Tom Jefferson (@TomJefferson1976)

A Choice Not an Echo Chapter Fourteen Who Are The Secret Kingmakers? + Council on Foreign Relations role in Engineering the Cold War Phyllis Schlafly rose to national prominence in 1964 with the self-published book A Choice Not an Echo, which sold over three million copies and became a cornerstone of the modern conservative movement. The book criticized the Republican Party’s Eastern establishment, dubbed “kingmakers,” for manipulating presidential nominations to favor moderate candidates who echoed Democratic policies, and instead championed Senator Barry Goldwater as a principled conservative alternative. Key details include: Purpose and Content: Schlafly argued that secretive elites, including figures like Nelson Rockefeller and financial dynasties, controlled the GOP to block genuine conservatives. She urged grassroots Republicans to reject “me-too” candidates and support Goldwater’s uncompromising stance on anti-communism and limited government. Impact: The book’s distribution was instrumental in Goldwater’s victory in the pivotal California primary, which secured his delegates and led to his nomination at the 1964 Republican National Convention. It also launched Schlafly’s career as a leading activist, later known for her successful campaign against the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Legacy: Recognized as a foundational text for movement conservatism, the book has seen updated editions, including a 50th Anniversary Edition in 2014, which adds analysis of subsequent political battles from the Silent Majority to the Tea Party and Donald Trump’s rise. Critics often describe its claims about “secret kingmakers” as conspiracy theories, while supporters view it as an essential exposé of elite political manipulation. Chapter 14 of A Choice Not an Echo is titled “Who Are the Secret Kingmakers?” (beginning on page 102 in the original 1964 edition). It’s the chapter where Schlafly finally names the individuals and institutions she accused of controlling Republican presidential nominations from 1936 through 1960. Key figures she identified as kingmakers include: Thomas Lamont – senior partner at J.P. Morgan Winthrop Aldrich – chairman of Chase National Bank Ogden Mills – banker and philanthropist Eugene Meyer – financier Nelson Rockefeller – Governor of New York Thomas S. Gates – Morgan Guaranty Henry Cabot Lodge – diplomat and senator What the chapter covers: Schlafly describes the kingmakers as an “Eastern, internationalist power structure” rooted in New York’s banking and social elite, who she argued dictated GOP nominees “as completely as the Paris dressmakers control the length of women’s skirts.” She details their tactics: manipulating Gallup Polls as a propaganda tool, deploying media outlets like The New York Times, LIFE, and Newsweek as “hidden persuaders,” and exerting financial pressure on delegates (e.g., having mortgage holders and bankers call delegates to vote for their candidate). She references the Bilderberg Group (the “St. Simon’s meeting of DeBilderbergers”), arguing it proved that “secret groups of persons high in finance, government and press who meet secretly to make important plans they do not reveal to the public” do in fact exist. The chapter also touches on the Phoenix Report and claims about security breaches, linking the kingmakers’ interests to foreign policy accommodation with the Soviet Union. The chapter essentially serves as the “reveal” of the book and an exposé of elite political manipulation tracing the kingmakers’ influence across each election cycle in earlier chapters, Schlafly here lays out who they are and how their network operated. Chapter Fourteen Who are the Secret Kingmakers? Several questions naturally arise: Can it really be possible that a little clique of powerful men meet secretly and plan events that appear to “just happen”? Who are the secret kingmakers who manipulated and controlled Republican National Conventions from 1936 through 1960? What is their motive for exercising such control, even when it means the defeat of the Party they profess to serve? These are questions to be answered in this chapter. The rational citizen believes in the principle of causality, that for every effect there must be a cause. Most of what is ascribed to “accident” or “coincidence” is really the result of human plans. When there is an airplane accident, the authorities make a diligent search for the series of events that led to the crash — and usually the cause is found. read more> https://tomjefferson1976.wordpress.com/2026/09/09/a-choice-not-an-echo-chapter-fourteen-who-are-the-secret-kingmakers-council-on-foreign-relations-role-in-engineering-the-cold-war/ ...