Back George Lincoln Rockwell Afrikaans جورج لينكون روكويل Arabic جورج لينكون روكويل ARZ جورج لینکلن راکول AZB Джордж Линкълн Рокуел Bulgarian George Lincoln Rockwell Danish George Lincoln Rockwell German Τζορτζ Λίνκολν Ρόκγουελ Greek George Lincoln Rockwell Spanish George Lincoln Rockwell Basque
George Lincoln Rockwell | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rockwell at a hearing of the House Un-American Activities Committee, 1963 | |
| 1st Commander of the American Nazi Party | |
| In office March 1959 – August 25, 1967 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Matthias Koehl |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 9, 1918 Bloomington, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 25, 1967 (aged 49) Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Murder by gunshot |
| Political party | American Nazi |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 7 |
| Parent |
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| Education | Brown University |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Navy |
| Years of service | 1941–1960 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Battles/wars | |
George Lincoln Rockwell (March 9, 1918 – August 25, 1967) was an American neo-Nazi activist who founded the American Nazi Party (ANP) and became one of the most notorious white supremacists in the United States until his murder in 1967. His beliefs, strategies, and writings have continued to influence many white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Rockwell coined the expression White Power, which was also the title of his posthumously published political manifesto.
Born in Bloomington, Illinois, to two vaudeville performers, Rockwell briefly studied philosophy at Brown University before dropping out to join the Navy. He trained as a pilot and served in World War II and the Korean War in non-combat roles, achieving the rank of Commander. Rockwell's politics grew more radical and vocal in the 1950s, and he was honorably discharged due to his views in 1960. He founded the American Nazi Party in 1959, using high profile media stunts to increase their notoriety as a step to power. This did not work, and despite their notoriety Rockwell remained politically fringe. In the year before his death he renamed the ANP the National Socialist White People's Party (NSWPP) as part of an effort to broaden the party's white supremacist appeal outside of strict Nazism, for what he called the White Power movement.
On August 25, 1967, Rockwell was shot and killed in Arlington, Virginia by John Patler, a former member of the American Nazi Party who had once been close with Rockwell, but who he had expelled in March of that year. Following his death, the party effectively dissolved, with his official successor Matthias Koehl renaming the party the New Order and turning it into a basically religious group. Another associate, William Luther Pierce, left Koehl's movement and founded the National Alliance.
In politics, he regularly praised Adolf Hitler, denied the Holocaust and believed that Martin Luther King Jr. was a tool for Jewish communists desiring to rule the white community. He blamed the civil rights movement on Jews, and viewed most of them as traitors. He viewed black people as a primitive race and supported the resettlement of all African Americans in a new African state to be funded by the U.S. government. While Rockwell remains obscure to the American public and never achieved any real power, he and his views were deeply influential on far-right extremism and neo-Nazism.