Charles Coughlin

Organization founder

1891 – 1979

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Who was Charles Coughlin?

Charles Edward Coughlin, commonly known as Father Coughlin, was a controversial Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as possibly thirty million listeners tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the 1930s.

Early in his career, Coughlin was a vocal supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his early New Deal proposals, before later becoming a harsh critic of Roosevelt as too friendly to bankers. In 1934 he announced a new political organization called the National Union for Social Justice. He wrote a platform calling for monetary reforms, the nationalization of major industries and railroads, and protection of the rights of labor. The membership ran into the millions, resembling the Populist movement of the 1890s.

After hinting at attacks on Jewish bankers, Coughlin began to use his radio program to issue antisemitic commentary, and later to support some of the policies of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The broadcasts have been called "a variation of the Fascist agenda applied to American culture".

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Born
Oct 25, 1891
Hamilton
Nationality
  • United States of America
  • Canada
Profession
Education
  • University of Toronto
  • University of St. Michael's College
Lived in
  • Michigan
  • Hamilton
Died
Oct 27, 1979
Birmingham
Resting place
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"Charles Coughlin." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/charles_coughlin>.

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