Robert P. Shuler
Encyclopedia
Robert Pierce "Fighting Bob" Shuler, Sr. (1880 – September 11, 1965), was an American evangelist
and political figure. His radio broadcasts from his Southern Methodist
church in Los Angeles, California
, during the 1920s and early 1930s attracted a large audience and also drew controversy with his attacks on politicians, police officials, Catholics, Jews and African Americans. In 1931, the Federal Radio Commission
revoked Shuler's broadcast license. He ran for the United States Senate in 1932 on the Prohibition Party
ticket and attracted more than 500,000 votes.
of Tennessee, Shuler graduated from Emory and Henry College
in 1903 and was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
. He served as a pastor at churches in Virginia, Tennessee and Texas before moving west to California.
, from 1920 until 1953. Shuler acquired a wide following for his sermons and broadcasts in which he "thundered weekly against civic and moral evils," including gamblers, bootleggers, grafters, and above all corrupt politicians and police officials. From 1926-1932, Shuler operated radio station KGEF, which he said stood for "Keep God Ever First." He built the radio station at the site of Trinity Methodist Church, using funds donated by Methodist philanthropist Lizzie Glide, who also funded San Francisco's famous Glide Memorial Church
. Shuler also published a magazine under the name "Bob Shuler's Magazine." At his peak, Shuler's congregation had 5,000 members, and his radio broadcasts reportedly had an audience of 600,000 Southern Californians and were heard from Mexico to Canada.
American Mercury wrote that Shuler had "built up the greatest political and social power ever wielded by a man of God since the days of Savonarola in Florence." One historical account described Shuler's influence as follows:
However, Shuler's controversial broadcasts also included attacks on Catholics, African Americans, Jews and on the President of the University of Southern California
, for permitting evolution to be taught. During the 1928 Presidential election, with Catholic Alfred E. Smith running as the Democratic candidate, Shuler asserted that the Catholics were "plotting to murder Protestants in their beds." He also publicly defended the Ku Klux Klan
. In June 1930, the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy feature story about Shuler under the headline: "Champion 'Ag'inner' of Universe Is Shuler: Belligerent Local Pastor Holds All Records for Attacks Upon Everybody, Everything." The Times wrote: "Unless you have been attacked by Rev. 'Bob' Shuler, pastor of Trinty Methodist Church South, via radio, magazine, pulpit or pamphlet (25 cents per copy) you don't amount to much in Los Angeles." Shuler's targets included the Los Angeles Public Library
(for carrying books not fit to be read even in "heathen China or anarchistic Russia"), the YWCA (for conducting dances for girls "until the early hours of Sunday morning"), and other evangelists, including Billy Sunday
and Aimee Semple McPherson
.
In 1923, Shuler went after Chief Louis D. Oaks
of the Los Angeles Police Department
. Sworn to uphold the law, including Prohibition
, Oaks had a reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer who once was arrested in the backseat of an auto in the company of a half-naked woman and a bottle of contraband whiskey by San Bernadino. Shuler staked out a speakeasy
and caught Chief Oaks leaving the establishment in an inebriated state accompanied by two women, neither of whom were his wife. After revealing publicly what he had seen (drinking being a crime during Prohibition
), Oaks was ousted by Los Angeles Mayor George E. Cryer.
In 1929, Shuler focused his attacks on Cryer himself, whom Shuler branded as a "grafter" and the "chief exploiter," and whom he linked to the city's vice kingpin Charles H. Crawford
. Shuler's charges, made both on his radio station and in his magazine, led to a widely publicized libel lawsuit by Cryer against Shuler. The details of the Shuler libel suit were front page news in the Los Angeles Times for much of 1929. The jury found Shuler not guilty on one count and failed to reach a verdict on a second count.
revoked Shuler's broadcast license, and KGEF went off the air. KGEF was the second radio station to have its license revoked by the FRC. Shuler appealed the revocation, but the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the decision. The court denounced the character of Shuler's broadcasts and declared that if such use of the airwaves were permitted, "radio will become a scourge and the nation a theater for the display of individual passions and the collision of personal interests." The U.S. Supreme Court denied Shuler's petition for a writ of certiorari, and his license revocation became final in February 1933. One of Shuler's recurring targets, the ACLU (which Shuler had regularly attacked for its "liberal" stands) supported Shuler's right to free speech and challenged the courts' decision to revoke his license. The Los Angeles Times, on the other hand, hailed the court's decision noting, "The final ruling of the courts putting an end to this nuisance is an occasion for general public felicitation."
By 1932, Shuler was a nationally-known political and religious figure, and he announced his intention to run for the United State Senate. He was the Prohibition Party
candidate in the 1932 Senate election against Democrat William G. McAdoo and Republican Tallant Tubbs. The Los Angeles Times refused to endorse any of the three candidates, calling it "Hobson's choice
" for voters, and criticizing Shuler for his "demagogic appeals to discontent." In a remarkable about-face, the Los Angeles Record endorsed Shuler on the day before the general election. The same newspaper had previously described Shuler as a "bigot," a "blatherskite," and an "apostle of hate." After a Shuler rally in Carlsbad, California
, a San Diego County newspaper wrote that any who expected to hear a man with disheaveled hair, wildly gleaming eyes and of radical mien and action," were surprised to hear "an average man, who spoke with a convincing earnesteness." Shuler called Tubbs "a rich playboy" and McAdoo "the freest spender of the government's and the people's money in the history of government." Shuler freely admitted "I don't know what I'll do in Washington until I get there," but promised that he would be on the side of "the great mass of common people" and a fighter for "free speech, equal rights and justice for all."
In the general election, Shuler received 560,088 votes -- 25.8% of the total. He carried Riverside
and Orange Counties
, and his total vote count was only 100,000 fewer than the Republican candidate, Tubbs. Shuler's showing in the U.S. Senate campaign was the strongest ever by a Prohibition Party candidate, and led some to back him as the party's candidate for U.S. President in 1936.
After losing the election, Shuler reportedly pronounced a curse on the State of California, and some claimed that the March 1933 Long Beach earthquake
was the result of Shuler's curse.
in California's 12th Congressional District. Voorhis defeated Shuler by a margin of nearly 13,000 votes (53,705 to 40,780).
Shortly after the election, Shuler's problems with federal regulators returned. Having lost his broadcast license for KGEF, Shuler was broadcasting his weekly programs on KPAS in Pasadena. In early 1943, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) ordered KPAS to submit all tapes of Shuler's broadcasts. The FCC contended that Shuler's broadcasts hurt the war effort. Shuler was again taken off the air. He told the Los Angeles Times, "Well, I'd been going after the communists pretty hard -- and the labor racketeers and New Deal too. So all at once the Federal Communications Commission ordered the station to send in copies of all I'd been saying. The boys over there at the station are all right, but naturally they got jittery and canceled my time."
After the incident, Jerry Voorhis, against whom Shuler had run a tough campaign months earlier, rallied to Shuler's support. Voorhis wrote to the FCC disputing the contention that Shuler's comments were harmful to the war effort and argued that the FCC's threats of punitive action against stations carrying Shuler's program were an inappropriate restaint on free speech. In 1946, Voorhis was defeated for re-election by novice politician, Richard M. Nixon
, who accused Voorhis of having been endorsed by Communist front organizations.
Shuler died in 1965. He was survived by his wife, Nelle Shuler, and his six children—William R. Shuler, Robert P. Shuler, Jr., Edward H. Shuler, Phil R. Shuler, Dorothy Pitkin, and Nelle Fertig. Bill was the captain of the Army football team
in 1935 and was named an All-American
at the end position, while Robert Jr. assumed the Trinity Methodist Church pastorate after the elder Shuler's retirement.
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
and political figure. His radio broadcasts from his Southern Methodist
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...
church in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, during the 1920s and early 1930s attracted a large audience and also drew controversy with his attacks on politicians, police officials, Catholics, Jews and African Americans. In 1931, the Federal Radio Commission
Federal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934...
revoked Shuler's broadcast license. He ran for the United States Senate in 1932 on the Prohibition Party
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
ticket and attracted more than 500,000 votes.
Early years
Born in a log cabin in the Blue Ridge MountainsBlue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
of Tennessee, Shuler graduated from Emory and Henry College
Emory and Henry College
Emory & Henry College, known as E&H, Emory, or the College, is a private liberal arts college located in Emory, Virginia, United States. The campus comprises of Washington County, Virginia, which is part of the mountain region of Southwest Virginia...
in 1903 and was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, or Methodist Episcopal Church South, was the so-called "Southern Methodist Church" resulting from the split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church which had been brewing over several years until it came out into the open at a conference...
. He served as a pastor at churches in Virginia, Tennessee and Texas before moving west to California.
Pastor at Trinity Methodist Church in Los Angeles
It was in California that Shuler gained fame as the fiery pastor of Trinity Methodist Church, located at 1201 S. Flower St. in Downtown Los AngelesDowntown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
, from 1920 until 1953. Shuler acquired a wide following for his sermons and broadcasts in which he "thundered weekly against civic and moral evils," including gamblers, bootleggers, grafters, and above all corrupt politicians and police officials. From 1926-1932, Shuler operated radio station KGEF, which he said stood for "Keep God Ever First." He built the radio station at the site of Trinity Methodist Church, using funds donated by Methodist philanthropist Lizzie Glide, who also funded San Francisco's famous Glide Memorial Church
Glide Memorial Church
Glide Memorial Church is a church in San Francisco, California, affiliated with the United Methodist Church that opened in 1929. Although conservative until the 1960s, since then it has served as a counter-culture rallying point and has been one of the most prominently liberal churches in the...
. Shuler also published a magazine under the name "Bob Shuler's Magazine." At his peak, Shuler's congregation had 5,000 members, and his radio broadcasts reportedly had an audience of 600,000 Southern Californians and were heard from Mexico to Canada.
American Mercury wrote that Shuler had "built up the greatest political and social power ever wielded by a man of God since the days of Savonarola in Florence." One historical account described Shuler's influence as follows:
"Hyperbole aside, in the late 1920s and early 1930s, 'Fighting Bob' operated the most controversial religious radio station of all time. Politicians feared him, criminals avoided him, newspapers deplored him, and many ministers criticized him. But the public loved him, turning Shuler into a folk hero."
However, Shuler's controversial broadcasts also included attacks on Catholics, African Americans, Jews and on the President of the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
, for permitting evolution to be taught. During the 1928 Presidential election, with Catholic Alfred E. Smith running as the Democratic candidate, Shuler asserted that the Catholics were "plotting to murder Protestants in their beds." He also publicly defended the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. In June 1930, the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy feature story about Shuler under the headline: "Champion 'Ag'inner' of Universe Is Shuler: Belligerent Local Pastor Holds All Records for Attacks Upon Everybody, Everything." The Times wrote: "Unless you have been attacked by Rev. 'Bob' Shuler, pastor of Trinty Methodist Church South, via radio, magazine, pulpit or pamphlet (25 cents per copy) you don't amount to much in Los Angeles." Shuler's targets included the Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles Public Library
The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of Los Angeles, California, United States. With over 6 million volumes, LAPL is one of the largest publicly funded library systems in the world. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the...
(for carrying books not fit to be read even in "heathen China or anarchistic Russia"), the YWCA (for conducting dances for girls "until the early hours of Sunday morning"), and other evangelists, including Billy Sunday
Billy Sunday
William Ashley "Billy" Sunday was an American athlete who, after being a popular outfielder in baseball's National League during the 1880s, became the most celebrated and influential American evangelist during the first two decades of the 20th century.Born into poverty in Iowa, Sunday spent some...
and Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson
Aimee Semple McPherson , also known as Sister Aimee, was a Canadian-American Los Angeles, California evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s. She founded the Foursquare Church...
.
Crusade Against Vice
Shuler used his pulpit to make popular attacks on corruption in city government, the spread of vice and crime in the city, and abuses by the police department. Shuler made common cause with other reform-minded Protestant clergymen (in a city that was predominantly Protestant), becoming president of the Ministerial Union. Schuler and other Protestant ministers active in the reform and anti-vice movements had applied direct political pressure on both the mayor and the Chief of Police.In 1923, Shuler went after Chief Louis D. Oaks
Louis D. Oaks
Louis D. Oaks served as the Chief of Police of the Los Angeles Police Department from April 22, 1922, when he succeeded James W. Everington, and August 1, 1923, when he was succeeded by ex-Berkeley, California Police Chief August Vollmer, a prominent criminologist.During his short reign as chief,...
of the Los Angeles Police Department
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
. Sworn to uphold the law, including Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, Oaks had a reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer who once was arrested in the backseat of an auto in the company of a half-naked woman and a bottle of contraband whiskey by San Bernadino. Shuler staked out a speakeasy
Speakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
and caught Chief Oaks leaving the establishment in an inebriated state accompanied by two women, neither of whom were his wife. After revealing publicly what he had seen (drinking being a crime during Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
), Oaks was ousted by Los Angeles Mayor George E. Cryer.
In 1929, Shuler focused his attacks on Cryer himself, whom Shuler branded as a "grafter" and the "chief exploiter," and whom he linked to the city's vice kingpin Charles H. Crawford
Charles H. Crawford
Charles H. Crawford was an American political figure. In the 1920s, his loosely organized crime syndicate in Los Angeles, California was known as the “City Hall Gang.” Crawford was reportedly a model for some of Raymond Chandler’s villains.-Early years:In the early 1900s, Crawford operated...
. Shuler's charges, made both on his radio station and in his magazine, led to a widely publicized libel lawsuit by Cryer against Shuler. The details of the Shuler libel suit were front page news in the Los Angeles Times for much of 1929. The jury found Shuler not guilty on one count and failed to reach a verdict on a second count.
KGEF license revocation
In November 1931, the Federal Radio CommissionFederal Radio Commission
The Federal Radio Commission was a government body that regulated radio use in the United States from its creation in 1926 until its replacement by the Federal Communications Commission in 1934...
revoked Shuler's broadcast license, and KGEF went off the air. KGEF was the second radio station to have its license revoked by the FRC. Shuler appealed the revocation, but the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed the decision. The court denounced the character of Shuler's broadcasts and declared that if such use of the airwaves were permitted, "radio will become a scourge and the nation a theater for the display of individual passions and the collision of personal interests." The U.S. Supreme Court denied Shuler's petition for a writ of certiorari, and his license revocation became final in February 1933. One of Shuler's recurring targets, the ACLU (which Shuler had regularly attacked for its "liberal" stands) supported Shuler's right to free speech and challenged the courts' decision to revoke his license. The Los Angeles Times, on the other hand, hailed the court's decision noting, "The final ruling of the courts putting an end to this nuisance is an occasion for general public felicitation."
1932 U.S. Senate campaign
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
candidate in the 1932 Senate election against Democrat William G. McAdoo and Republican Tallant Tubbs. The Los Angeles Times refused to endorse any of the three candidates, calling it "Hobson's choice
Hobson's choice
A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice is therefore between taking the option or not; "take it or leave it". The phrase is said to originate with Thomas Hobson , a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England...
" for voters, and criticizing Shuler for his "demagogic appeals to discontent." In a remarkable about-face, the Los Angeles Record endorsed Shuler on the day before the general election. The same newspaper had previously described Shuler as a "bigot," a "blatherskite," and an "apostle of hate." After a Shuler rally in Carlsbad, California
Carlsbad, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Carlsbad had a population of 105,328. The population density was 2,693.1 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Carlsbad was 87,205 White, 1,379 African American, 514 Native American, 7,460 Asian, 198 Pacific Islander, 4,189 from other...
, a San Diego County newspaper wrote that any who expected to hear a man with disheaveled hair, wildly gleaming eyes and of radical mien and action," were surprised to hear "an average man, who spoke with a convincing earnesteness." Shuler called Tubbs "a rich playboy" and McAdoo "the freest spender of the government's and the people's money in the history of government." Shuler freely admitted "I don't know what I'll do in Washington until I get there," but promised that he would be on the side of "the great mass of common people" and a fighter for "free speech, equal rights and justice for all."
In the general election, Shuler received 560,088 votes -- 25.8% of the total. He carried Riverside
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
and Orange Counties
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, and his total vote count was only 100,000 fewer than the Republican candidate, Tubbs. Shuler's showing in the U.S. Senate campaign was the strongest ever by a Prohibition Party candidate, and led some to back him as the party's candidate for U.S. President in 1936.
After losing the election, Shuler reportedly pronounced a curse on the State of California, and some claimed that the March 1933 Long Beach earthquake
1933 Long Beach earthquake
The Long Beach earthquake of 1933 took place on March 10, 1933 at 17:55 PST , with a magnitude of 6.4, causing widespread damage to buildings throughout Southern California. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach on the Newport-Inglewood Fault. An estimated fifty million dollars worth...
was the result of Shuler's curse.
1942 U.S. Congressional campaign and FCC censorship claims
In 1942, Shuler returned to politics and received the joint nomination of the Republican and Prohibition Parties as their candidate to oppose Democratic incumbent Congressman Jerry VoorhisJerry Voorhis
Horace Jeremiah "Jerry" Voorhis was a Democratic politician from California. He served five terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1937 to 1947, representing the 12th Congressional district in Los Angeles County...
in California's 12th Congressional District. Voorhis defeated Shuler by a margin of nearly 13,000 votes (53,705 to 40,780).
Shortly after the election, Shuler's problems with federal regulators returned. Having lost his broadcast license for KGEF, Shuler was broadcasting his weekly programs on KPAS in Pasadena. In early 1943, the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) ordered KPAS to submit all tapes of Shuler's broadcasts. The FCC contended that Shuler's broadcasts hurt the war effort. Shuler was again taken off the air. He told the Los Angeles Times, "Well, I'd been going after the communists pretty hard -- and the labor racketeers and New Deal too. So all at once the Federal Communications Commission ordered the station to send in copies of all I'd been saying. The boys over there at the station are all right, but naturally they got jittery and canceled my time."
After the incident, Jerry Voorhis, against whom Shuler had run a tough campaign months earlier, rallied to Shuler's support. Voorhis wrote to the FCC disputing the contention that Shuler's comments were harmful to the war effort and argued that the FCC's threats of punitive action against stations carrying Shuler's program were an inappropriate restaint on free speech. In 1946, Voorhis was defeated for re-election by novice politician, Richard M. Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, who accused Voorhis of having been endorsed by Communist front organizations.
Retirement and family
In 1953, Shuler retired after 33 years as pastor at Trinity Methodist Church. In his final sermon, Shuler spoke out against the "German rationalism" and "modern materialism" that he believed was "wrecking the world." He summed up his ministry as follows:"I have kept the faith. I fought. I have been a scrapper for God. I have never laid my shield aside -- and I'm not doing it now, either.... As I come to the end of my ministry I can assure you that I have never swerved to the right or left of the fundamental Word of God."
Shuler died in 1965. He was survived by his wife, Nelle Shuler, and his six children—William R. Shuler, Robert P. Shuler, Jr., Edward H. Shuler, Phil R. Shuler, Dorothy Pitkin, and Nelle Fertig. Bill was the captain of the Army football team
Army Black Knights football
The Army Black Knights football program represents the United States Military Academy. Army was recognized as the national champions in 1944, 1945 and 1946....
in 1935 and was named an All-American
College Football All-America Team
The College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
at the end position, while Robert Jr. assumed the Trinity Methodist Church pastorate after the elder Shuler's retirement.