In the United States, fascist political ideology dates back over a century, with roots in white supremacy, white nationalism, nativism, xenophobia, and far-right political extremism. It has received less scholarly attention than fascism in Europe, particularly in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Scholars say that far-right authoritarian movements have been a part of the politics of the United States for a long time.

Contributors to Fascism in America: Past and Present have traced the history of fascism in the United States to early 20th-century movements including the Ku Klux Klan and domestic proto-fascist organizations that emerged during the Great Depression. Alongside homegrown movements, German-backed political organizations worked to influence U.S. public opinion toward the Nazi cause during World War II. After the U.S.'s formal declaration of war against Germany, the U.S. Treasury Department raided the German American Bund's headquarters and arrested its leaders. Both during and after World War II, Italian anti-fascist activists and other anti-fascist groups played a role in confronting these ideologies. Ideologies associated with American fascist factions include Christian nationalism, Christian supremacy, homophobia, antisemitism, and Nazism.

Events such as the 2017 Charlottesville rally have demonstrated the persistence of racism, antisemitism, and white supremacy within U.S. society. The resurgence of fascist rhetoric in contemporary U.S. politics, particularly under the administration of President Donald Trump, has highlighted the endurance of far-right ideologies, and it has also rekindled debate about the history of fascism in the United States.

Early origins The origins of fascism in the United States date back to the 19th century with roots in slavery in the Antebellum South and the Confederate States of America, the subsequent passage of Black Codes and Jim Crow laws in the American South, the rise of the eugenics movement in the U.S., and the intensification of nativist and xenophobic hostility toward immigrants. During the early 20th century, several groups that have been classified as fascist organizations by contemporary historians were formed in the United States—a prominent organization is the Ku Klux Klan.

Early Proto-Fascist Movements

While it is impossible to classify early nativist movements in the United States, such as the Native American Party of 1845 and the Know Nothings, as being outright fascist because their existence predated the invention of the term "fascism" by decades, many of their beliefs strongly aligned with the tenets of fascism. The Know Nothings glorified the Protestant Anglo-Saxon cultural, racial, and religious identity of the United States, which they believed was under attack from the mass influx of immigrants who were different from them. In accordance with their nativist policies, mainly defined by an "us versus them" mentality, the Know Nothings demonized Catholics and immigrants, and they also called for their removal from both the public and professional spheres. Furthermore, the Know Nothing movement's heavy-handed approach to intimidation, often through the use of violence, mirrored the methods which fascists would employ in the future.

Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), commonly known as "the Klan", is an American white supremacist and far-right extremist organization founded in 1865 during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era in the American South.

Scholars have characterized the Klan as America's first terrorist group,Fergus Bordewich. (2023). Klan War: Ulysses S Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction. Penguin Random House comparing its emergence to the rise of fascist trends in Europe. Historian Peter Amann argued that "Undeniably, the Klan had some traits in common with European fascism—chauvinism, racism, a mystique of violence, an affirmation of a certain kind of archaic traditionalism—yet their differences were fundamental. ... [The KKK] never envisioned a change of political or economic system."

The first Klan, founded by Confederate veterans, assaulted and murdered politically active Black people and their white political allies in the Southern United States. The second Klan was formed in 1915 as a small group in Georgia and it flourished nationwide by the mid-1920s.

Inter-war period While the rise of fascism in Europe during the interwar period raised concerns, European fascist regimes were largely viewed positively by the American ruling class. This was because fascist interpretations of ultranationalism allowed a nation to gain a significant amount of economic influence in the Western world and permitted a nation's government to destroy leftists and labor movements.

Supporters of Italian fascism

During the 1920s, American scholars frequently wrote about the rise of Italian fascism under Benito Mussolini, but few of them supported it. Mussolini's fascist policies initially gained widespread support among Italian Americans.John P. Diggins, Mussolini and Fascism: The View from America (Princeton University Press, 1972).Francesca De Lucia, "The Impact of Fascism and World War II on Italian-American Communities." Italian Americana 26.1 (2008): 83–95 online.

William Phillips, the American ambassador to Italy, was "greatly impressed by the efforts of Benito Mussolini to improve the conditions of the masses" and found "much evidence" in support of the fascist argument that "they represent a true democracy in as much as the welfare of the people is their principal objective."

Phillips found Mussolini's achievements "astounding [and] a source of constant amazement" and greatly admired his "great human qualities." United States Department of State officials enthusiastically agreed with Phillips's assessment, praising Italian fascism for having "brought order out of chaos, discipline out of license, and solvency out of bankruptcy," as well as Mussolini's "magnificent" achievements in Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

The American poet Ezra Pound moved from the United States to Italy in 1924, becoming a loyal supporter of Benito Mussolini. He wrote articles and produced radio broadcasts critical of the United States, international bankers, Franklin Roosevelt, and the Jews. His propaganda was poorly received in the U.S.Victor C. Ferkiss, "Ezra Pound and American Fascism." Journal of politics 17.2 (1955): 173–197.

In November 1925, the Order Sons of Italy in America helped organize the first U.S. fascist convention in Philadelphia. The goal of the convention was "setting up Fascist infiltration into political organizations and mutual aid societies so as to create friendly ties and spiritual agreement". After World War II, the organization faced criticism for the "heavy involvement by the OSIA in Mussolini's Fascist propaganda campaign in the 1920s and 1930s"."ITALIAN AMERICANS." Multiculturalism in the United States : A Comparative Guide to Acculturation and Ethnicity. Westport, CT: GREENWOOD PRESS, 2005.

American Legion According to historian William Pencak: Veterans and their role in American society were extremely controversial in the twenties and thirties, both because of actual issues such as the Bonus or veterans’ support for defense expenditures, but also because critics saw in the American Legion a mirror of the powerful fascist movements in Europe, such as the Nazis in Germany and Fascists in Italy. The comparison reflected fear more than rationality: the Legion had no need or desire to overthrow the government. It was able to achieve nearly all its goals through traditional political channels and strongly supported constitutional authority. Its members did not wear military uniforms (only the familiar caps), elected its officers through democratic means—although as in all associations, an active elite ran the show—and had black, Catholic, and Jewish members. It boasted of Jewish national chaplains and Catholic national commanders. . . .The Legion’s anti-radical program was typical of conservatives throughout American history, who . . . rarely concerned themselves with the rights of union organizers or socialist ‘‘agitators’’ despite the formal constitutional protections.William Pencak, ed. Encyclopedia of the Veteran in America (2000) vol 1, pp. xxxvii-xxxviii.

While one would be remiss to paint the contemporary American Legion as a bastion of fascism, its early history showed individual leaders who saw a similarity with early fascist movements. Initially founded in Paris in 1919 by American soldiers who were returning to the United States after the First World War, it became an advocacy group which lobbied on behalf of veterans.

In 1922, the year Mussolini became prime minister in Italy—but before he became a dictator--, Alvin Owsley, the National Commander of the American Legion, stated that the Legion was a staunch opponent of communist and socialist movements. While he was claiming that he was defending American values such as liberty and freedom, Owsley also stated that, “Should the day ever come when they menace the freedom of our representative government, the Legion would not hesitate to take things into its own hands - to fight the 'reds' as the Fascisti of Italy fought them.” While the statement itself does not declare the Legion as outright fascist, his subsequent comment that, “ …the Fascisti are to Italy what the American Legion is to the United States. And that Mussolini, the new premier, was the commander of the Legion - the ex-servicemen of Italy…” served as an endorsement and unofficial outreach to Mussolini.

Years later, Commander John McQuigg (1925–26) stated, “The Fascisti are the Legionnaires of Italy. Their aims and ideals, though not their methods, are identical”.Hopely, Gregory S. (2020). Against the Class and the Masses: The American Legion, The American Federation of Labor, and Square Deal Americanism in the 1920s [Master's thesis]. Rowan University. {Link: Retrieved from Against the classes and the masses: The American Legion, the American Federation of Labor, and Square Deal Americanism in the 1920s} These comments could be dismissed as overly enthusiastic personal opinions of a few prominent individuals within the Legion. However the American Legion did extend several invitations to Mussolini to address its conventions.

The American Legion was unable to receive support from Mussolini. It enticed the Italian government to send Ambassador Giacomo De Martino to represent Italy at a Legion convention in 1931, where the National Executive passed a resolution in which it conveyed its support of Mussolini’s policies. Its national vice commander, Colonel William Esterwood, visited Italy to bestow an honorary American Legion membership upon him in 1935. By this point fascism’s initial allure had begun to wane, and this move by the Legion proved unpopular with many members, leading to the Legion's cancellation of the membership. By the mid-1930s the American Legion’s rejected any support of fascist regimes.

Black Legion

In 1925, Virgil Effinger established the paramilitary Black Legion, a violent white supremacist offshoot of the KKK that sought to establish fascism in the United States by launching a revolution against the federal government. The Black Legion was active in the Midwest in the 1920s and 1930s, growing to prominence during the Great Depression. The FBI estimated its membership numbered "135,000, including a large number of public officials, including Detroit's police chief." Historians have suggested lower estimates.