Robert H. W. Welch, Jr.

Robert H.W. Welch, Jr. (1899–1985) was an American businessman and the founder of the John Birch Society. He established this private organization on December 9, 1958, with the primary goal of opposing communism and advocating for ultraconservative principles. The society was named in honor of John Birch, an American missionary and intelligence officer who was killed by Chinese communists in 1945, whom Welch considered the first casualty of the Cold War. Welch, a retired candy manufacturer from Boston, outlined the society's mission in his 1959 publication, The Blue Book of the John Birch Society. The organization continues to publish The New American magazine and the JBS Bulletin.1