There "influence" was not numbers though prior to Reagan they had a membership of approx. a million. Their influence came from their reputation. They embodied what was then considered the right wing. It wasn't until they turned on Reagan that their membership came down to about eighty thousand and they became known more for conspiracy theories than for political activities. No one remembers the YAF but most of the country has heard of the JBS.
In Texas, maybe.
Never more than 50,000 nationally. (But who can say, since Robert Welch is dead and he's supposedly the only one who had the list.)
I think you've been reading too many pamphlets from the SPLC and the ADL, Tex.
In the real world of politics, which I was a part of for many years, the JBS had about squat influence over the Republican Party, even though two or three JBS-ers have held elective office in the past. John Rousselot was one I remember, and by today's standards he'd be an extremist I'm sure. He actually thought we should abolish the IRS, get out of the UN and stop all foreign aid. What heresy to the party of Lincoln!
Oh, and don't forget Larry McDonald.
Since you don't live in Georgia maybe McDonald is not on your radar screen.
He most definitely was on the Soviets'. He was a passenger on KAL flight 007 shot down over Sakhalin in 1983. I'm sure the Urinal-Constipation will publish some kind of a tribute next year on the 20th anniversary. After all, he was their kind of Congressman -- a Democrat.