Friends of Democracy
 Friends of Democracy  | |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1937 |
| Founder | • Leon Milton Birkhead •  Jonathan Soros |
Friends of Democracy was an organization that was in existence from 1937 until the 1950s, mostly working on character assassination, possibly with covert British funding[citation needed].
In modern times, it is name of a political action committee founded by Jonathan Soros, the son deep politician George Soros. It is running ads against Republican members of Congress.[1]
Own words
The original Friends of Democracy organization was founded by Unitarian minister Leon Milton Birkhead in 1937. The group described itself as "a non-partisan, non-sectarian, non-profit, anti-totalitarian propaganda agency." In 1939 their offices were moved to New York City, an early branch of the group. John Dewey, Thomas Mann, Van Wyck Brooks, and Will Durant were all prominent members. [2]
Criticism
Thomas L. Glynn, Jr. wrote in the Oct. 19, 1951 issue of The Boston College Heights, that the Friends of Democracy had orchestrated the smear against isolationists:
Around 1940 the Friends of Democracy, a high sounding name for a group of character killers, began their odious work. From the pen of Rex Stout, the detective story writer, came the following: "It will take time and money to destroy Lindbergh politically. But it will take only a little of your time to read the enclosed report. . . . A check or money order to Friends of Democracy . . . will be a nail in Lindbergh's political coffin." "The Lindbergh Project, although the most important at the moment, is only one of several projects now under way..."..."Men as Col. Charles A. Lindbergh, the late Senator David I. Walsh, and Senator Burton Wheeler have been painfully victimized by the pen of the professional smearers"[3]
“Not since the era of Medici intrigue of the fifteenth century has anything equaled the character defamation and assassination of our times,” wrote Glynn.
