John Birch Society

American  

noun

1. an ultraconservative organization, founded in December 1958 by Robert Welch, Jr., chiefly to combat alleged Communist activities in the U.S.

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John Birch Society British  

noun

1. politics a fanatical right-wing association organized along semisecret lines to fight Communism

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John Birch Society Cultural  

1. A conservative organization prominent in the 1950s and 1960s. The society was particularly concerned with the dangers of communism, and its views were considered extreme by most Americans.

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Etymology

Origin of John Birch Society

C20: named after John Birch (killed by Chinese communists 1945), American USAF captain whom its members regarded as the first cold-war casualty

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

John Birch Society

Jack’s early political beliefs embraced the John Birch Society, a movement that felt expansive federal power is a threat to individual liberty.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

It opens with an interview of Scott Camil, a Brooklyn-born Floridian raised by a cop who was an active John Birch Society member; Camil joined the Marine Corps and served in Vietnam.

From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2025

Shortly before he dies he becomes the chapter president of the Manhattan branch of the John Birch Society.

From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2024

But the John Birch Society itself is largely forgotten, relegated to a pair of squat buildings along a busy commercial street in small-town Wisconsin.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 21, 2024

In the fifties and sixties the John Birch Society had had a significant membership in Odessa.

From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger