughlin reportedly agreed to ditch the Treaty of Versailles sermon and instead deliver another message.

            Coughlin soon surmised that the reason for the late night phone call was that the White House tapped his phone conversations. Coughlin made this assumption because there was no other way that CBS could have known the contents of his upcoming sermon, since he had only shared it with his staff and during the phone call, that McFadden claimed never took place.[27] True to his word, Coughlin spoke on another subject, censorship.

            Coughlin’s January 4 1931 sermon attacked CBS and other “sources” for censoring his planned sermon. Coughlin urged his listeners to support him, and they did en masse, flooding CBS with thousands of letters. Coughlin even wrote to New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt for help.[28] Roosevelt respectfully declined. Nonetheless, Coughlin delivered the sermon the following week.

            “Prosperity” contained Coughlin’s typical fiery rhetoric. In introducing the connection between the Treaty of Versailles and The Great Depression, Coughlin states, “This evening it is my privilege to invite you to consider a new aspect of national and international depression…It dates back to the year 1919. The scene is the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles France.”[29]

            Coughlin assailed the dealers of German reparation bonds- which Coughlin coined “blood bonds”- knew that Germany never intended to honor them. It was simply a conspiracy by “international bankers” to rob the United States of gold. Coughlin noted that the German bond markets collapse brought on the Great Depression. The Federal Reserve did this by lowering the cost of credit so that Americans could borrow money to buy German bonds-which paid a 5% return- on margin. The Treaty of Versailles terms violated International Law and its terms had “done little more than to agitate hostility.” [30]

            CBS later denied the charge of censorship, and in spite of Coughlin’s mass popularity the network refused to renew Coughlin’s broadcasting contract when it came up for renewal in April of 1931.[31] Coughlin approached other networks for airtime only to find out that as a matter of policy they do not sell time to religious organizations. Undaunted, Coughlin strung together a syndicate of  twenty seven radio stations, and thus in spite of the absence of a national contract, the radio priest could still be heard weekly from coast to coast.

By the end of 1931, Coughlin turned his attacks toward President Herbert Hoover. To some degree, Coughlin established himself as an expert on economics affairs, to the extent that Coughlin testified before House committees. Coughlin castigated Hoover’s apparent unwillingness to intervene in economic affairs.

The attacks on Herbert Hoover continued into the early part of 1932, including a sermon entitled, “The Secret is Out,” in which Coughlin reveals the existence of an article in a mining magazine that was printed in 1912 in which Herbert Hoover calls people who lost money investing in mining futures “idiots.”[32]  Coughlin went on to say that Hoover’s assessment of investors as “idiots,” meant that “we are taught that it is quite moral and just to filch money from innocent ‘outsiders’ and pass it to the soft hands of guilty ‘insiders.’”[33] Coughlin attacked Hoover’s belief that relief was the job of the local government and then attacked Hoover when he did take action at the Federal level, calling Hoover’s Reconstruction Finance Corporation, “financial socialism.”[34]

            By spring of 1932, Coughlin was in the thick of the political firestorm, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, which was considering legislation to pay World War I veterans a promised bonus early in order to alleviate their suffering during the Great Depression. The legislation did not pass and subsequently a group known as the Bonus Expeditionary Force, or The Bonus Army, besieged Washington D.C in June of 1932 and set up shantytowns throughout the city. In an act of solidarity, Coughlin donated money to the Bonus Army.

            The Bonus Marchers were not the only thing Coughlin concerned himself with in the spring of 1932. Coughlin also faced mounting criticism from within the Catholic community from Boston Cardinal William O’Connell. In April of 1932, Cardinal O’Connell called Coughlin’s radio addresses “hysterical” and Coughlin’s attacks on international bankers, “sensational accusations.[35] O’Connell’s attacks only raised the ire of Coughlin and in turn, Coughlin attacked O’Connell for his forty-year “silence” on social justice.[36] In spite of the criticism, Bishop Gallagher refused to denounce Coughlin’s radio broadcasts.

            Coughlin also placed himself in the middle of a political controversy involving New York City Mayor James John Walker, known as Jimmy. Walker, an Irish Catholic, faced mounting criticism for incompetence and rampant corruption within his administration. Coughlin came to the embattled mayors’ defense during a speaking engagement in New York City.  Before Coughlin gave the speech to the New York City Fire Department Holy Name Society, Mayor Walker paid a surprise visit to the event, and Coughlin embraced the embattled mayor. Local radio stations WOR and WHN carried Coughlin’s address, during which Coughlin fiercely defended Walker attacking Walker’s critics. In September of 1932, Walker resigned as mayor so he would not face formal charges of corruption.

            The Jimmy Walker situation could have proven to be a problem for New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was in the middle of a presidential campaign. By the spring of 1932, a Roosevelt victory was not a certainty, and the New York governor could ill afford to alienate the nation’s Catholic’s or the popular radio priest, Charles Coughlin. Soon after Coughlin’s speech in defense of Jimmy Walker, Coughlin met Franklin Roosevelt at a hotel in New York City.

            According to Coughlin biographer Sheldon Marcus, Detroit mayor Frank Murphy- future governor of Michigan and Roosevelt appointee to the United States Supreme Court- arranged the meeting between Roosevelt and Coughlin.[37] Marcus writes of the meeting that, “according to Father Coughlin, Roosevelt seemed very impressed with his knowledge of economics and the social problems confronting the masses of the American people.”[38] In faux memoirs penned by Bernard Asdell and based on Roosevelt’s personal papers, Roosevelt is quoted as saying that “Coughlin’s hold on Catholic people of the working classes (many non-Catholics too) was quite powerful, and I was careful to keep contact and a good relationship with him.”[39]

            Roosevelt’s impression of Coughlin notwithstanding, Coughlin became a prominent figure in the 1932 presidential election, and thus received an invitation to speak at the 1932 Democratic Convention. At the Democratic convention, Coughlin threw his support firmly behind Roosevelt. Coughlin reportedly agreed to support Roosevelt in return for a say in Roosevelt’s economic policy. Sheldon Marcus claims that not only did Roosevelt agree to Coughlin’s terms but that Coughlin and Frank Murphy “played a large role in hammering out the Democratic platform,” and that “Roosevelt was gracious to both men and encouraged them in their efforts.”[40]

            After the convention, Coughlin outwardly supported Roosevelt during Coughlin’s radio addresses. Roosevelt continued to meet with Coughlin and may have asked Coughlin to draft Roosevelt’s first inaugural address, which Roosevelt did not use in its entirety but Coughlin claimed years later that Roosevelt used a significant portion of Coughlin’s draft. At the very least, Roosevelt used some of the populist rhetoric that Coughlin had become famous for in his fiery sermons, including a reference to “money changers.”[41]

            By all accounts, the Roosevelt, Coughlin honeymoon ended not long after Roosevelt took office on March 4 1933. Less than three weeks after the inauguration, Coughlin’s broadcast leveled an attack on Detroit bankers, many of them Jewish. One of his main targets was Edward Douglas Stair, former president of the Detroit Bankers Co. and publisher of the Detroit Free Press.[42]

            The attacks on Stair led to an all out war between Coughlin and the Detroit Free Press. The Free Press retaliated against Coughlin’s attacks on its publisher by calling Coughlin’s financial dealings into question, and produced questionable evidence that Coughlin had purchased stocks on margin. The evidence, photostatic copies delivered by a clerk who worked at the branch where Coughlin did his banking, had been slightly altered allowing Coughlin to call it into question at the time, even though months later Coughlin admitted under oath that an organization closely associated with him did purchase the stocks.[43]

             After the Free Press broke the story, Coughlin continued to attack Stair and the Free Press, calling Stair names like, “Edward ‘Deficit’ Stair, and claiming that the Free Press was “entirely responsible” for the banking crisis and that its readers “are being daily poisoned with ink from this advocate of libel.”[44]

In the midst of the crisis, someone detonated a bomb in the basement of Coughlin’s home, presumably as an act of intimidation. Coughlin used the bombing incident to promote the upcoming radio broadcast, making the claim that there was a possibility that the broadcast would be “jammed.” A technique Coughlin used when he claimed CBS censored his radio address on The Treaty of Versailles.

            Within a few months, Coughlin testified as an expert witness before a Detroit grand jury that was investigating the Detroit banking crisis. Coughlin had attempted to use his friendship with Roosevelt to get the Federal government to launch the investigation, but aides to Roosevelt did not allow it. During his testimony, Coughlin shouted, “When I say there will be indictments I mean just that!”[45]

In spite of the distance growing between Roosevelt and Coughlin, the Radio priest continued to defend Roosevelt during the priest’s radio addresses and in personal appearances. Of particular interest to Coughlin was monetary policy. Coughlin was a strong supporter of the revaluation of gold as a way to stimulate the economy, and later supported the free coinage of silver.

Coughlin was also a strong supporter of the National Recovery Act, and in September of 1933 the New York Times quoted Coughlin as saying that Roosevelt “won for himself a niche in the American Hall of Fame equal to the places held by Washington and Lincoln.[46] In the same article, Coughlin defended Henry Ford, calling the auto mogul “as good an American as anyone.”[47] Three years earlier Coughlin testified before a congressional committee and claimed that Ford aided communism.[48]

The high point of 1933 for Coughlin was the official dedication of the new Shrine of the Little Flower Church. The Tower of the Church is 180 feet high, and includes giant crucifix with the image of Christ towering over the neighborhood. At the base, images of archangels. The tower is lit up at night with a mass of floodlights. The tower contained a radio studio wired directly to Detroit station WJR.

Soon after the dedication, Coughlin spoke at the Hippodrome in New York City, in defense of Roosevelt’s monetary policy. Coughlin opened the speech saying, “Stop Roosevelt, stop him from being stopped.”[49] Coughlin reportedly sent a copy of the speech to The White House for Roosevelt’s approval, and Roosevelt did not reply.[50]

For the remainder of 1933 Coughlin became embroiled in a public debate with Al Smith former New York Governor and 1928 Democratic nominee for President. After losing the 1932 nomination to Roosevelt, Smith became a vocal critic of New Deal policies. Smith is the first Catholic to win a major party nomination for president of the United States. In spite of that distinction, Coughlin became Roosevelt’s attack dog, but carefully drew the distinction between politics and religion, stating to The New York Times in December of 1933, “If I disagree with Mr. Smith’s financial philosophy, let no man-no editor except a liar-maintain that I do not admire the ex-Governor’s Christian morality.”[51]

            Differences over monetary policy began the fracturing of Coughlin and Roosevelt’s relationship. Coughlin began pushing for free coinage of silver and removal of the Gold Standard, the same policy that William Jennings Bryan made famous during his “Cross of Gold” speech in 1896.

            In 1934, Coughlin became a vocal supporter of the re-monetization of silver, telling the New York Times, “Unless the Democratic or Republican party adopt a sound policy of currency expansion I think it is time to start another party.”[52] Roosevelt saw it as a scheme from which silver speculators will profit.[53] Coughlin voiced strong support for legislation introduced to purchase enormous quantities of silver at inflated prices. In an attempt to derail the legislation, the Treasury Department released the names of individuals with silver holdings. On the list was Amy Collins of Royal Oak Michigan, secretary-treasurer of Father Coughlin’s Radio League of the Little Flower. Coughlin’s reaction to the scheme was quick, and he blamed Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau Jr.  and his “Jewish cohorts” claiming that the ulterior motive was to protect gold investors.

            Coughlin and Roosevelt’s relationship had cooled considerably after the Hippodrome speech. Since then, Roosevelt and Coughlin only exchanged formalities; their fast friendship had all but vanished. By the end of 1933, Coughlin started to level subtle attacks against Roosevelt. For his part, Roosevelt sought ways to neutralize Coughlin by asking Justice Department officials to check into Coughlin’s citizenship. When that did not work Roosevelt suggested putting pressure on the radio stations that carried Coughlin’s program or applying pressure to the Catholic Church hierarchy.[54] Essentially, Coughlin was unstoppable.

            Coughlin opened the 1934-1935 broadcast season in October of 1934 on 28 stations, up from 16 the previous season.[55] In November, Coughlin announced that he had formed the National Union for Social Justice (NUSJ). The formation of the organization put Coughlin squarely into the political arena. Coughlin announced a bold goal of 5 million members by January 1935.

            January 1935 also marked the first test of NUSJ political power. On his January 21, 1934 broadcast, Coughlin- who had openly praised Roosevelt and the New Deal two weeks prior- urged his listeners to write to their representatives to oppose US entry into the World Court. Coughlin saw entry into the World Court as a step toward a Europe-American alliance that would drive down the American standard of living. The ploy worked-Coughlin listeners sent over 40,000 telegrams to the White House from opposing entry into the World Court- and Coughlin, with the help of Senator Huey Long and newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst, dealt Roosevelt a stunning defeat as the Senate rejected entry into the World Court by a decisive margin.

            By March of 1935, Coughlin’s attacks on Roosevelt became vicious. Coughlin labeled Roosevelt a “capitalist tool” and characterized two years of the New Deal as “two years of compromise, two years of endeavoring to mix bad with good, two years of surrender, two years of matching the puerile, puny brains of idealists against the virile viciousness of business and finance.”[56] Almost immediately, a war of words began between Coughlin and former head of the NRA, General Hugh Johnson.

             During a speaking engagement at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, Johnson labeled Coughlin and Long leaders of an “emotional fringe,” and that Coughlin used a “cheap strategy of appealing to the envy of those who have nothing for those who have something.”[57] Over the next few weeks, Johnson compared Coughlin to Adolph Hitler noting that Hitler used swastikas for his Nazi while Coughlin used the cross for his.[58]

            In March of 1935 Coughlin faced mounting criticism from the Jewish community for his attacks aimed at “Jewish bankers.” The administrative committee of the American Jewish Congress reported at their Philadelphia convention on March 16, 1935, the head of the committee presented a dire report on the conditions of Jews in Europe and noted that in the United States, “the press, the radio, the church, the lecture platform and the schools are being used for the propagation of the Fascist, anti-Semitic, anti-Democratic ideology of men like Father Coughlin.”[59]

            In April of 1935, Coughlin embarked on a national speaking tour in an effort to form a third party. Huge crowds greeted Coughlin at events in Michigan, St. Louis and Cleveland. The highlight of the tour was Coughlin’s May 22 appearance at Madison Square Garden in New York City. At the Garden, Coughlin attacked Roosevelt’s recent veto of legislation that would have paid Bonus Marchers their long sought after World War I bonus. The sold out crowd of 23 thousand included an overflow crowd of 5 thousand that listened to Coughlin’s speech in the basement.

            In early September of 1935, Coughlin received a phone call from Securities and Exchange Commission head Joseph Kennedy. The purpose of the call was to set up a meeting with Coughlin and Roosevelt at Roosevelt’s estate in Hyde Park NY.[60] Coughlin accepted the invitation. On September 10, Joseph Kennedy met Coughlin at the train station in Albany, NY. While there Coughlin learned of Huey Longs assassination, and when approached by a reporter he called Longs death, “the most regrettable thing in modern history.”[61]

            When Coughlin arrived at the Hyde Park Estate, Roosevelt was still sleeping so he and Kennedy waited until Roosevelt awakened. When Roosevelt came downstairs, Coughlin informed him of Longs death. Roosevelt was in shock.

            Over breakfast, Roosevelt questioned why Coughlin was attacking him, and Coughlin replied that he thought Roosevelt was going soft on Communism. Coughlin also asked Roosevelt to abolish the Federal Reserve, but Roosevelt was non-committal. Roosevelt warned Coughlin that if Coughlin ran a third party candidate for president, it might result in a Republican takeover of the White House. Coughlin assured the president that he supported principals and not men.

            On page 15 of the November 18, 1935, New York Times an article appeared with the simple headline, “Coughlin Breaks With Roosevelt.” Coughlin issued a stern attack on his former “friend.” Coughlin stated, “On March 4, 1933, I was thrilled to the ringing words which promised to drive the money changers from the temple…today I humbly stand before the public to admit that I have been in error. Despite all promises, the money changer has not been driven from the temple.”[62] Roosevelt and Coughlin met one last time in January of 1936. The meeting was short and Coughlin later recalled that he (Coughlin) did most of the talking.

            The first issue of Coughlin’s weekly newspaper Social Justice appeared March 13, 1936.  In the pages of the weekly newspaper were attacks against the moneychangers and President Roosevelt. It also featured the entire text of Coughlin’s weekly radio address.

            In June of 1936, Coughlin announced his support for the presidential candidacy of North Dakota Representative William Lemke.[63] The announcement confirmed speculation that Coughlin planned to launch a third party candidacy for president.

            At a rally in Cleveland Ohio on July 16, 1936, Coughlin called Roosevelt a “liar.” The incident caused uproar in the press, but more importantly a rare intervention by Bishop Gallagher, who had just returned from the Vatican. Gallagher forced Coughlin to issue a complete apology, and Coughlin complied. The apology appeared in the July 27, 1936 issue of Social Justice. In his apology Coughlin noted that he “was one of the first, and not one of the least, to help you attain the presidency…I still regard you highly; but as an executive, despite your Excellency’s fine intentions, I deem it best for the welfare of our common country that you be supplanted in office.”[64]

            Coughlin’s entry into politics was brief. Lemke only appeared on the ballot in thirty-six states and Coughlin was unable to secure badly needed political alliances to mount a serious attempt at unseating Roosevelt. The Lemke candidacy was not even a factor in the election. Coughlin’s outward politicking drew the ire of the Vatican and even Bishop Gallagher could not stop church officials from toning Coughlin down. A Vatican directive forbade Coughlin from active involvement in future elections. In public, Coughlin denied that Vatican officials asked him to tone it down.

            After the resounding defeat, Coughlin announced that the NUSJ was “thoroughly discredited,” and that he would withdraw “from all radio activity in the best interests of the people.”[65] Within two months, Coughlin was back on the air in the wake of the death of his most ardent supporter and superior, Bishop Gallagher. The Bishop died on January 21, 1937 and the following day Coughlin announced a 52-week series of lectures on current events.

            In October of 1937, Coughlin’s new superior, Archbishop Edward Mooney faced his first test of loyalty to Coughlin. In an interview, Coughlin attacked the CIO labor union and stated that Roosevelt showed “personal stupidity,” when Roosevelt chose Hugo Black to sit on the Supreme Court.[66] Unlike Gallagher, Mooney publicly disavowed knowledge of Coughlin’s remarks and stated that Coughlin, “lacked counsel.”[67] In response, Coughlin canceled the remainder of his 26-week broadcasting contract. Coughlin also sold Social Justice to a Toledo executive.[68] Letter writing appeals to the Mooney and the Vatican urged them to let Coughlin back on the air. Coughlin returned to the airwaves within two months with the consent of Mooney and the Vatican.

            On April 3, 1938, The New York Times carried a story on page 69 with the headline, “Coughlin is Seen Regaining Power.”[69] The Times noted that at Coughlin’s urging, 80 thousand persons sent telegrams to Washington urging against Senate passage of a Reorganization Bill. The amount of telegrams surpassed the amount sent years earlier in opposition to admission to the World Court. In spite of the flood of telegrams, the bill passed.

            Coughlin’s new magazine, Social Justice, replaced the newspaper of the same name and circulation was reportedly over 400 thousand. All seemed to be going well for Father Coughlin by the end of 1938. In spite of major setbacks, Coughlin had successful print and radio ventures. All Coughlin needed to do was avoid a major controversy to keep the organization in tact.

            Coughlin did not avoid controversy for long. In November of 1938, Coughlin arguably presented his most controversial radio address. In the address, Coughlin claimed Nazism was “defense mechanism” against “misguided Jews and Gentiles.”[70] Coughlin had been accused of anti-Semitism before, but never before had he defended the Nazi government. In response, radio station WMCA broadcast a formal statement against the speech rather than just a formal disclaimer. The station also requested that Coughlin provide a transcript of his radio talks 48 hours before his broadcast. Coughlin claimed that would be impossible, and thus WMCA out of New York City, refused to carry Coughlin’s radio program. New York City’s other major radio station WOR had discontinued Coughlin’s program a few months earlier.

            Over the next two years, a public debate over charges that Coughlin was an anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer appeared in newspapers across the country. As the United States marched toward entrance into World War II, Coughlin appealed to isolationists and bigots. Coughlin’s anti-Jewish laden broadcasts were compared to Nazi propaganda, and the seminaries were undeniable.

            In spite of Coughlin’s attempts to defend himself over charges of anti-Semitism- including a lengthy pamphlet entitled, “Am I an anti-Semite?”-by 1940 Coughlin’s mainstream image was so tarnished that Roosevelt’s Republican opponent in the 1940 election, Wendell Wilkie, rejected Coughlin’s endorsement. Wilkie issued a firm statement on the matter, saying, “I am not interested in the support of anybody who stands for any form of prejudice as to anybody’s race or religion or who is in support of any foreign economic or political philosophy in this country.”[71]

            On September 20, 1940, Coughlin reported to the press that he was abandoning his new series of broadcasts because “powerful men keep him off the air.”[72] Coughlin had been slowly losing radio stations and by September of 1940 there were only a few small stations willing to carry Coughlin’s broadcasts. Coughlin stated he would not broadcast again, “until we cease to be war-minded-it may be ten months or it may be ten years.”[73] Coughlin still held a controlling interest in Social Justice magazine, even though he had written a letter to Bishop Mooney the previous May claiming he would no longer be responsible for the publication.

            In April of 1942, Coughlin admitted that he still maintained editorial control over Social Justice. The admission came in the wake of sedition charges that ultimately led to the barring of the publication from the mail by the Postmaster General. That spelled the demise of Social Justice. Bishop Mooney stated to the press he was “gratified” with the decision to end Social Justice and said that he had an agreement with Coughlin that was “sufficiently firm to exclude effectively the recurrence of any such situation.”[74]

Coughlin did not comment on the silencing for 25 years. Upon his retirement a 74 years old Coughlin held an anti-climatic news conference to discuss his “obedience.”[75].Coughlin claimed that in 1941 Bishop Mooney called him into his office and told him to cease broadcasting and publishing, and Coughlin obeyed because obedience is a virtue. Coughlin retired as pastor from The Shrine of the Little Flower a few months later and offered a few interviews to radio hosts and biographers over the next 13 years until his death on October 27, 1979.

Coughlin remains a minor part of the American History lexicon. The priest still receives mention on occasion as the forerunner to talk radio giant Rush Limbaugh. Coughlin’s name remains synonymous with anti-Semitism, but Coughlin still has his defenders including the proprietor of  fathercoughlin.com, whose website has “Father Coughlin Not Anti-Semitic” in banner form on top of the web page. Coughlin appears on the Social Security Online History page as “influential” in the development of Social Security. A disclaimer appears above Coughlin’s picture.