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Robert H. W. Welch Jr.
Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr. (December 1, 1899 - January 6, 1985) was an American businessman, political activist, and author. He was independently wealthy following his retirement and used that...ver másRobert Henry Winborne Welch Jr. (December 1, 1899 - January 6, 1985) was an American businessman, political activist, and author. He was independently wealthy following his retirement and used that wealth to sponsor anti-Communist causes. He co-founded the conservative group the John Birch Society (JBS) in 1958 and tightly controlled it until his death.
Born in Chowan County, North Carolina, the son of Lina Verona (née James) and Robert Henry Winborne Welch Sr., he was a gifted child and was admitted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at the age of twelve. He attended the United States Naval Academy and Harvard Law School but did not graduate from either one.
He founded the Oxford Candy Company in the Brooklyn, New York, a one-man operation until he hired his brother James to assist him. James left to start his own candy company in 1925. The Oxford Candy Company went out of business during the Great Depression, but his brother’s company, the James O. Welch Company, survived, and Welch was hired by his brother. The company began making caramel lollipops, renamed Sugar Daddies, and Welch developed other well-known candies such as Sugar Babies, Junior Mints, and Pom Poms. Welch retired a wealthy man in 1956.
He founded the John Birch Society (JBS) in December 1958. Starting with eleven men, Welch greatly expanded the membership, exerted very tight control over revenues and set up a number of publications. At its height, the organization claimed it had 100,000 members.
He was the editor and publisher of the Society’s monthly magazine American Opinion and the weekly The Review of the News, which in 1971 incorporated the writings of another conservative activist, Dan Smoot. He also wrote The Road to Salesmanship (1941), May God Forgive Us (1951), The Politician (about Eisenhower) and The Life of John Birch (1954).
Welch was married to Marian Probert Welch and had two sons. He died in 1985, at the age of 85.ver menos