private organization founded in the United States on Dec. 9, 1958, by Robert H.W. Welch, Jr. (1899–1985), a retired Boston candy manufacturer, for the purpose of combating communism and promoting various ultraconservative causes. The name derives from John Birch, an American Baptist missionary and U.S. Army intelligence officer who was killed by Chinese communists on Aug. 25, 1945, making him, in the society's view, the first hero of the Cold War. The society publishes the biweekly magazine The New American and the JBS Bulletin, a monthly newsletter for members. The Blue Book (1959; also published as The Blue Book of the John Birch Society), a transcript of Welch's presentation at the organization's founding meeting in 1958, outlines the nature and purposes of the society. Its headquarters are in Appleton, Wis.