George Lincoln Rockwell

George Lincoln Rockwell, born on March ninth, nineteen eighteen, in Bloomington, Illinois, was a controversial figure in American history. He was the son of vaudeville performers and briefly pursued philosophy at Brown University before enlisting in the Navy. His military career included service as a pilot during World War II and the Korean War, where he achieved the rank of Commander. However, his political views began to shift dramatically in the 1950s, leading to his honorable discharge in nineteen sixty due to his radical beliefs.

In nineteen fifty-nine, Rockwell founded the American Nazi Party (ANP), aiming to revive the ideologies of Nazism in the United States. He became notorious for his provocative media stunts, which were intended to elevate the party's profile. Despite his efforts, Rockwell's political influence remained marginal, and he struggled to gain significant traction within the broader political landscape. In the year preceding his assassination, he rebranded the ANP as the National Socialist White People's Party, seeking to expand its appeal beyond traditional Nazism.

Rockwell's views were deeply rooted in white supremacy; he openly praised Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust, and espoused anti-Semitic beliefs. He controversially claimed that Martin Luther King Jr. was a pawn of Jewish communists and blamed the civil rights movement on Jewish individuals, whom he regarded as traitors. His views on race were equally extreme, advocating for the resettlement of African Americans to a new state in Africa, funded by the U.S. government.

On August twenty-fifth, nineteen sixty-seven, Rockwell was assassinated in Arlington, Virginia, by John Patler, a former member of the ANP. Following his death, the party effectively disbanded, with his successor renaming it the New Order, while another associate founded the National Alliance. Although Rockwell's notoriety has faded over time, his influence on neo-Nazism and far-right extremism remains significant.