In 1936, North Dakota Congressman William Lemke co-sponsored the Frazier-Lemke Bill to refinance farm mortgages through the issuance of $8 billion in greenbacks by the federal government. This measure was ardently supported by the popular radio priest Charles Coughlin. When the bill was voted down in the House on May 13th, Coughlin decided that was the last straw and went ahead to form a third party, according to historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
The Townsend Plan and Share Our Wealth
Father Coughlin proceeded to negotiate with two movements. The Townsendites were led by Dr. Francis Everett Townsend. His proposal for a government-run old persons pension plan had caught on fire. Monthly payments of $200 to all persons over the age of 60 who agreed to retire, funded by a 2% value-added tax, had national appeal It had sprouted 5,000 Townsend Clubs by January 1934.
The other movement was the Share Our Wealth Society that was organized by Huey Long. The Reverend Gerald Smith took over the movement after Long's assassination. The society wanted to "make every man a king" by confiscating the fortunes of the wealthy, levying steep progressive taxes, and redistributing the revenue through an initial $5,000 "estate" to each family and annual minimum payments of $2,500.
National Union for Social Justice
These two groups would unite with Coughlin's own National Union for Social Justice. Disappointed with the New Deal for not pushing inflationary policies with enough force and rehabilitating banks instead of controlling them, Coughlin's organization demanded monetary reforms, nationalization of key industries, and protecting workers' rights. The National Union appealed especially to immigrant industrial workers and had a membership as high as 8 million.
On June 16th, the Reverend Smith announced the formation of the Coughlin/Townsend/Smith union, claiming more than 20 million potential votes. Three days later, Lemke announced his presidential candidacy for the Union Party. The platform for this party was similar to the National Union's principles, adding reasonable security for the aged and a limitation on net income. At the Townsendite convention in mid-July, Coughlin railed against President Franklin Roosevelt to wild cheers and posed with Townsend and Smith for photographers in a show of unity.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
That unity would be fleeting. President Roosevelt foresaw the three egos clashing months earlier, "these fellows cannot all lie in the same bed and will fight amongst themselves..." It was a bad sign when a planned campaign tour with all three men together was rejected by Coughlin. The three leaders devoted less time to the Union Party and more time to themselves. Schlesinger has claimed that Lemke became a victim of their imcompatibilities.
Coughlin was busy protecting his agenda and fame. During the National Union for Social Justice convention in August, Coughlin visably looked bored on the platform while Smith spoke, pretending to fall asleep. At a New York rally, Coughlin did not even mention Lemke's name. In addition, Coughlin's mouth turned off some voters with anti-Semitic comments and derogatory rantings against FDR, such as Roosevelt "is the dumbest man ever to occupy the White House."
Townsend and Smith also pursued their own programs, which Coughlin privately viewed as impractical. Schlesinger stated that Townsend had no roll in the campaign and was more concerned about the Townsend Plan than the Union Party. Smith came off as a fanatic to reporters, talking of using religion and patriotism to "het up" the people. His announcement on October 18th of his plans to lead a new nationalist movement to seize the government was disavowed by Lemke and Townsend.
With the separate agendas and clashing egos, the Union Party never stood a chance in the face of Roosevelt's popularity in 1936. Roosevelt deftly played the class card, denouncing the "economic royalists" during the campaign and signing Social Security and labor legislation the year before, therefore siphoning the fuel for the Union Party and their utopian-like programs. Lemke received only 882,479 votes (no electoral votes), roughly 2% of all votes cast.
Sources:
Kennedy, David M., Freedom From Fear, Oxford: Oxford, 1999.
Schlesinger, Arthur M. Jr., The Politics of Upheaval, Mifflin: New York, 1960.
William L. Wunder - BA in History, University of Iowa, 1994, with Dean's List honors. History Buff- constant reader of books in American ...
