[Ads-l] Saying: Fascism will come disguised as anti-fascism

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Dan Goncharoff wrote:
> I have seen it attributed to a 1933 interview of Long by Robert Cantwell.

Thanks for sharing this interesting information, Dan. Do you recall
any more details about where you learned about the 1933 interview, or
where the interview appeared?

Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. indicated that he contacted Robert
Cantwell in 1951 and asked about the quotation. Cantwell told him that
he did not hear the quotation from Long. Schlesinger published this
information in 1960.

Year: 2003 (Copyright 1960)
Title: The Politics of Upheaval: 1935-1936, the Age of Roosevelt
Volume 3 of 3
Author: Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Quote Page 67 and 664
Publisher: A Mariner Book: Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts
Database: Google Books Preview

[Begin excerpt about Huey Long]
He had no ideological preoccupations; he never said, "When the United
States gets fascism it will call it anti-fascism," nor was he likely
to think in such terms. 7
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt of footnote 7]
He is supposed to have said this to Robert Cantwell; but Mr. Cantwell
informs me (June 6, 1951), "It is not what Long said in his talk with
me; but it is not basically opposed to what he said." Actually the
epigram ascribed to Long would be much more characteristic of someone
like Lawrence Dennis. Indeed, Dennis said very much the same thing:
"Nothing could be more logical or in the best political tradition than
for a type of fascism to be ushered into this country by leaders who
are now vigorously denouncing fascism" (Coming American Fascism, New
York, 1936, ix) . . .
[End excerpt of footnote]

Garson

> On Thu, Feb 23, 2017 at 3:26 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <
> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Variants of the saying in the subject line have been ascribed to
>> Winston Churchill and Huey Long. Here are some examples:
>>
>> The fascists of the future will be called anti-fascists.
>> If fascism ever came to this country it would be in the name of
>> anti-fascism.
>>
>> I received a request on this topic, and there was a germane discussion
>> thread back in 2012. The expression is highly variable, and it has
>> been difficult for me to trace. The "Yale Book of Quotations" has a
>> citation for Huey Long in 1944. Here is an instance in 1936.
>>
>> Date: February 22, 1936
>> Newspaper: The Cincinnati Enquirer
>> Newspaper Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
>> Article: A "Lively Age" To Come? (Book Review of "In the second Year"
>> by Storm Jameson)
>> Author: J. F. McD.
>> Quote Page 7, Column 1
>> Database: Newspapers.com
>>
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Norman Thomas said recently in a speech made in Cincinnati "Fascism is
>> coming in the United States most probably, but it will not come under
>> that name." In this statement he was repeating the words of the late
>> Huey Long, but Huey added: "Of course we'll have it. We'll have it
>> under the guise of anti-fascism." If you have not been sufficiently
>> disturbed by "It Can't Happen Here," read this new book of Storm
>> Jameson's.
>> [End excerpt]
>>
>> Early citations and pertinent information would be welcome.
>> Garson
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
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