-- November 16, 1965
... If and when the United States, as the last bastion of freedom, is taken over by the Communists, the terror they will use to enforce, consolidate, and maintain their rule will be both more crule and more extensive, than anything the human race has ever before known or imagined. And our children who survived will one day certainly ask: "What did my parents do to prevent this slavery for American..."
"Ezra Taft Benson said 'I feel that a man must not only stand for the right principles, but he must fight for them. And let me at this time salute those valiant patriots of the John Birch Society. ... They can be proud of the friends they've gained and the enemies they've earned.' ... have been smeared by every conceivable method ... truth is our weapon. (1)
-- November 19, 1965
McKay met privately with Benson, who "gave a report on the serious inroads the Communists have made in this country…. I am convinced that our country is already on the road to Socialism, and that the Communists are making gains here." Benson then suggested that McKay's new counselor, Thorpe Isaacson, be sent to a two-day John Birch Society seminar in December to learn about "Communism and conditions in our country." McKay agreed. Isaacson later elected not to go to the seminar. (2)
-- November 24, 1965
[Clare Middlemiss note] "President Brown said, 'Why cannot we have harmony?'
Clare answered, 'Yes, why?'
[Brown:] 'You got off the wrong track with me over the John Birch Society and Brother Benson.'
[Middlemiss:] 'I have only wanted to fight Communism, and have answered letters on the John Birch Society the way President McKay has told me to.'
President Brown said, 'I have wanted to fight Communism also, but not the way Benson or the John Birch Society are doing it —everybody is against them.'" (3)
-- 8 Dec 1965
McKay's secretary, Clare Middlemiss ... wrote a church member: "President McKay has further instructed me to tell you that Elder Ezra Taft Benson has not been rebuked by the Church . . . and, since Communism is a definite threat to the eternal principle of free agency, it cannot be considered that he is `out of line' when discussing it in talks." (4)
-- 16 Dec 1965
By the end of December 1965 other general authorities vetoed an effort by one of Benson's intermediaries to have the Birch Society's president speak at Brigham Young University. Those voting against the proposal were Apostles Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, Delbert L. Stapley, Marion G. Romney, and LeGrand Richards. That unanimous vote reflected First Presidency counselor N. Eldon Tanner's statement to a political science professor: "We certainly don't want the Birch Society to get a hold on the BYU campus." Tanner had served as a counselor for the past two years since Henry D. Moyle's death. (5)
-- January 11, 1966
[David O. McKay] "I said that I think the time has come for the First Presidency to make a statement as to the Church's attitude regarding Communism; that this, however, should have nothing whatever to do with the Birch Society, and should be a message from the First Presidency of the Church. The Brethren agreed that there is a great need for such a message, and I was persuaded that I am the one who should prepare such a statement." (2)
-- 16 Jan. 1966
Benson says "I know their [John Birch Society] leaders, I have attended two of their all-day Council meetings. I have read their literature. I feel I know their program." (6)
-- 16 Jan 1966
In January 1966 Benson endorsed the Birch Society and its program at stake conferences and at the LDS institute in Logan, Utah. (7)
-- 21 Jan 1966
[Benson's endorsement of the Birch Society in stake conference and the Logan LDS institute this month] disturbed Utah's Republican senator, a devoted Mormon. Senator Wallace Bennett urged David O. McKay's son to persuade the church president to disassociate himself from Benson's "very clever statement about your father which would seem to give your father's endorsement" to the Birch Society. (8)
-- During End of Janurary, 1966
At the end of the month the Birch Society released its Bulletin which announced that Benson would speak at a testimonial for Robert Welch in Seattle on 19 February "with the full approval of President McKay of the Mormon Church." (9)
Endnotes:
1 - "Birch Society Advises Public Of Film," Leland Edwards, Logan Herald Journal, Nov 16, 1965 (provided by Joe Geisner)
2 - David O. McKay diary 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)
3 - Clare Middlemiss, "Notes" 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 - Middlemiss to Russell F. Dickey, 8 Dec. 1965 -- 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
5 - Board of Trustees, Executive Committee minutes, 16 Dec. 1965, archives, Brigham Young University; Wilkinson diary, 21 Dec. 1965; Bergera and Priddis, Brigham Young University, 197; N. Eldon Tanner statement in the mid-1960s to J. Kenneth Davies as reported in Davies interview by Gary James Bergera, 24 Dec. 1984.However, Apostle Delbert L. Stapley's vote against the Birch Society president as a BYU speaker should not be construed as evidence of his disagreement with Benson's political views. For example, Stapley wrote a woman that "we are drifting towards the socialized state," and sent her copies of Benson's conference talks on Communism (Stapley to Mrs. W. E. Daddow, 19 Feb. 1965, LDS archives). 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 - "Benson Took Birchite on Tours," Washington Post, 12 July 1961, D-ll; "The Council," Vie John Birch Society Bulletin (Feb. 1960): 2. 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
7 - "LDS Apostle Backs Up Birch Group," Salt Lake Tribune, 16 Jan. 1966, B-14; "Speak Up! Says Ezra to Save Your Soul and Maybe Your Country," Fact Finder 24 (28 Feb. 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
8 - Wallace F. Bennett to David Lawrence McKay, 21 Jan. 1966, folder 3, box 24, Bennett Papers, Western Americana, Marriott Library -- 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
9 - The John Birch Society Bulletin (Feb. 1966): 30 -- 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
LDS History Chronology: Ezra Taft Benson
Mormon History Timeline: the life of Ezra Taft Benson
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
