| − | In 1962, Touchstone became the editor of ''The Councilor," the official publication of the White Citizens' Council, of which his mailing list included a worldwide readership of more than 106,000 but a paid circulation of 18,000. The Citizens Council was formed in the middle 1950s to oppose the [[civil rights movement]] in the South. Led in Louisiana by [[William Rainach]], the council was composed of avowed [[Segregation|segregationists]] who sought to exert financial pressures on civil rights supporters. The greater part of the members were medium to lower-income whites who were staunch supporters of what was commonly called "the southern way of life." The Citizens' Council grew in numbers until the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] was signed into law by [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], a frequent target of Touchstone's editorials, along with Johnson's intra-party rival, [[United States Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]], subsequently a U.S. senator from [[New York]] for fewer than four years.<ref name=thecouncilor>{{cite web|url=http://faculty.ferris.edu/ISAR/Institut/cca/touchstone_cca.htm|title=Ned Touchstone: The Citizens Councils and The Councilor|publisher=Institute for the Study of Academic Racism|date=1983|accessdate=March 25, 2017}}</ref> In December 1963, a confidential informant (NO 1223-R) identified Touchstone as a member of the Original Knights of the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. The informant further revealed that the KKK had "documented proof" that President Johnson early in his political career joined the KKK, much as his friend [[Robert Byrd]] did in [[West Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://madworldnews.com/trump-democratic-president-kkk/|title=Trump Reveals Which Democratic President Was Also KKK Member, Liberals in Meltdown Mode|date=October 30, 2017|publisher=Madworldnews.com|accessdate=August 25, 2019}}</ref> | + | In 1962, Touchstone became the editor of ''The Councilor,'' the official publication of the White Citizens' Council, of which his mailing list included a worldwide readership of more than 106,000 but a paid circulation of 18,000. The Citizens Council was formed in the middle 1950s to oppose the [[civil rights movement]] in the South. Led in Louisiana by [[William Rainach]], the council was composed of avowed [[Segregation|segregationists]] who sought to exert financial pressures on civil rights supporters. The greater part of the members were medium to lower-income whites who were staunch supporters of what was commonly called "the southern way of life." The Citizens' Council grew in numbers until the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] was signed into law by [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], a frequent target of Touchstone's editorials, along with Johnson's intra-party rival, [[United States Attorney General]] [[Robert F. Kennedy]], subsequently a U.S. senator from [[New York]] for fewer than four years.<ref name=thecouncilor>{{cite web|url=http://faculty.ferris.edu/ISAR/Institut/cca/touchstone_cca.htm|title=Ned Touchstone: The Citizens Councils and The Councilor|publisher=Institute for the Study of Academic Racism|date=1983|accessdate=March 25, 2017}}</ref> In December 1963, a confidential informant (NO 1223-R) identified Touchstone as a member of the Original Knights of the [[Ku Klux Klan]]. The informant further revealed that the KKK had "documented proof" that President Johnson early in his political career joined the KKK, much as his friend [[Robert Byrd]] did in [[West Virginia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://madworldnews.com/trump-democratic-president-kkk/|title=Trump Reveals Which Democratic President Was Also KKK Member, Liberals in Meltdown Mode|date=October 30, 2017|publisher=Madworldnews.com|accessdate=August 25, 2019}}</ref> |
| | ''The Councilor'' offered stories hostile toward liberals in both major parties, and particularly the administrations of [[John F. Kennedy]] and Lyndon B. Johnson and [[Moderate Republican]]s who supported civil rights legislation and parts of the Democratic agenda.<ref name=thecouncilor/> Often Touchstone employed editorial ridicule and vociferous personal attacks against those whom he politically opposed.<ref name=ejas/> However, Touchstone claimed to be an expert researcher and said that he had never lost a legal challenge regarding any of his articles. Touchstone often hosted citizens from all over the United States and even various British dignitaries eager for his personal analysis of events.<ref name=thecouncilor/> | | ''The Councilor'' offered stories hostile toward liberals in both major parties, and particularly the administrations of [[John F. Kennedy]] and Lyndon B. Johnson and [[Moderate Republican]]s who supported civil rights legislation and parts of the Democratic agenda.<ref name=thecouncilor/> Often Touchstone employed editorial ridicule and vociferous personal attacks against those whom he politically opposed.<ref name=ejas/> However, Touchstone claimed to be an expert researcher and said that he had never lost a legal challenge regarding any of his articles. Touchstone often hosted citizens from all over the United States and even various British dignitaries eager for his personal analysis of events.<ref name=thecouncilor/> |
| | Touchstone was also affiliated with the ''[[American Mercury]],'' the former magazine of [[H. L. Mencken]] and George Jean Nathan (1882-1958), which fell under the control of anti-Semites in the 1960s. Touchstone was listed as a contributing editor of ''The American Mercury'' and for a time took over management of the publication. He appeared in the masthead as the "financial editor" before the publication closed in 1981. He held a seat on the board of Willis Allison Carto's Liberty Lobby, another anti-Semitic group which operated from 1958 to 2001. Touchstone called Carto (1926-2015) "one of the greatest living Americans."<ref name=thecouncilor/> | | Touchstone was also affiliated with the ''[[American Mercury]],'' the former magazine of [[H. L. Mencken]] and George Jean Nathan (1882-1958), which fell under the control of anti-Semites in the 1960s. Touchstone was listed as a contributing editor of ''The American Mercury'' and for a time took over management of the publication. He appeared in the masthead as the "financial editor" before the publication closed in 1981. He held a seat on the board of Willis Allison Carto's Liberty Lobby, another anti-Semitic group which operated from 1958 to 2001. Touchstone called Carto (1926-2015) "one of the greatest living Americans."<ref name=thecouncilor/> |
| − | Touchstone decried the civil rights activism of [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], whom he claimed had political and financial ties with international [[communism]]. Touchstone targeted the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a communist front group in which [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] had been active prior to 1963. The "Fair Play" group sent busloads of northern blacks into the South to accelerate [[Segregation|desegregation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32129399.pdf|title=Kennedy Assassination Collection Full Results|author=William A.
| + | Touchstone decried the civil rights activism of [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]], whom he claimed had political and financial ties with international [[communism]]. Touchstone targeted the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, a communist front group in which [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] had been active prior to 1963. The "Fair Play" group sent busloads of northern blacks into the South to accelerate [[Segregation|desegregation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/docid-32129399.pdf|title=Kennedy Assassination Collection Full Results|author=William A. |