Rockwell, George Lincoln

(1918–1967)

   Rockwell was a major figure in the neo-Nazi movement in the postwar United States, and his beliefs and writings have continued to be influential among white nationalists and neo-Nazis. More than any other neo-Nazi personality, Rockwell was able to develop a strategy that bridged the transition from National Socialism to a form of Nazi ideology that was more politically viable in the United States. Rockwell redefined “white” to mean anyone not born black or a Jew, thus opening his movement to a wider pool of potential recruits. It was Rockwell who, in countering the Black Power movement, coined the slogan “White Power.” In 1959, he founded the American Nazi Party (ANP), which, despite early notoriety, never gained a national following. Rockwell was murdered in Arlington, Virginia, on 25 August 1967 by John Patler, a member of the ANP and captain of his “storm troopers.”