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First of all, Hoover was not an “x-dresser” as you contend. Even the most hostile scholars who have written about Hoover (such as Dr. Athan Theoharis) have discredited those stories—which, incidentally, originated exclusively with a convicted perjurer with connections to organized crime.

Second, to answer your primary question, i.e. “who cares what JEH” had to say? The answer is THE BIRCH SOCIETY! It always effusively praised both Hoover and the FBI under his direction as our nation’s most knowledgeable, authoritative, and reliable source of information about internal security matters generally and the communist movement in particular.

See, for example, the October 1966 article in the JBS magazine, American Opinion, entitled “The Wisdom and Warning of J. Edgar Hoover”.

In fact, both Robert Welch and the JBS were so certain of Hoover’s competence and integrity that they approached him on several occasions because they wanted his permission to publish a compilation of his statements about communism in a book. Hoover refused permission on at least two occasions.

Lastly, when you say the JBS was “right” about almost “everything” -— the natural question is by what criteria?

FBI investigative files establish beyond dispute that the JBS was massively wrong about all sorts of matters. Furthermore, even people whom the JBS recommended to its members (including, in some instances, former FBI informants who subsequently became paid speakers for the Birch Society!!) contradicted and falsified standard JBS dogma about numerous matters.

Let’s take one example:

In July 1961, Robert Welch declared “…we believe that there are not more than 300,000 to 500,000 Communists in our country (or about 1/4 of 1% of our population) and not more than a million allies, dupes, and sympathizers whom they can count on for any conscious support…” [JBS Bulletin, July 1961, page 14]

Now, Welch had no special knowledge about this matter. He had no moles inside the CPUSA. He was just GUESSING.

By contrast, the FBI had access to Communist Party membership lists, due payments information, mailing lists, and a variety of other data because of moles inside CPUSA HQ in New York City. At the time Welch made his guesstimate, there were actually only about 5500 CP members in the U.S. — nothing remotely close to Welch’s hallucination of 300,000 to 500,000.

With respect to the second half of Welch’s statement (i.e. allies, dupes and sympathizers), the FBI’s Security Index file was created precisely to track anybody in those categories.

At the time Welch made his statement in July 1961, the FBI’s July 1961 Security Index report listed a total of 11,833 persons of which 9899 were in the “Communist” category—which included known or suspected Party members or sympathizers. Thus, while Welch perceived more than a million Communist operatives or sympathizers, the FBI concluded that only 9899 Americans were a potential security concern. [HQ 100-358086, #2939].

As a postscript to my previous message in reply to you - my new webpage “Documentary History of the JBS” contains some additional examples of JBS errors.

However, my JBS Report (129 pages) presents chapter and verse about dozens of massive JBS mistakes. Sources used (other than the FBI) include: House Committee on Un-American Activities, Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, military intelligence (G-2, ONI, OSI) — and several former FBI informants inside the CPUSA who became paid speakers for the JBS!

Furthermore, when you review the recommended reading lists which the JBS published in its monthly JBS Bulletin — you will see numerous examples where JBS-recommended authors subsequently rejected the JBS as irrational, extremist, and irresponsible.

One example: a giant within the conservative movement: Russell Kirk who wrote:

“Robert Welch...is remarkably ignorant of the nature of the Communist conspiracy which he denounces; and the sound of his own words has led him to the verge of what Burke called ‘metaphysical madness’. Ever since he founded his society he has done more to injure the cause of responsible conservatism than to act effectively against communism...”

and

“Nothing could do more to discredit all conservatives than the violent language and unreal views regularly found in American Opinion. As several conservatively-inclined gentlemen have remarked to me...they would be sorely tempted to believe that the leaders of the Birch Society are agents of the Kremlin subtly working to discredit all opposition to Communism by reducing anti-Communism to absurdity. All Americans of a conservative bent should be warned against associating themselves with an organization which is totally ineffectual in resisting Communism and socialism...”

Another example — Herbert Philbrick:

“Very early on I formed the opinion that sincere as he was, Bob Welch was ‘off the mark’ in his crusade. Rather than hitting – or even aiming at – ‘the bull’s eye’, his arrows were landing all around the circumference of the target. As with the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, I don’t think Bob ever really understood the communist mind; how a communist thinks. I never read anything of his suggesting a true understanding of dialectical materialism; and, as Chambers and many others have pointed out, if you don’t understand D.M., you cannot grasp the real meaning of Marxism-Leninism.”