Existing comment:
America First Committee
In 1940, a group of Yale University students founded the America First Committee to oppose US intervention in the European war. They quickly mobilized hundreds of other antiwar students to join the organization, and persuaded one of the nation's most outspoken isolationists, Charles Lindbergh, to support its cause. Lindbergh's enormous celebrity -- dating to his 1927 solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean -- helped the America First Committee become a national organization with as many as 800,000 members.
"War Agitators"
After Lindbergh accused Jews of being "war agitators" in a speech at Des Moines, Iowa, on September 11, 1941, the America First Committee's reputation changed significantly. Newspapers and magazines across the country denounced Lindbergh and the committee for promoting antisemitism and intolerance. Political cartoonists, including PM newspaper artist Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), accused Lindbergh of spreading Nazi propaganda. America First Committee leaders denied the accusation, but the criticism continued. As soon as the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the committee disbanded. |