-- 27 Oct 1963
In an address to southern whites of the New Orleans Stake on 27 October, [Benson] condemned U.S. presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy for sending federal troops to aid school integration of African-Americans in the South. Then the apostle praised the Birch Society to the Louisiana conference. (1)
-- 29 Oct 1963
[Benson] told reporters that the [European Mission President] assignment was not a "rebuke." (2)
-- 30 Oct 1963
Student conflict erupted at the University of Utah over Benson's speech to the New Orleans Stake against federal integration of schools. One of Benson's defenders accused the university's newspaper of an "anti-rightist crusade." For almost a month the Utah Chronicle's editorial page was dominated by the Benson controversy, until President John F. Kennedy's assassination in November finally superseded it. (3)
Joseph Fielding Smith ... wrote to Harding on 30 October: "I think it is time that Brother Benson forgot all about politics and settled down to his duties as a member of the Council of the Twelve." Smith concluded this letter, "He is going to take a mission to Europe in the near future and by the time he returns I hope he will get all of the political notions out of his system." (4)
-- 31 Oct 1963
The Missionary Training Institute president (a son-in-law of Apostle Harold B. Lee) expressed concern about covert efforts to convert LDS missionaries to the Birch Society. He indicated that "he will resist efforts on the part of some of the young zealots among the missionaries to indoctrinate their colleagues in political extremism." (5)
-- During October 1963
Those of us who think ". . . all is well in Zion . . ." (2 Nephi 28:21) in spite of Book of Mormon warning might ponder the words of Heber C. Kimball when he said, "Yes, we think we are secure here in the chambers of these everlasting hills . . . but I want to say to you, my brethren, the time is coming when we will be mixed up in these now peaceful valleys to that extent that it will be difficult to tell the face of a Saint from the face of an enemy against the people of God. Then is the time to look out for the great sieve, for there will be a great sifting time, and many will fall. For I say unto you there is a test, a Test, a TEST coming." (6)
-- 1 Nov 1963
[T]he Idaho representative who had repudiated Benson in Congress now gloated to the press: "The leadership of the Church was inspired in this calling. I think he'll make a wonderful mission president if he can get away from the Birch Society." (7)
-- 6 Nov 1963
Congressman Harding wrote that "prospects in the Church do look brighter with the assignment of Ezra Taft Benson to Europe." (8)
Endnotes:
1 - "Stake Conference Assignments," Deseret News "Church News," 19 Oct. 1963, 4; "Benson, Graham Rip Wheat Sale," Deseret News, 28 Oct. 1963, A-6; "Benson Says Black is Red," Daily Utah Chronicle, 29 Oct. 1963,1, as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
2 - "Benson Says: New Duties Not 'Rebuke,'" Salt Lake Tribune, 29 Oct. 1963, A-4; "Church Denies Mission Rumors," Deseret News, 21 Feb. 1964, A-8; "Letter Denies Rebuke in Benson Call," Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Feb. 1964, C-ll, as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
3 - Clark King and Richard Littlefield in Daily Utah Chronicle, 30 Oct. 1963, 4, answered by Frank G. Adams and Gary Henrichsen (who used the phrase) in 4 Nov. 1963, 2, rebutted by King and Littlefield in 6 Nov. 1963,4, who were in turn rebutted by Corydon Hammond in 8 Nov. 1963, 4, who was answered by King and Littlefield in 14 Nov. 1963,: 2. Editorially, the Daily Utah Chronicle published a cartoon (31 Oct. 1963,4) which depicted Benson's mission assignment as a banishment by Uncle Sam, not the LDS church presidency, which Gary Henrichsen then criticized in his letter to the editor of 4 November. In response the editors published an even more insulting cartoon of Benson (21 Nov. 1963, 2), as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
4 - Smith to Harding, 30 Oct. 1963, photocopy in folder 2, box 4, King Papers, and in folder 22, box 5, Buerger Papers, as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
5 - Reported in Richard D. Poll to Ralph Harding, 31 Oct. 1963, as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
6 - Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, October 1963, p.16
7 - "Harding Says Benson Move 'Wise,'" Idaho Daily Statesman, 1 Nov. 1963, 20, as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
8 - Ralph Harding to Richard D. Poll, 6 Nov. 1963, as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992). See also Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
LDS History Chronology: Ezra Taft Benson
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Ezra Taft Benson
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
