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[Footnotes]
1 David O. McKay, Address, Report of the Semi-Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, April 7, 1917 (Salt Lake City: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, semi-annual), 49; hereafter cited as Conference Report.
2 First Presidency, "Warning to Church Members," July 3, 1936, Improvement Era 39, no. 8 (August 1936): 488.
3 David O. McKay, Letter to Jeremiah Stokes, April 19, 1940, quoted in D. Michael Quinn: J. Reuben Clark: The Church Years (Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1983), 190.
4 Conference Report, April 5, 1942, 71-73.
5 "Faith Triumphant," Church-of-the-Air address, July 20, 1947, David O. McKay Scrapbook #12, Archives, Family and Church History Department, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City;
6 Conference Report, April 5, 1948, 70.
8 Senator Elbert D. Thomas, Letter to David O. McKay, February 14, 1950, in McKay, Diary, typescript, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
9 Elbert D. Thomas, Letter to David O. McKay, February 23, 1950, in ibid.
10 Conference Report, April 8, 1950, 175.
11 McKay, Diary, January 13, 1951.
12 "LDS President Concerned over Red Attitude toward Christianity," Salt Lake Telegram, April 26, 1951.
13 "Church Leader Tells Rotary Club of Trip to European Missions," Deserei News, August 6, 1952.
14 First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Meeting, Minutes, August 28, 1952, in McKay, Diary.
15 Sheri L. Dew, Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography (Salt Lake City, Deseret Book, 1987).
16 McKay, Diary, August 1, 5, 1952.
17 McKay, Diary, October 27, 1952.
18 McKay, Diary, November 5, 1952.
19 McKay, Diary, November 20, 1952.
20 Reed Benson, Interview, Provo, Utah, September 15, 1999.
21 David O. McKay and Ned Redding, publisher of the California Intermountain News, McKay Diary, November 25, 1952.
22 Dew, Ezra Taft Benson, 259.
23 Benson’s autobiographical account of his cabinet years is Crossfire: The Eight Years with Eisenhower (New York: Doubleday, 1962).
24 McKay, Diary, August 19, 1954.
25 David O. McKay, "Forward in Spiritual Ideas," address delivered to the Executives of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Statler Hotel, Los Angeles, July 17, 1953, David O. McKay, Discourses, LDS Church Archives.
26 "Head of Mormons Predicts Revolt in Red Countries," Los Angeles Times, April 26, 1954.
27 McKay, Diary, June 3, 1954.
28 Arthur V. Watkins, Enough Rope: The Inside Story of the Censure of Senator Joe McCarthy by His C olleagues-The Controversial Hearings That Signaled the End of a Turbulent Career and a Fearsome Era in American Public Life (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969), ix.
29 McKay, Letter to Arthur V. Watkins, December 11, 1954, quoted in ibid., 195.
30 Arthur V. Watkins, Letter to McKay, December 31, 1954, in McKay, Diary, December 13, 1954.
31 McKay, Diary, November 15, 1956.
32 McKay, Diary, November 12, 1957.
33 McKay, Diary, June 6, 1958.
34 Ernest L. Wilkinson, Diary, May 24, 1961,
35 McKay, Diary, June 29, 1961.
36 Robert Welch, The Blue Book (Belmont, Mass.: Robert Welch, 1961), 108.
Seymour Martin Lipset and Earl Raab, The Politics of Unreason: Right-wing Extremism in America, 1 790-1970 (New York: Harper < Row, 1970).
37 D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26, no. 2 (Summer 1993): 7-8.
38 Reed Benson, interview, September 15, 1999.
39 McKay, Diary, August 17, 1961.
40 Reed Benson, interview, September 15, 1999;
41 Benson, Address, September 30, 1961, Conference Report, October 1961, 73-74.
42 Hugh B. Brown, Letter to Alicia Bingham, December 28, 1961, Edwin B. Firmage Papers, Accession 1074, Box 48, fd. 21, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
43 Wilkinson, Diary, December 29, 1961.
44 McKay, Diary, February 15, 1962.
45 McKay, Diary, February 19, 1962.
46 "LDS Hits Extremes in Anti-Red Battle," Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 1962.
47 Harley R Hammond, Letter to Hugh B. Brown, April 24, 1962;
48 Hugh B. Brown, Letter to Harley R Hammond, April 25, 1962;
49 McKay, Diary, May 18, 1962.
50 McKay, Diary, October 26, 1962.
51 "Reed A. Benson Takes Post in Birch Society," Deserei News, October 27, 1962.
52 "Ezra Benson’s Son Takes Birch Society Post," Sacramento Bee, October 27, 1962;
"Benson Birch Tie Disturbs Utahans," New York Times, November 4, 1962.
53 Henry D. Moyle, Letter to J. D. Williams, January 9, 1963;
54 "Church Sets Policy on Birch Society," Deserei News, January 3, 1963.
55 J. D. Williams, Letter to the First Presidency, January 4, 1963;
56 McKay, Diary, January 4, 1963.
57 McKay, Diary, January 6, 1963.
58 Ibid., January 23, 1963.
59 Edwin B. Firmage (Brown’s grandson), Interview, Salt Lake City, October 10, 1996.
60 Wilkinson, Diary, January 31, 1963.
61 McKay, Diary, February 4, 1963.
62 The John Birch Society Bulletin, February 1963, 28-29.
Eventually McKay received over 2,000 such letters. See McKay, Diary, February 26, 1963.
63 McKay, Diary, February 4, 1963.
64 Wilkinson, Diary, March 3, 1963.
65 "Benson Not Speaking for Mormons on Birch," Los Angeles Times, March, 4, 1963.
66 McKay, Diary, March 6, 1963.
67 Lela (Mrs. Mark A.) Benson, Letter to Clare Middlemiss, March 12, 1963;
68 "Elder Benson Makes Statement," Church News, March 16, 1963.
69 "Benson Clarifies Views on Birch Society Stand," Salt Lake Tribune, March 21, 1963.
70 Wilkinson, Diary, May 13, 1963.
71 L Ralph Mecham, Letter to Gregory A. Prince, March 21, 2001.
72 Paul H. Dunn, Interview, Highland, Utah, May 21, 1996.
73 McKay, Diary, August 9, 1963.
74 Dew, Ezra Taft Benson, 371-72.
75 "Benson Speaker at Testimonial Dinner," Associated Press Wire Service, September 24, 1963, Congressional Record-House 108, No. 13 (September 25, 1963): 18125-28;
76 McKay, Diary, September 24, 1963.
77 Ralph R. Harding, Interview, Arlington, Virginia, October 24, 2000.
78 Ibid.
79 "Ezra Taft Benson’s Support of John Birch Society Is Criticized, Congressional Record-House, 109, No. 13 (September 25, 1963): 18125-28.
80 Dwight D. Eisenhower, Letter to Ralph R. Harding, October 7, 1963;
81 L. Ralph Mecham, Letter to Gregory A. Prince, March 21, 2001.
82 McKay, Diary, October 18, 1963.
83 Dew, Ezra Taft Benson, 371-72.
84 Robert R McKay, Letter to Ralph R. Harding, October 18, 1963;
85 Joseph Fielding Smith, Letter to Ralph R. Harding, October 30, 1963;
86 "Elder Benson to Direct European Mission," Deseret News, October 24, 1963;
"Apostle Benson Denies Being Sent into ’Exile’ for Political Views," Ogden Standard-Examiner, October 29, 1963.
87 "Mormons Split over John Birch Society Campaign," National Observer, November 4, 1963.
88 "We Must Become Alerted and Informed," typescript, MSS A 328-2, Utah State Historical Society, Salt Lake City.
Pearson’s column, "Benson’s Cure for Communism," appeared in the Washington Post, January 4, 1964.
89 Frank E. Moss, Letter to Hugh B. Brown, December 20, 1963, Frank E. Moss Papers, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah.
90 Joseph Fielding Smith, Letter to Ralph R. Harding, December 23, 1963;
91 McKay, Diary, December 23, 1963.
92 Harding, Interview, September 19, 2000.
93 "Ike Praises Idaho Solon for Benson Criticism," Salt Lake Tribune, February 21, 1964.
94 McKay, Diary, February 20, 1964.
95 Ibid., March 5, 1964.
96 Louis Midgley, "Birch Society Reviewed by Prof. Louis Midgley," (BYU) Daily Universe, May 22, 1964.
97 McKay, Diary, May 26, 1964.
98 David O. McKay, Letter to Earl C. Crockett, June 4, 1964, in McKay, Diary, May 26, 1964.
Ernest L. Wilkinson, Letter to Ezra Taft Benson, May 4, 1971;
99 McKay, Diary, August 18, 1964.
100 Ezra Taft Benson, Letter to Clare Middlemiss, August 19, 1964;
101 McKay, Diary, September 17, 1964.
102 Jack Anderson, "Reed Benson Spreads Birch Gospel," Washington Post, January 15, 1965.
103 Wilkinson, Diary, April 6, 1965.
104 "Benson Ties Rights Issue to Reds in Mormon Rift," Washington Post, April 13, 1965.
105 Ibid.
106 McKay, Diary, April 23, 1965.
107 Ibid., May 3, 1965.
108 Ibid., April 23, 1965.
109 Ibid., October 21, 1965.
110 Thorpe B. Isaacson, Memorandum to David O. McKay, October 21, 1965, in McKay, Diary.
111 McKay, Diary, November 19, 1965. Later, Isaacson elected not to go to the seminar. In January 1966,
112 Clare Middlemiss, "Notes," November 24, 1965;
113 McKay, Diary, January 11, 1966.
114 "LDS Apostle Backs up Birch Group," Salt Lake Tribune, January 16, 1966.
115 Wallace F. Bennett, Letter to David Lawrence McKay, January 21, 1966, Wallace F. Bennett Papers, Accession 290, Box 24, fd. 3, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah.
116 McKay, Diary, February 9, 1966.
117 Ibid., February 18, 1966.
118 Ibid., February 19, 1966.
119 Robert H. Hinckley, who worked for the American Broadcasting Company in New York, wrote a letter to McKay on March 17, 1966 (photocopy in my possession),
120 McKay, Diary, March 8, 1966.
121 John Birch function, as indicated in a subsequent article, "Birchers Applaud LDS Policy," Deseret News, March 23, 1966.
122 J. Reese Hunter, Dinner Chairman, to "Dear Brethren," March 8, 1966, McKay, Diary, March 15, 1966.
123 "Notice to Church Members," Deserei News, March 16, 1966.
124 Robert H. Hinckley, Letter to David O. McKay, March 17, 1966;
125 McKay, Diary, March 23, 1966.
126 McKay, Diary, March 24, 1966.
127 McKay, Diary, March 29, 1966.
128 Ezra Taft Benson, Letter to David O. McKay, March 25, 1966, McKay, Diary.
129 The John Birch Society Bulletin, March 1966, 22-24.
131 Robert Gottlieb and Peter Wiley, America’s Saints: The Rise of Mormon Power (New York: G. Putnam’s Sons, 1984), 78.
132 Conference Report, April 9, 1966, 109;
133 McKay, Diary, April 12, 1966.
134 "Conference Talk Texts," Church News, April 16, 1966, 7.
135 McKay, Diary, April 15, 1966.
136 "Politics and Religion," Church News, March 26, 1966. Church News editorials, both then and now, are unsigned.
137 McKay, Diary, April 18, 1966.
138 McKay, Diary, April 16, 1966.
139 Clare Middlemiss, "Notes," April 21, 1966.
140 Ibid., April 22, 1966.
141 McKay, Diary, April 16, 1966.
142 "Presidential Draft for Elder Benson," Deseret News, May 3, 1966.
143 "Mormons & Politics: Benson’s Influence Helps Keep Growing Church on Conservative Track," Wall Street Journal, August 8, 1966.
144 "Mormons Reverse Clock," Washington Post, October 16, 1966.
145 McKay, Diary, October 31, 1966.
146 Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 2, 1966, 122.
147 McKay, Diary, November 16, 1966.
148 McKay, Diary, December 2, 1966.
149 McKay, Diary, February 24, 1967.
150 Robert Welch, Letter to David O. McKay, February 21, 1967, McKay, Diary, March 22, 1967.
151 McKay, Diary, March 22, 1967.
152 Robert Welch, Letter to David O. McKay, April 18, 1967, in McKay, Diary.
153 McKay, Diary, April 18, 1967.
154 McKay, Diary, April 21, 1967.
155 Dorothy L Skinner, Letter to Hugh B. Brown, March 24, 1967;
156 Hugh B. Brown, Letter to Burns S. Hanson, May 11, 1967, Firmage Papers, Box 48, fd. 21.
157 McKay, Diary, May 29, 1969.
158 McKay, Diary, February 13, 1968.
159 McKay, Diary, August 26, 1968.
160 McKay, Diary, September 9, 1968.
161 Brown, interviewed by Firmage, November 30, 1968, Firmage Collection, Ms 674, Box 51, fd. 29.
162 McKay, Diary, December 7, 1968.
163 McKay, Diary, May 29, 1969.
164 Arthur Forbes Herbertson, interviewed by Gordon Irving, April 2, 1986, James H. Moyle Oral History Program, LDS Church Archives.
165 McKay, Diary, February 12, 1969.
166 McKay, Diary, May 12, 1969.
167 McKay, Diary, November 16, 1961.
168 Karlheinz Leonhardt, Die ersten hundert Jahre: Eine Geschichte der Gemeinde Freiberg (Freiberg, Germany: Privately printed by Karlheinz Leonhardt, 2000), English translation by Raymond Kuehne;
169 Dan Harris, MLDS Official Calls for More Political Diversity," Salt Lake Tribune, May 3, 1998.
170 "President McKay Predicts Fall of Red Leaders," Deserei News, April 26, 1954.
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