-- 31 Oct 1966
[T]he First Presidency counselors and Twelve's president regarded Benson's October 1966 conference talk as a criticism of every general authority except David O. McKay. "From this talk," Counselor N. Eldon Tanner noted, "one would conclude that Brother Benson and President McKay stand alone among the General Authorities on the question of freedom." (1)
-- 9 Nov 1966
[Regarding Benson's October conference talk,] the Twelve's president Joseph Fielding Smith "agreed heartily with Tanner's objections to the talk in general." Counselor Brown added that Benson's October 1966 conference "talk is wholly objectionable because it does impugn the rest of us and our motives when we have advised the people to live their religion and stay away from extremist ideas and philosophies." Benson had asked for approval to "mimeograph his talk for wider distribution" which the First Presidency disapproved. Still, the presidency ultimately allowed the official report of conference to print Apostle Benson's talk virtually unchanged. (2)
-- November 9, 1966
McKay agreed that Benson's conference talk went too far and "decided that the talk should not be mimeographed and distributed in pamphlet form." Two weeks later, however, Benson met privately with McKay and asked him to reconsider his decision. After rereading Benson's talk, McKay made the opposite decision: "There is nothing wrong with the talk, so I told my secretary to tell Elder Benson he could have it mimeographed if he wished." (3)
-- November 10, 1966
Rededicates Italy for the preaching of the gospel. (4)
-- 11 Nov 1966
After discovering the details of [the] "Spy Ring" from its participants and from meetings with Counselor N. Eldon Tanner and Apostle Harold B. Lee, one of BYU's vice-presidents confided that "the real home of the group was ETB."
Due to their belief that Apostle Benson was involved in [the] BYU "spy ring," general authorities like N. Eldon Tanner and Harold B. Lee declined to pursue the matter rigorously. They rejected demands for Ernest Wilkinson's resignation and merely asked BYU's president to apologize privately to the professors targeted for this espionage.
One professor called Benson's BYU address "a really violent anti-Lee talk," and even pro-Birch Ernest Wilkinson regarded the talk as "a little extreme." (5)
-- 28 Jan 1967
Benson told the Boston Globe's religion editor [regarding efforts to draft him as a presidential running mate]: "It is strictly a draft movement about which I am personally doing absolutely nothing." The Church News immediately reprinted this. (6)
-- February 24, 1967
McKay received a twelve-page letter from Robert Welch, "a cursory glance of which indicates or pleads for permission for Ezra Taft Benson to serve on the National Council of the [John Birch] Society." In his conclusion, Welch indicated that Benson had already agreed to serve on the council, subject only to McKay's consent.
"It was agreed that Elder Benson would answer Mr. Welch and tell him that it would be impossible for him to serve on the Council at this time." (7)
-- 1 Mar 1967
"BYU Denies Campus 'Spy' Story," Salt Lake Tribune, 1 Mar. 1967 (8)
BYU Spy Ring discussed: "Free Forum Filled With 'Charges,'" Brigham Young University Daily Universe (8)
-- 3 Mar 1967
Covert surveillance by BYU-Birch student in the form of either correspondence, classroom questioning, or private meetings to extract "pro-Communist" views from their professors - reported in Miami Herald, "Birchers Spied on Professors, Hialeah Student Says." (9)
-- 12 Mar 1967
Benson told newspapers in March 1967 that he regarded the draft movement [to elect him president] as "almost frightening, yet humbling." He also told reporters in March 1967, "I have no desire to run for political office." (10)
Endnotes:
1 - N. Eldon Tanner to Joseph Fielding Smith, 31 Oct. 1966 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
2 - Hugh B. Brown to David O. McKay, 9 Nov. 1966, with notation in Brown's handwriting of First Presidency decision on 16 Nov. 1966, all attached to Benson's reading copy of his October 1966 conference talk, and all in "Hugh B. Brown's File on the John Birch Society." From D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
3 - Hugh B. Brown to David O. McKay in Hugh B. Brown file on the John Birch Society, Edwin B. Firmage Papers, Box 48, fd. 21; Notes from First Presidency meeting, November 16, 1966, David O. McKay diary; David O. McKay diary, December 2, 1966 as referenced in Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)
4 - Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson, Intellectual Reserve, Inc. (2014)
5 - Louis C. Midgley to Ray C. Hillam, 11 Nov. 1966, regarding a conversation of Edwin B. Morrell, Richard B. Wirthlin, and Louis C. Midgley with Earl C. Crockett on 9 November; Brown & Benson; Midgley to Ray C. Hillam, 11 Nov. 1966, and comment on this letter in the inventory of Whittaker and McClellan, "The Collection: Description," register of Hillam Papers; Louis C. Midgley to Ray C. Hillam, 11 Nov. 1966, folder 12, Hillam Papers, and box 34, Buerger Papers; Wilkinson diary, 25 Oct. 1966. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
6 - "'Strictly a draft'—Elder Benson," (subheading) Deseret News "Church News," 28 Jan. 1967,6 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
7 - David O. McKay diary, ; Robert Welch to David O. McKay, February 21, 1967; David O. McKay diary, March 22, 1967 as referenced in Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)
8 - D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
9 - "Birchers Spied On Professors, Hialeah Student Said," Miami Herald, 3 Mar. 1967, A-32; Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University, 209. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
10 - "Benson Finds Draft Crusade 'Humbling,'" Ogden Standard-Examiner, 11 Mar. 1967, 9; "Benson Says No Interest in '68 Draft," Salt Lake Tribune, 12 Mar. 1967, C-6. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and 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/
