25 years ago today - Nov 13, 1990

In 1991 Utah membership of the John Birch Society mushroomed as a result of U.S. president George Bush's proclaiming U.S. participation in a "New World Order." As part of the United Nations successful Gulf War, President Bush adopted a phrase used by ultra-conservatives for decades to identify the "collectivist" goal of the international conspiracy. By May 1991, Utah had 1,000 members of the Birch Society, an increase of nearly 50 percent from two years earlier.

[Source: John F. McManus, "'A New World Order' Means World Government," The John Birch Society Bulletin (Nov. 1990): 3-14; "Birch Society Lauds 'Fertile Soil' In Utah," Deseret News, 13 May 1991, B-2; "Utah's Birchers Organizing To Fight Bush 'Conspiracy,'" Salt Lake Tribune, 27 May 1991, B-l; "John Birch Society Skeptical of Communist Party Demise," Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Sept. 1991, B-l; '"John Bircher' Recruits Join Fight Against New World Order," Salt Lake Tribune, 21 June 1992, B-l. From D. Michael Quinn, Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992), also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3.]