Difference between revisions of "Lyndon LaRouche"
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==History== | ==History== | ||
| − | LaRouche was a former member of the [[Socialist Workers Party]] from | + | LaRouche was a former member of the [[Socialist Workers Party]] from 1948 to 1957. During the late 1960s following his expulsion from the Socialist Workers Party he taught a class on [[Marxist]] theory and picked up a small following of leftist students in New York. During his Marxist period he used the pen-name of Lyn Marcus. This following became the nucleus of his political movement under the umbrella group called the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). His movement published a newspaper, ''New Solidarity''. During the early 1970s LaRouche's NCLC became known as one of the most controversial groups to come out of the 1960s [[New Left]], culminating in violent attacks in 1973 on members of rival leftist sects such as the [[Communist Party]] which LaRouche called "Operation Mop-Up". In 1974 LaRouche's organization was briefly in an alliance with the followers of another far left group led by [[Fred Newman]], who would go on to form the left-wing [[New Alliance Party]] in the 1980s. The U.S. Labor Party was the electoral vehicle for LaRouche and his followers during the 1970s. Around the time of his 1976 run for President on the U.S. Labor Party ticket, LaRouche began to abandon overt Marxism. After 1978 and throughout the 1980s and 1990s LaRouche tried positioning himself as a political [[conservative]], although never accepted as such by most conservatives, and has since swung back to the left. His organization formed a number of affiliated groups such as the Schiller Institute, and publications such as ''21st Century Science and Technology'' and ''Executive Intelligence Review ''(EIR) magazines and ''New Federalist'' newspaper. LaRouche served a [[prison]] term from 1988 to 1994 over mail fraud and tax charges involving fundraising by his political organization. |
==Organization and Supporters== | ==Organization and Supporters== | ||
Revision as of 22:06, September 24, 2007
Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. is a perennial candidate for President of the United States.
Presidential campaigns
He ran in 1976 as the candidate of the U.S. Labor Party. In 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, and 2000 he entered (and lost) the Democratic Party primary, then ran as an independent candidate in the general election. In 2004 he again entered the Democratic primary, but did not run as an independent and endorsed John Kerry in the general election. The Democratic Party does not recognize LaRouche as a Democratic candidate and does not grant credentials to his delegates, although he typically wins a handful of delegates in some state primaries. Except for the 1980 election when he was included in some New Hampshire debates he has not been a high-profile candidate. His presidential campaigns were notorious in the 1980, 1984, and 1988 elections for running half-hour paid advertisements on television forecasting imminent economic collapse unless he was elected.
History
LaRouche was a former member of the Socialist Workers Party from 1948 to 1957. During the late 1960s following his expulsion from the Socialist Workers Party he taught a class on Marxist theory and picked up a small following of leftist students in New York. During his Marxist period he used the pen-name of Lyn Marcus. This following became the nucleus of his political movement under the umbrella group called the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). His movement published a newspaper, New Solidarity. During the early 1970s LaRouche's NCLC became known as one of the most controversial groups to come out of the 1960s New Left, culminating in violent attacks in 1973 on members of rival leftist sects such as the Communist Party which LaRouche called "Operation Mop-Up". In 1974 LaRouche's organization was briefly in an alliance with the followers of another far left group led by Fred Newman, who would go on to form the left-wing New Alliance Party in the 1980s. The U.S. Labor Party was the electoral vehicle for LaRouche and his followers during the 1970s. Around the time of his 1976 run for President on the U.S. Labor Party ticket, LaRouche began to abandon overt Marxism. After 1978 and throughout the 1980s and 1990s LaRouche tried positioning himself as a political conservative, although never accepted as such by most conservatives, and has since swung back to the left. His organization formed a number of affiliated groups such as the Schiller Institute, and publications such as 21st Century Science and Technology and Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) magazines and New Federalist newspaper. LaRouche served a prison term from 1988 to 1994 over mail fraud and tax charges involving fundraising by his political organization.
Organization and Supporters
His organization has been the subject of ongoing controversy from the early 1970s to the present over allegations it is a cult and uses cult-like techniques on members. Specific allegations are over the violent "Operation Mop-Up" attacks in 1973; deprogramming sessions LaRouche held on his members in 1973-4; the death of Jeremiah Duggan in 2003 after attending a LaRouche Youth Movement conference and the question of whether or not it was a suicide [1]; the suicide of Ken Kronberg, the head of a LaRouche-affiliated printing business, in 2007 following a morning briefing by LaRouche [2]; and fundraising and recruitment tactics by the LaRouche organization. LaRouche supporters spend long hours collecting funds for the organization and selling books and magazine subscriptions, and can frequently be spotted tabling at airports and outside post offices and subways.
LaRouche supporters are sometimes called 'LaRouche Democrats' because they usually run for office as Democrats, or 'LaRouchies'. In 1986, two LaRouche followers won the Democratic primary in Illinois for Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor, promoting the winner of the primary for Governor, Adlai Stevenson III, to drop off the Democratic ticket and run on the 'Illinois Solidarity Party' ticket instead, refusing to run on the same ticket as LaRouche followers. LaRouche followers have otherwise been notably unsuccessful at the polls.