Newton Jenkins

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Jenkins in 1924

Isaac Newton Jenkins (August 19, 1887 – October 16, 1942) was an American attorney, soldier, and political candidate. A perennial candidate for political office, Jenkins ran for office in Illinois many times. He originally ran as a Robert La Follette-aligned progressive member of the Republican Party in the 1920s. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Jenkins publicly espoused antisemitic and fascist views and aligned himself with Adolf Hitler and other Nazis. He associated with other American pro-fascists. He was a figure in the short-lived Union Party, and served as the director of William Lemke's 1936 campaign as the party's presidential nominee.

Military career[edit]

During World War I, Jenkins served in the 5th Regiment of the United States Marines as a lieutenant. He later served with France's 5th Army.[1]

Legal and business career[edit]

Jenkins established himself as a prominent attorney in Chicago.[2] He was the attorney for the Pure Milk association (a dairy cooperative selling organization) since its inception. He was also a member of the Cook County Farm Bureau. He was, at one time, president of the Jefferson Park Business Men's Association.[3]

Early (progressive) political career[edit]

1920 Chicago aldermanic candidacy[edit]

Jenkins made his first run for political office in 1920, when he ran to be Chicago alderman of the 27th Ward.[1]

1924, 1930, and 1932 U.S. Senate candidacies[edit]

Main articles: 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois, 1930 United States Senate election in Illinois, and 1932 United States Senate election in Illinois

He ran in the Republican primary of the 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois on a Robert La Follette-aligned platform.[1][4] Samuel George Blythe described Jenkins as having run on a, "farmer-labor near bolshevik platform." While Jenkins ran a left-wing campaign, he performed his strongest in downstate Illinois than in Cook County, Illinois, despite Cook County being home to a more traditionally left-wing constituency. This was an indicator that his platform had appealed to downstate farmers.[5] Jenkins placed third in the primary, receiving 114,239 votes. This gave him 13.32% of the vote, compared to Charles S. Deneen's 41.70% and incumbent Medill McCormick's 41.01%.[6]

During the 1930 Illinois U.S. Senate race again ran for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Charles S. Deneen for the Republican Party nomination. He and Deneen both lost to Ruth Hanna McCormick.[1][7] Jenkins received 161,261 votes. This gave him 11.43% of the vote, compared to McCormick's 50.66% and Deneen's 35.19%.[8]

Jenkins ran a third time for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary of the 1932 United States Senate election in Illinois.[1] During his campaign, Jenkins supported the proposed Capper-Kelly Fair Trade Bill.[3] Jenkins received 405,387 votes, placing a distant second behind incumbent Otis F. Glenn. He won 37.98% of the vote to Glenn's 53.62%.[9]

During these campaigns, Jenkins built a sizable base of support in organizations for famers and organizations for retired military servicemen.[3]

Later (fascist) political career[edit]

By the mid-1930s, Jenkins' politics had taken a highly pronounced turn to fascism.

1935 Chicago mayoral candidacy[edit]

Main article: 1935 Chicago mayoral election

In 1935, Jenkins ran for mayor of Chicago as an independent candidate. Jenkins still promoted himself as a "progressive" candidate.[10][11] However, he adopted outright fascist and antisemitic politics and now stood in fierce opposition to such progressive causes as labor movements.[12]

Jenkins' run was supported by his Third Party, which was an effort to launch a new political party. The party claimed itself to be spun-off from the progressive Republican movement.[13] The party, which intended to use "U.S., Unite" as its national slogan and utilize the buffalo as its mascot, sought to use Jenkins' candidacy as a national launchpad.[1][13][14] However, Third Party was regarded to be "openly fascist".[12] The July 10, 1935 edition of the American Guardian newspaper wrote that Jenkins had,

Established contact with the Chicago Nazi organization, has appeared on platforms with uniformed Nazis at their official meetings, is openly anti-Semitic and has announced as part of his policy the formation of highly militarized storm troops to defend and protect the interests of his party. The Jenkins [Third Party] is also anti-labor, Jenkins having pescribed the lamp post hanging as the cure for all labor "agitators".[12]

By the time of this campaign, Jenkins was openly very antisemitic.[14][15] During his campaign, Jenkins published a number of antisemitic pieces.[16]

The platform of the Third Party-backed slate of independent candidates in the 1935 Chicago municipal election was to create a city manager position in the city, to adopt the city commission-style of government in Chicago, to create jobs for the head of family of 100,000 households, to eliminate taxes in the city, and to end "corrupt elections".[17]

Jenkins placed third of three candidates in the election with 87,726 votes. He received 8.34% of the vote, to incumbent Democrat Edward Joseph Kelly's 75.84% and Republican nominee Emil C. Wetten's 15.83%.[18]

Union Party and 1936 U.S. Senate candidacy[edit]

See also: 1936 United States Senate election in Illinois

Soon after the mayoral election, in March 1936 Jenkins declared his intention to run in the 1936 United States presidential election as the Third Party's nominee.[19] However, the Third Party merged into the Union Party, which was backing William Lemke's presidential candidacy.[1][15][14] As leader of the Union Party, Lemke had first approached the Third Party during the mayoral election about merging their efforts to establish a third major political party.[12] Jenkins became the leader of the Illinois state chapter of the Union Party[20] and served as the director of Lemke's Union Party candidacy in the presidential election.[21][22] Jenkins also ran as the party's nominee in the 1936 U.S. Senate election in Illinois.[1][15][14] Jenkins placed a distant third, receiving 93,696 votes. This gave him 2.47% of the vote to incumbent Democrat J. Hamilton Lewis's 56.47% and Republican nominee Otis F. Glenn's 40.72%[23]

Continued fascist activism[edit]

Jenkins spoke in support of the political views of Adolf Hitler at a German American Bund convention held August 8, 1937 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.[24] In 1938, Jenkins self-published a book titled The Republic Reclaimed which presented his views that Jewish people were at fault for most of the world's problems.[25] The book praised Mussolini and Italian fascists as well as Hitler and German Nazi fascists, containing a chapter on Adolf Hitler titled "Hitler Greatest German in All History".[26] The book predicted that there would be a "man hunt" against the "traitors" he alleged were "selling the Republic to Jew power".[27]

1938 U.S Senate candidacy[edit]

Main article: 1938 United States Senate election in Illinois

In 1938, Jenkins ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic Party's U.S. Senate primary. He placed a distant third, receiving 32,808 votes. He received 2.04% of the vote to Scott W. Lucas's 49.92% and Michael L. Igoe's 45.23%.[28]

Later activities[edit]

The "Uncle Sam crucifixion circular", likely distributed by Jenkins and Elizabeth Dilling

Jenkins' pro-Nazi work received attention from Chicago Times reporters and brothers James J. Metcalfe and John C. Metcalfe, both of whom went undercover in the American Nazi groups to report on their activities. In their 1938 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Jenkins' activities were discussed and evidence related to Jenkins was entered in to the congressional record.[29][30][31]

Jenkins associated himself with Francis Parker Yockey.[32]

By 1941, Jenkins worked with Elizabeth Dilling to run what the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) described in a memorandum as a "clearinghouse for anti-Semitic material". Through this operation, in 1941, they anonymously distributed in numerous cities a printing that the ADL dubbed the "Uncle Sam crucifixion circular" or the "new pro-Nazi circular" which portrayed several prominent Jewish figures as being among those involved in a conspiracy to bring the United States into World War II, and urged the United States to remain neutral. Per the findings of Maurice Fagan, the executive director of the Philadelphia Anti-Defamation Committee, the circular was the "brainchild" of Jenkins. ADL investigators found that John Winter of Chicago had printed the circular for them. A second circular surfaced soon after. Evidence found by ADL investigators indicated that the artwork featured in both circulars were likely created by artist Gustave A. Brand, who was the former city treasurer of Chicago.[33]

Death[edit]

Jenkins died of a heart ailment on October 16, 1942, at the age of 55.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Newton Jenkins, 55, Lawyer and Soldier; Defeated for Mayor of Chicago and United States Senator". The New York Times. 17 October 1942. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Says National Awaits Outcome of Dairy Revolt in Illinois". The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin). November 20, 1931. Retrieved 26 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Political Shorts". The Daily Herald. April 8, 1932. Retrieved 26 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Our Campaigns - Candidate - Newton Jenkins". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  5. ^ Blythe, Samuel G. (June 10, 1924). "Old Guard is 'Sore' -Bylthe". The Houston Post. Retrieved 26 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 4, 1924 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 SPECIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 PRIMARY ELECTIONS GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 8, 1924 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE, APRIL 8, 1924. Illinois State Board of Elections.
  7. ^ Strickland, Arvarh E. (1995). "'The Lady Candidate': Ruth Hanna McCormick and the Senatorial Election of 1930". Illinois Historical Journal. 88 (3). University of Illinois Press: 189–202. JSTOR 40192957..
  8. ^ OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, NOV. 4, 1924 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 SPECIAL ELECTIONS, 1923-1924 PRIMARY ELECTIONS GENERAL PRIMARY, APRIL 8, 1924 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE, APRIL 8, 1924. Illinois State Board of Elections.
  9. ^ OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, November 8, 1932 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1931-1932 PRIMARY ELECTIONS GENERAL PRIMARY, April 12, 1932 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE, APRIL 12, 1932. Illinois State Board of Elections.
  10. ^ Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 35. 1934. p. 220.
  11. ^ "1935 Press Photo Newton Jenkins Veteran Illinois Progressive Republic".
  12. ^ a b c d "Calls Third Party Aid to Fascism". The Pittsburgh Press. July 17, 1936. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "Third Party Tries Wings in Chicago; Newton Jenkins Is Entered for Mayor Under Symbol of the American Buffalo". New York Times. 27 January 1935. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  14. ^ a b c d John L. Spivak. "Nazi Spies and American "Patriots"".
  15. ^ a b c Leinwand, Gerald (17 August 2004). Mackerels in the Moonlight: Four Corrupt American Mayors. McFarland. p. 62. ISBN 9780786418459.
  16. ^ "Chicago Election Blow to Nazi Hopes". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. April 4, 1935. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  17. ^ Gallagher, John P. (February 3, 1935). "More Taxable Items Sought in the Corn Belt". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Board of Election Commissioners For the City of Chicago Mayoral Election Results Since 1900 General Elections Only". Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. 18 July 2004. Archived from the original on 18 July 2004. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Newton Jenkins, Chicago, Out for Presidency". The Neosho Miner-Mechanic. March 20, 1936. Retrieved 26 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "Victory 'Like Duck Soup'". The Rock Island Argus. The Associated Press. July 29, 1936. Retrieved 25 March 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "an excerpt from: Shrine of the Silver Dollar John L. Spivak(C)1940 Modern Age Books New York, NY". www.mail-archive.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  22. ^ "December 29, 1939 - Image 5". The Detroit Jewish News Digital Archives. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  23. ^ "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1936" (PDF). Clerk.house.gov. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  24. ^ "III-"Fascist Union U.S. Nazi Goal" - William Mueller and John C. Metcalfe - Chicago Daily Times · Undercover Reporting". undercover.hosting.nyu.edu. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  25. ^ Jenkins, Newton (1938). The Republic Reclaimed. N. Jenkins. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  26. ^ Jenkins, Newton (1938). The republic reclaimed. N. Jenkins.
  27. ^ "America awakening! : Chicago lawyer publishes book praising Hitler and Mussolini and predicting "a man hunt for traitors" in politics, journalism and economics, who are selling the Republic to the Jew power / Robert Edward Edmondson. - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  28. ^ OFFICIAL VOTE OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS CAST AT THE GENERAL ELECTION, November 8, 1938 JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, 1937-1938 PRIMARY ELECTION GENERAL PRIMARY, April 12, 1938. Illinois State Board of Elections.
  29. ^ House, United States Congress (1938). Hearings. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 1209–1217.
  30. ^ "Metcalfe (John C.) papers". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  31. ^ "Home-Grown Nazis- John C. Metcalfe and James J. Metcalfe - Chicago Daily Times · Undercover Reporting". undercover.hosting.nyu.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  32. ^ "Spitfire List | FTR #185 Interview with Kevin Coogan". Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  33. ^ Sly, Margery (8 September 2017). "From the Philadelphia Jewish Archives: Investigating the Crucifixion of Uncle Sam". sites.temple.edu. History News (Temple University). Retrieved 26 March 2023.
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