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George Lincoln Rockwell
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George Lincoln Rockwell
Born March 9, 1918(1918-03-09)
Bloomington, Illinois, U.S.
Died August 25, 1967 (aged 49)
Arlington County, Virginia, U.S.
George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was the founder of the American Nazi Party.[1] Rockwell was a major figure in the Neo-Nazi movement in post-war United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
Early life
Rockwell was born in Bloomington, Illinois, the oldest of three children. His father, George Lovejoy "Doc" Rockwell, was born in Providence, Rhode Island of English and Scottish descent. His mother, Claire Schade Rockwell, was the daughter of Augustus Schade, a German immigrant, and Corrine Boudreau, who was of Acadian French ancestry. Both parents were vaudeville comedians and actors. Some of his father's acquaintances included Fred Allen, Benny Goodman, Walter Winchell, Jack Benny, and Groucho Marx.[2] Rockwell later claimed he acquired his public speaking skills due to his upbringing. His parents were divorced when Rockwell was six, and this led to him spending his youth partly with his mother's family in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and partly with his father's family in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Here, he developed a passion for sailing and fishing.
Rockwell applied to Harvard but failed to get in. After a year, his father sent him to a boarding school, Hebron Academy, near Lewiston, Maine.[3] There he began to read philosophy and socially significant novels, leading him to re-examine the topic of religion. Previously, he had thought of himself as being highly religious, but after rereading the Bible, he began to see religion as a necessary pillar of civilization. He contemplated the possibility of a "total intelligence" existing somewhere in the universe, and thought that a better description of his views was agnostic. Years later, he promoted the Christian Identity sect.
In 1938, Rockwell entered Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, where he majored in philosophy. In his sociology courses at Brown, Rockwell rejected equality and the idea that man was made by his environment, and that all human beings had the same potential in life. He debated with fellow students over topics such as social themes in popular novels.
Military service and marriages
In his sophomore year, Rockwell was convinced that it was only a matter of time until the United States would be at war with Nazi Germany. He decided to leave Brown University to join the United States Navy. Rockwell appreciated the order and discipline of the Navy, and in 1940 he attended flight schools in Massachusetts and Florida. After getting his flight wings, he was shipped to Norfolk, Virginia. While in transit aboard USS Pastores, Rockwell had to put down a race riot between white Southerners and African Americans, who were placed in the same sleeping quarters. The solution Rockwell and the other officers used to stop the rioting was to separate the two groups. Due to a coin toss, Rockwell ended up leading the black sailors, while another officer took charge of the white Southerners.[4]
On April 24, 1943, Rockwell married Judy Aultman, whom he had met while attending Brown University. Aultman was a student at Pembroke, which was the female half of Brown University. After his marriage, Rockwell studied at the Navy's aerial photography school in Florida. Upon completing his training, he served in the Pacific. His most notable action was the coordination of air support in the retaking of Guam.[5]
During the war, blacks were segregated in the Navy. Rockwell would later call for a total separation of blacks and whites as a solution to America's race relations problems. He proposed a program of repatriation of blacks to Africa. When the United States armed forces were integrated in 1948, Rockwell predicted a drop of morale among American servicemen[citation needed].
In 1948, he won the $1,000 first prize for an ad he did for the American Cancer Society. The contest was sponsored by the National Society of Illustrators in New York.[6] Rockwell left Pratt before finishing his final year, and started an advertising agency in Maine. Rockwell's career as a commercial artist was interrupted when he was recalled to duty as a Lieutenant Commander at the start of the Korean War. He moved his wife and two children to San Diego, California, where he trained Navy and Marine pilots.
In 1952, Rockwell was ordered to report to Norfolk, Virginia. Upon arrival, he was told that his next post would be Iceland. Since families were not permitted to be with American service personnel stationed in that country, his wife and children moved in with her mother in Barrington, Rhode Island. After a few months in Iceland, Rockwell returned to his family in Rhode Island. A short time later, Rockwell and his wife were divorced. Several months after his return to Iceland, Rockwell attended a diplomatic party in Reykjavík, Iceland's capital. At the party, Rockwell met Þóra Hallgrímsson, who later became his wife. Rockwell told Þóra about his political beliefs, and said that he would either be a "bum or a great man".[7] They were married on October 3, 1953, in the Icelandic National Cathedral by Þóra's uncle, who was the Bishop of Iceland. The couple honeymooned in Berchtesgaden, Germany, where Hitler had had his mountain retreat in the Bavarian Alps.
Civilian career
After the war ended, Rockwell became a commercial artist. He applied to the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and was accepted for the following year. Rockwell and his wife moved to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, and in spring 1946, he built a photography studio, and found work painting commercial signs. Later that year, they moved to New York City, where Rockwell started his studies at Pratt. While at Pratt, Rockwell was introduced to the modern art movement, which he considered foreign and communist. He also saw Jews as promoters of the movement, and thus felt even more contempt towards it.
Upon returning a second time to civilian life, Rockwell saw a business opportunity in starting a new magazine that would appeal to United States servicemen's wives. In September 1955, he launched the publication U.S. Lady. After presenting the idea to generals and admirals who headed public relations departments for the various military services, Rockwell began his publishing efforts in Washington, D.C.. The new enterprise also incorporated Rockwell's political causes: his opposition to both racial integration and communism. Rockwell financed the operation through stock sales and subscriptions. With a staff of thirty, Rockwell could only promise to pay his employees before the successful launch of the first issue. The publication continued to have financial troubles, and Rockwell sold his interest in the magazine. However, Rockwell still hoped to become a publisher.
Political activism
During his time in San Diego, Rockwell began to pay close attention to politics, and was influenced by Senator Joseph McCarthy's stance against communism. Rockwell supported General Douglas MacArthur's candidacy for President of the United States. He adopted the corncob pipe, following MacArthur's example. Rockwell attended a Gerald L.K. Smith rally in Los Angeles, and read Conde McGinley's Common Sense, a political newspaper that introduced him to anti-Semitism. He read Mein Kampf and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and privately adopted Nazi beliefs. He published an Animal Farm-type parody, The Fable of the Ducks and the Hens.[8] This was Rockwell's interpretation of Jewish power in the United States of the 20th century. In 1952, Rockwell began working with anti-Semitic and anti-communist groups. That year, he attended the American Nationalist Conference, which was organized by Conde McGinley’s Christian Educational Association.
In July 1958, Rockwell picketed in front of the White House to protest President Dwight D. Eisenhower's decision to send troops to the Middle East. One day he received a large package from one of his supporters, which contained an 18-foot-long Swastika flag. He placed the flag on the wall of his home and made an altar with Adolf Hitler's photo in the center, lit with three candles in front. According to his autobiography, Rockwell claimed to have had a religious experience and swore allegiance to his leader, saluting "Heil Hitler!" Rockwell and a few supporters got uniforms and armed themselves with rifles and revolvers, and paraded about his home in Arlington, Virginia. The window to his home was left open, showing the huge Swastika flag. Drew Pearson wrote a news column about Rockwell, giving him his first bit of publicity. In the presidential election of 1964, Rockwell ran as a write-in candidate, receiving 212 votes.[9] He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Virginia in 1965 as an independent, polling 5,730 votes, or 1.02 percent of the total vote.[10][11] According to one of Rockwell's biographers, he was in demand on the lecture circuit, and spoke to more than 100 college audiences.[12][13]
American Nazi Party
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