Lyndon LaRouche

Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche, Jr. (born September 8, 1922) is an American political activist and founder of various political organizations in the United States and elsewhere.

1980s

Despite having become a registered Democrat, LaRouche was harshly critical of Jimmy Carter in the November 1980 election, with whom he had competed for the Democratic Party nomination.

Related Topics:
Democrat - Jimmy Carter - November 1980 election

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LaRouche had become interested in the possible uses of lasers and other directed energy weapons during the 1970s. When Ronald Reagan took office in 1981, LaRouche sought to share his knowledge with the new administration, hoping that these weapons could be used against nuclear missiles.

Related Topics:
Laser - 1970s - Ronald Reagan - 1981

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LaRouche and his representatives met with Reagan administration Energy Secretary Donald Hodel, Interior Secretary James G. Watt, Science Adviser Dr. George Keyworth, and State Department official Richard Morris in early 1981. Later that year Lyndon and Helga Zepp-LaRouche met with CIA Deputy Director Bobby Ray Inman. Long-time LaRouche supporter and former head of German Military Intelligence, General Paul-Albert Scherer, has said:

Related Topics:
Donald Hodel - James G. Watt - George Keyworth - Richard Morris - 1981 - CIA - Bobby Ray Inman

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:"In the Spring of 1982 here in the Soviet Embassy there were very important secret talks that were held.… The question was: Did the United States and the Soviet Union wish jointly to develop an anti-ballistic missile defense that would have made nuclear war impossible? Then, in August, you had this very sharp Soviet rejection of the entire idea.… I have discussed this thoroughly with the developer, the originator of this idea, who is the scientific-technological strategic expert, Lyndon LaRouche. The rejection came in August, and at that point the American President Reagan decided to push this entire thing out into the public eye, so he made his speech of March 1983."

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:::General Paul-Albert Scherer (ret.), Press Conference at the National Press Club, Washington, DC., May 6, 1992;http://www.larouchepub.com/tv/tlc_programs_1991-1995.html

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A military specialist involved in the SDI program, retired General Daniel O. Graham, has complained about the LaRouche attempts to take credit for SDI. "They also mounted a furious attack on me personally. Even today I get mail asking if I'm in league with LaRouche," said Graham. http://www.publiceye.org/larouche/nclc3.html LaRouche countered, " "President Reagan's initial version of SDI was consistent with what I had introduced into U.S.-Soviet back-channel discussions over the period beginning February 1982. However, immediately thereafter, the mice went to work. Daniel Graham, the leading opponent of SDI up to that time, now proclaimed himself the virtual author of the policy, and was used, thereafter, to remove all of the crucial elements from the original policy." http://www.larouchepub.com/lar/2000/2750_teller.html There is no independent verification outside of LaRouche group media, however, of the claim that LaRouche originated or played a major role in the development of "Star Wars" missile defense.

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LaRouche opposed Reagan's support for Britain in the Falklands War (LaRouche referred to the war by the Argentine name, the Malvinas War), arguing that the policy was in violation of the Monroe Doctrine. LaRouche also strongly opposed the Reagan Administration's arming of the Nicaraguan Contras. He also opposed the zero-growth policies of the Club of Rome and formed a countergroup named "Club of Life" on the issue. LaRouche has also had contact with some foreign leaders. On May 23, 1982, he met with Mexican President José López Portillo, and advised him to suspend foreign debt payments (which was done in August 1982), and to declare exchange controls and nationalize Mexico's banks (done in September 1982).

Related Topics:
Britain - Falklands War - Argentine - Monroe Doctrine - Contras - Club of Rome - 1982 - Mexican - José López Portillo

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In 1982, U.S. News and World Report sued for damages when it found that LaRouche reporters were impersonating its reporters in phone calls. Lyndon LaRouche and his aide, Jeffrey Steinberg, gave depositions that revealed that their policy was for reporters to only pretend to be from non-existing publications, and that they had infiltrated the campaigns of competing presidential nominees. Without admitting guilt, the LaRouche group agreed not to impersonate U.S. News reporters in the future. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/larou4.htm

Related Topics:
1982 - U.S. News and World Report

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Other events in the 1980s

In 1984, participated in the founding of the Schiller Institute with his current wife, Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

Related Topics:
Schiller Institute - Helga Zepp-LaRouche

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In 1986 LaRouche launched the Proposition 64 initiative in California, which would have placed AIDS back on that state's List of Communicable Diseases subject to Public Health law. Opponents claimed that the measure could have instituted quarantines and sexual contact tracing. After its defeat it was reintroduced two years later and again defeated.

Related Topics:
1986 - Proposition 64 - AIDS - Quarantine

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Also in 1986, two supporters of LaRouche, Mark Fairchild and Janice Hart, won statewide nominations in the Democratic party. Fairchild won the nomination for Lt. Governor, and Hart won the nomination for Secretary of State. This was the first time that LaRouche supporters had won statewide nominations in the Democratic party.

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During the 1980s, the print and electronic media rarely mentioned LaRouche's name without the prefix, "political extremist." The LaRouche campaign in 1988, conducted while LaRouche was on trial, attempted to poke fun at this practice by broadcasting a national TV spot which featured a montage of clips of different TV announcers, all saying "political extremist Lyndon LaRouche."

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During its libel lawsuit, NBC raised the issue of LaRouche's "conversion" from Marxism to pro-American conservatism, suggesting that it was, in fact, faked. The Heritage Foundation released a report which stated that despite LaRouche's appearance as a right-wing anticommunist, he takes political stands "which in the end advance Soviet foreign policy goals." Longtime LaRouche critic Daniel Graham, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, has stated that he believes LaRouche is an "unrepentant Marxist-Leninist" who pretended to be right-wing in order "to suck conservatives into giving him money." Other former high-ranking intelligence officials have joined Graham in this belief. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/main.htm

Related Topics:
NBC - Heritage Foundation - Defense Intelligence Agency

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Criminal conviction and imprisonment (1988–1994)

By the 1980s, LaRouche and Helga Zepp-LaRouche had built an extensive political network, including the Schiller Institute in Germany, headed by Zepp-LaRouche, and branches in several other countries. The LaRouche organization devoted much of its energy to the sale of literature and the soliciting of small donations at airports and on university campuses; it also solicited donations by phone. Press reports alleged that this fundraising activity sometimes involved tax law violations, the conversion of publication sales into donations for LaRouche political campaigns that were then matched by the Federal Election Commission, and fraudulent soliciting of "loans" from vulnerable elderly people.

Related Topics:
Schiller Institute - Federal Election Commission

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In October 1986, the FBI and Virginia state authorities raided the LaRouche headquarters in Leesburg in search of evidence to support the persistent accusations of fraud and extortion. LaRouche and six associates were charged with conspiracy and mail fraud related to fundraising. LaRouche was also charged with conspiring to hide his personal income since 1979, the last year he had filed a federal tax return. In December 1988, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia convicted LaRouche and his associates, and LaRouche was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. LaRouche served five years of his sentence and was paroled. The convictions of LaRouche and his associates were a defining moment in the history of the LaRouche network. LaRouche supporters insisted that LaRouche was jailed, not for any violation of the law, but for his beliefs.

Related Topics:
1986 - Leesburg - Conspiracy - Mail fraud - 1979 - 1988 - Alexandria, Virginia

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LaRouche did not stop all political activity while in jail. He ran for president again in 1992, met with international personages, and gave interviews. During part of his imprisonment he shared a cell with televangelist Jim Bakker, who later wrote of his astonishment at LaRouche's detailed knowledge of the Bible. LaRouche was released on parole in 1994.

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• For more information on the case, see United States v. LaRouche

Meanwhile, in 1992 the father of an adult involved with the LaRouche movement paid several people to have his son abducted and "deprogrammed". Lewis du Pont Smith objected and his father sought to have him declared incompetent. The incident resulted in serious legal repercussions but no criminal convictions for those involved.

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