Today, you might turn on the radio in the car to listen to some music, but very few people sit around their radio in the living room for entertainment these days. But in the 1930s, that was just what people did. Radio talk show hosts amassed huge followings in the millions and were the influencers before the term even existed. Father Charles Coughlin was one such host who became extremely popular during the Great Depression for his economic and political takes.
Father Charles Coughlin's Early Life and Career
Father Charles Coughlin was born on October 25th, 1891, to a devoutly Catholic, middle-class family in Ontario, Canada. He studied theology at St. Michael's College in Toronto before being ordained as a priest in 1916. He then took on a faculty position at Assumption College, where he remained until joining the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1923.
FIg. 1 - Father Charles Coughlin
In 1926, the Archbishop of Detroit, Michael Gallagher, permitted Father Charles Coughlin to build a church, the Shrine of the Little Flower, in Royal Oak, Michigan. While there were few members in the parish, Father Charles Coughlin made a large, extravagant structure. He ultimately found his large audience when he began broadcasting Catholic services over the radio in 1927.
In 1931, CBS picked up his show, giving Father Charles Coughlin a national audience of approximately 40 million Americans weekly. While this deal lasted only a few years, Coughlin remained a popular talk radio host via different networks until the late 1930s.
Fig. 2 - The Shrine of the Little Flower
Father Charles Coughlin and the Great Depression
While Father Charles Coughlin may have started his radio career with religious services for children, he quickly transitioned to sermons for adults. And while these sermons may have begun as strictly religious, Coughlin soon began inserting his economic and political takes into the show. Once the Great Depression took hold, he became even more vocal about his opinions. He was a champion of the poor and lower-middle class in the face of big business. He called for the nationalization of critical resources and the abolition of private banking.
Fig. 3 - Franklin D. Roosevelt
In 1932, Father Charles Coughlin publicly backed presidential candidate Franklin Delano Roosevelt, seeing him as a fellow social reformer, against the incumbent Herbert Hoover. Coughlin believed that the Hoover administration had been in cahoots with big business and that Roosevelt and his New Deal were the answer to the nation's problems. Coughlin spoke at the Democratic National Convention and told his listeners repeatedly that it was "Roosevelt or Ruin."
The "New Deal":
A series of programs and legislation aimed at boosting the economy and providing relief to struggling Americans during the 1930s.
Father Charles Coughlin and the New Deal
After President Roosevelt took office, he began distancing himself from Father Charles Coughlin. While having his listeners' support during the election was certainly helpful, Roosevelt believed that Coughlin's political and economic ideology was too radical. Feeling edged out and disappointed by the New Deal, Coughlin began an attack on Roosevelt.
In 1934, Father Charles Coughlin created the National Union for Social Justice to further his political goals. The organization called for the implementation of a living wage, the establishment of a government-owned central bank, and the protection of labor unions, among other reforms. Coughlin also established a paper called Social Justice in 1936, in which he aired his political opinions.
Fig. 4 - William Lemke
Father Charles Coughlin Fallout with FDR
In 1936, Father Charles Coughlin supported the Union Party's candidate for president, William Lemke, a Congressman from North Dakota. The Union Party had formed following the assassination of Huey Long, who had been campaigning against Roosevelt under the Democratic Party. His supporters, including Coughlin, wished to rally their own followings in order to get a populist candidate in office. When the campaign proved unsuccessful, the party dissolved.
Father Charles Coughlin's Downfall
By the late 1930s, Father Charles Coughlin had taken on right-wing ideology. Believing that capitalism and democracy had failed, he promoted fascism and authoritarianism, going so far as to compliment Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. He held that communism was a genuine threat to American society.
Father Charles Coughlin's Anti-Semitism
Father Charles Coughlin was deeply anti-Semitic, but he did not openly express his prejudice in his early career. He referred to corrupt "international bankers" that had power over the government but did not explicitly state his belief that these international bankers were Jewish.
With Hitler's rise to power and the persecution of Jewish citizens, he became very open in his anti-Semitic beliefs. Following Kristallnacht, a night of violent attacks and destruction in Germany, Coughlin defended the Nazis, stating that the Jewish had persecuted Christians in the past. Once World War II broke out, he promoted a conspiracy that Jewish people were responsible and actually wanted the war.
Father Charles Coughlin Isolationism
When World War II broke out, Father Charles Coughlin promoted an isolationist ideology. Even after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he believed that America should stay out of the war. So, once America did enter the war, Coughlin made sure to respond by using his paper, Social Justice, to spread pro-Axis propaganda.
Father Charles Coughlin Out of the Media
Of course, the federal government was not happy with his anti-American activities, and in 1942, Attorney General Francis Biddle ordered a federal grand jury investigation. The U.S. Postal Services ceased the distribution of Social Justice. And now, with an excuse, the Archbishop of Detroit, Edward Mooney, banned any more publications lest Coughlin loses his position in the clergy.
Having lost both his radio show and paper, Father Charles Coughlin returned to preach at the Shrine of the Little Flower and faded out of the public eye. He retired in 1966 and died in 1979, receiving little media attention.
Father Coughlin's Importance
Father Charles Coughlin's radio show reached millions of Americans each week. For this reason, he held a significant amount of power and influence, especially during the early years of the Great Depression. The working and lower middle class saw him as a spokesperson for their needs and desires and turned to him for decisions as large as who to vote for in the presidential election.
On a broader scale, Father Charles Coughlin was among the first radio personalities and paved the way for televangelists of the future.
Father Charles Coughlin - Key takeaways
- Father Charles Coughlin was born in Ontario, Canada, in 1891 to a Catholic, middle-class family. In 1916, Coughlin was ordained as a priest, and in 1926, he built a church, the Shrine of the Little Flower, for his parish in Royal Oak, Michigan.
- Father Charles Coughlin started his radio show in 1927, and by the early years of the Great Depression, he had millions of listeners. He delivered religious sermons with economic and political takes.
- Coughlin was a spokesperson for the needs and desires of the working and lower middle class. He had a distaste for big business and supported monetary reform.
- In 1932, he supported the campaign of Franklin D. Roosevelt but soon turned on him and the New Deal, which was less radical than Coughlin wished it to be. In response, Coughlin started the National Union for Social Justice and a paper called Social Justice.
- By the late 1930s, Coughlin had shifted towards a more right-wing ideology and began to promote fascism and authoritarianism. He was open in his anti-Semitism and his support for Hitler and Mussolini.
- When World War II broke out, the U.S. Postal Service refused to distribute Social Justice because of its pro-Axis propaganda. The Archbishop of Detroit also ordered Coughlin to cease publication.
- Father Charles Coughlin returned to preach at the Shrine of the Little Flower and died in 1979 with little media attention. He remains significant as one of the first radio show hosts and the predecessor to later televangelists.
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