LYNN – On Tuesday, Donald Trump became the first American president to face criminal charges after being indicted and arraigned in Manhattan. He was charged by a New York grand jury with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Though Trump has made history as the first president to be indicted, he is hardly the first presidential candidate to face criminal charges. One of them was a former Lynner, and his political career holds some striking similarities to that of the 45th president of the United States.
Lyndon LaRouche, a Lynn English High School graduate, was born in Rochester, New Hampshire in 1922. During his career, he ran for president eight times – including once from prison in the ’90s. He was known for his political extremism, conspiracy theories, and cult-like following.
From believing that Queen Elizabeth II was involved in drug trafficking, to claiming that Jewish people created the Ku Klux Klan, his conspiracies and political ideals ranged widely. LaRouche ran for president as a Democrat. Many Democrats condemned his remarks and statements, labeling him a threat to the party.
He first ran for president in 1976 and gained national attention in 1986 when two of his followers, Mark Fairchild and Janice Hart, accomplished major upsets in the Illinois Democratic Primary. Though LaRouche never earned a large share of votes in any presidential election, his followers’ primary upsets forced many to take LaRouche seriously, similar to Trump’s performance in the 2016 Republican Primary.
In 1988, LaRouche, along with six associates, were convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud for the solicitation of $34 million in loans dating back to 1983. While in prison in 1992, he earned the distinction of becoming just the second candidate to run for president from a prison cell, after only Eugene Debs in 1920.
LaRouche’s last run for president came in 2004 and he died in February 2019 at the age of 96. Though he ended his nearly thirty-year bid for president in 2004, his following didn’t cease.
In 2012, two young protestors affiliated with LaRouche were removed from the Lynnway by State Police. An article written by The Item stated that the two protestors were removed after several complaints came in of the youths carrying posters of then-President Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache.
Today LaRouche’s following has an online presence, the LaRouchePAC, and has aligned itself with the Trump campaign.
“A new House Committee to investigate the weaponization of government promises to throw more light on our enemies within and without, and Donald Trump’s campaign to return to the Presidency in 2025 further promises to give us the power to do something about it,” a statement on the LaRouchePAC website reads.
The website also claims that LaRouche’s movement has “been the target of the national security apparatus and its private appendages,” since the ’60s, and that they are now working with the Trump-led Make America Great Again movement to combat new investigative committees in Congress.
