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In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the JBS, for some reason, was cool, and at times even hostile to the Reagan movement, which alienated it form many grass-roots conservatives. Also, for some reason, they were hostile to Rush Limbaugh, and the New American, their house organ, ran a couple of articles denouncing Rush. They also feuded with conservative publisher and polemicist William F. Buckley in a rhubarb that dated back to the early sixties.

Their main beef with Reagan was his ardent support for international "free trade" (with some noted deviations), "Tax Reform Act of 1986", some of his appointments, Nancy, and his priorities. Also, they would have liked him to maintain an even more anti-communist tone consistently.

William F. Buckley went out of his way to marginalize JBS from the beginning, fearing that what he viewed as the crazies would doom conservatism from being a winning movement, and especially disagreeing on tariffs and intervention not related to stopping Communism.

There is a range of opinions held by members and leadership of JBS, just as there are in NR and the Republican Party.

Interesting.

Buckley was never conservative. And Reagan in his early years was leaning libertarian. Remember his famous 1975 remark.

So I can see why Birchers had some doubts about Buckely and Reagan.

Thank God Reagan proved to be a true conservative as president and not some squishy liberaltarian.

There is no evidence in the public domain to support your contention that “There is a range of opinions held by members and leadership of JBS, just as there are in NR and the Republican Party.”

The core ideological belief of the JBS since its inception in 1958 has been that almost all of our national leaders in the 20th century were “Communist traitors” or “agents” of a vast criminal conspiracy. The JBS concluded that the U.S. was 60 to 80% under “Communist influence and control” — and they always predicted our imminent demise as a free country. In fact, numerous senior officials of the JBS claimed that our last free election would be in 1964, then 1970, then 1972, then 1976.