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| Affiliation | States Rights |
|
| Name | Kent H. Courtney |
| Address |
New Orleans / Pineville, Louisiana , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 23, 1918
|
| Died | August 12, 1997
(78 years)
|
| Contributor | eddy 9_99 |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Mar 06, 2024 03:20am |
| Tags |
Navy - The John Birch Society -
|
| Info | COURTNEY, Kent H. - right wing third-party activist. Reporter Drew Pearson described Courtney in 1962 as a "230-pound former commercial airline pilot." [Link]
Born 10/23/1918 in St. Paul MN; parents were Joseph F. & Zella E. (Smith) Courtney.
Fortier High School, New Orleans LA; graduated from Tulane Univ.
Married Phebe Greene; one son.
The following is a mostly unsourced biography from Wikipedia, with unverified portions in italics:
Courtney served as a US Navy pilot in World War II and later was a pilot for Pan American World Airways. Later, he was a commercial officer with the British consulate in New Orleans.
Assistant to the President of a banana importing firm; member of the American Legion, NO Chamber of Commerce, John Birch Society [NYT 4/14/1961].
He received a degree in business administration in 1950 from Tulane University (along with his sister Claire Courtney) in New Orleans. He then taught economics, banking, and marketing for three years at Tulane.
Chairman, New Orleans branch of Ten Million Americans Mobilizing For Justice, 1954, (a group formed to defend U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy against censure).
Candidate for City Council (D-New Orleans) 1954. One of the winners in that council election was future Lieutenant Governor James E. Fitzmorris, Jr.
In 1955 [Link] , Courtney and his wife Phoebe [Link] (1918-03-13 - 1998-09-14) launched their Free Men Speak newspaper, which was later renamed the Independent American. Courtney traveled a great deal during this period to address right-wing groups around the country while Phoebe edited the newspaper.
Employee, Associated Pelican Printing Co.
Phoebe and Kent Courtney were advocates of the concept of "constitutionalism," which incorporated a series of conspiracy theories surrounding secret elites and he government bureaucracy. [Link]
First Attempt at New Third Party
In October 1959 [NYT 4/14/1961], Courtney sponsored a two-day meeting in Chicago, which included a banquet to honor Robert W. Welch, Jr., the founder of the John Birch Society. William F. Buckley, Jr., publisher of National Review magazine and a leading columnist, also attended. The meeting called for the establishment of a new party on grounds that the Republicans were too similar in philosophy to the Democrats... The rally ... was promoted by columnists Tom Anderson of Pigeon Forge TN, Medford Evans, Utah Governor J. Bracken Lee, and investigative conservative journalist and former FBI agent Dan Smoot.
Kent Courtney's brother, Cy Courtney, also of New Orleans, had been an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor on a segregationist intraparty "ticket" with gubernatorial hopeful William M. Rainach of Claiborne Parish in the 1959 primary. Cy Courtney lost out to fellow Democrat Clarence C. "Taddy" Aycock... Kent Courtney, as a member of a third party, could not actually vote for his brother in the Democratic primary...
Candidate for Governnor (States Rights-LA) 1960. After the gubernatorial disaster, Courtney organized a southern conference that again included columnists Tom Anderson and Medford Evans as speakers, along with other controversial right-wing figures Matt Cvetic, David Molthrop, Robert Nesmith, Harold Poeschel, and Clayton Rand.
In July 1960, Courtney organized a "Goldwater for President" rally in Chicago on the eve of the Republican National Convention. He hoped to derail the ... nomination of ... Nixon as the ... presidential nominee...
In the November 1960 general election, Courtney was a States Rights Party presidential elector, along with future Republican Congressman and Governor David C. Treen.
Candidate for Vice President on the Conservative Party, 1960, with J. Bracken Lee UT running for President.
In 1961, Phoebe Courtney ... urged Goldwater to quit the GOP and to campaign as an independent conservative...
In 1961, Courtney called a "Congress of Conservatives" to consider forming a new anti-communist political party. The congress met in the Morrison Hotel in Chicago on 4/13-15/1961. At a press conference on the first day of the convention, Courtney called for a military invasion of Cuba. He stated that one-third of the contacts for the new party were members of the John Birch Society. There were 125 delegates in attendance. [NYT 4/14/1961, 4/15/1961] Robert Welch of the John Birch Society told a Time magazine reporter that he did not attend because "Courtney is a publicity seeker" (Time, 4/21/1961). The congress approved a "statement of principles." Attendees included Lester Maddox and Bill Buckley; the latter returned home to New York State and helped form the Conservative Party there. [Link]
In the 1964 pre-convention campaign, Goldwater's last intraparty rival, Governor William Scranton... questioned the senator's connections with Kent Courtney. Scranton asked why Courtney, identified nationally as a "radical," was supporting any Republican candidate for president.
Founder of the Conservative Society of America, serving as national chairman 1961-1970. The organization was formed on 4/15/1961 in Chicago... The announced purpose was to support conservatives already in Congress and to recruit new candidates who would oppose liberal and/or socialist-voting congressmen regardless of partisan affiliation. By 1962, he hired Walter Poag of Nashville, Tennessee, a former Birch Society coordinator, as national field organizer. In June 1962, Courtney announced his CSA had 1,500 members representing 47 states. Among CSA endorsers on CSA letterhead were the following: Bryton Barron, Medford Evans, Dan Hanson, George J. Hess, J. Bracken Lee, Harold Poeschel, Frank Ranuzzi, E. Merrill Root, and Major General Charles Willoughby.
In 1962, Look magazine declared that Courtney's CSA had a staff of fifteen and an income of $133,000 in 1960 and $181,000 in 1961. The CSA also rated members of Congress. In 1962, it declared that there were only two 100 percent conservative senators, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina (still a Democrat) and Republican John Tower of Texas, and three perfect House conservatives, James B. Utt of California, Clare Hoffman of Michigan, and Bruce Alger of Texas. Goldwater received an 88 percent rating, and Senate Republican Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois garnered only a 64 percent rating...
Author of America's Unelected Rulers, a book which claimed that the private organization Council on Foreign Relations was seeking to hijack American foreign policy to create world government.
Campaign manager for George C. Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign.
Regarding segregation, Courtney agreed with former Professor Medford Evans of Northwestern State University (then Northwestern State College) in Natchitoches, Louisiana, who declared that it would be "impossible" to integrate white and black society. Evans further said that integration was one of the two chief communist operations designed to bring about world conflict. Courtney was also active in the White Citizens Councils, which were organized to fight the desegregation of public schools, once the Supreme Court issued Brown v. Board of Education.
Courtney was a strong supporter of staunchly conservative and segregationist Democrat Congressman John Rarick...
In 1969, Courtney wrote a book entitled The Black Panthers: Are These Cats Red? An Expose of a Communist Front which is Engaging in Guerrilla Warfare Against High Schools and Universities (Pineville LA: Conservative Society of America, 1969). In the book, Courtney outlined his view that the Black Panthers were in contact with international Communist groups and sought the violent overthrow of the government.
Served on the AIP National Committee 1969-1970
Sometime prior to 1973, Courtney relocated to Alexandria to serve as an aide to Democrat-turned-Republican Mayor Charles Edward "Ed" Karst. Karst was originally from New Orleans, but records do not clearly reveal how the two became politically connected. Karst vacated the mayoral office in June 1973. As mayor, Karst was not particularly known for conservative policy issues.
Candidate for US House (I-LA) 1976; defeated by US Rep. Gillis W. Long
The Courtneys later divorced. Phoebe relocated to Littleton CO by 1973, at which time sh was printing the Independent American Newspaper there [Link] and continued publication until 1991 [Link] .
Courtney donated his extensive collection of states rights manuscripts, pamphlets, letters, and reel to reel tapes to the Cammie G. Henry Research Center; the index of his material is posted at [Link] . Included in the collection is a subset of UFO sighting reports and pamphlets; also anti-flouridation materials.
James T. Havel, U.S. Presidential Candidates and the Elections, vol. 1, p. 129.
[Link]
NYT 4/19/1960, 4/14/1961, 4/15/1961 |
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