The John Birch candy connection – a lot of voices were surprised / alarmed by the John Birch Society people showing up at CPAC. I’ve been reading up some more on them, and they have an interesting connection you probably didn’t know about.
The founder of the group was Robert Welch Jr – John Birch was a symbol for the cause of anti-communism – he was “accidentally” shot by the Red Chinese army 10 days after the end of WWII (the US and China were allies fighting against Japan)
Robert Welch’s claim to fame other than politics was he invented the Sugar Daddy candy. He and the company that made it ended their relationship and he went to work for his brother’s candy company James O Welch – which made Junior Mints and Milk Duds. James Walsh’s company was bought by Nabisco in 1963 and he served on the Board of Directors. His son James O Welch, Jr. was the President of Nabisco (at least in 1985) the year both brothers died. In 1987, James O Welch Jr was named CEO of the Nabisco brands unit of RJR Nabisco. In 1998, takeover firm KKR took control of RJR-Nabisco. and replaced its management.
