Robert W. Welch, Jr.

Robert Henry Winborne Welch Jr. (December 1, 1899 – January 6, 1985) was an American businessman, political organizer, and conspiracy theorist. He was wealthy following his retirement from the candy business and used his wealth to sponsor anti-communist causes. He co-founded the John Birch Society (JBS), an American extreme right-wing political advocacy group, in 1958 and tightly controlled it until his death. He was highly controversial and criticized by liberals, as well as some mainstream conservatives, including William F. Buckley Jr. Early life Welch was born in Chowan County, North Carolina, the son of Lina Verona (née James) and Robert Henry Winborne Welch Sr. As a child, he was considered gifted and received his early education at home from his mother, a school teacher. His boyhood home was in Stockton, North Carolina. Welch enrolled in high school at the age of ten and was admitted to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at the age of twelve, the youngest student ever to enroll there. He was a fundamentalist Baptist and, by his own admission, was "insufferable" in his attempts to convert his fellow students. Welch attended the United States Naval Academy and Harvard Law School but did not graduate from either institution.