Right Turn: John T. Flynn and the Development of American Liberalism
by John E. Moser

In this well-researched study, author John Moser details the life of John T. Flynn, an enormously influential figure who remains almost unknown to modern students of the conservative movement.

Flynn began his career as a muckraking journalist in the Progressive era. Known for his acumen in reporting on business and financial matters, he built a nationwide audience for his hard-hitting prose.

Flynn was an early supporter of Franklin Roosevelt, but became disenchanted with the New Deal when he perceived that it was not a well-thought-out plan but rather an ad hoc scheme which Flynn believed would lead to fascism. As the Thirties wore on, Flynn became ever more critical of Roosevelt. On the one hand, he thought the NRA was simply a cartel-creating handout to business, while on the other hand he complained that Roosevelt's soak-the-rich taxes didn't go nearly far enough. Yet he pointed out that the Social Security Act was just a giant Ponzi scheme.

Flynn was particularly concerned that Roosevelt's Anglophilia, combined with a cozy relationship with industrial magnates, would drag America into a war in Europe. Flynn became a key member of America First and ran the New York City chapter. When the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor, however, he quickly disengaged.

He then began to be viewed as something of a conservative since he was so identified with criticism of Roosevelt. His book on Roosevelt, Country Squire in the White House, sealed his reputation as the nation's leading FDR basher and led to his disengagement from The New Republic. A later best-seller, The Roosevelt Myth, faulted FDR for many things including the Yalta sellout.

His chief preoccupation became what he perceived as the drift toward fascism in the late 1940s, as left-leaning economists like Alvin Hanson advocated ever more government-business synergy. Flynn always fundamentally believed in the capitalistic system and traditional American values.

Flynn became something of an icon to the Right, attracting the admiring attention of Robert Welch, founder of the John Birch Society, and William F. Buckley and Brent Bozell in their new magazine, National Review. Flynn was involved in the original America's Future's radio programs that ran on 362 radio stations. Flynn was the godfather of current conservatives who write in defense of traditional American values in the culture wars.

(New York University Press, 2005, 210 pp., $45)