Mr. Jenner. Where was the John Birch—was there a chapter or headquarters in Dallas?
Mr. Weissman. There are several chapters in Dallas; yes. And as far as I can recollect, that is as far as we went.
Representative Boggs. What did you hope to accomplish by this infiltration, as you call it?
Mr. Weissman. Well, I will be very blunt.
Representative Boggs. That is what I would like for you to be.
Mr. Weissman. We were, you might say—at least I personally—this is my reason—I was sick and tired of seeing America as a weak sister all the time. And this is especially in the field of foreign affairs, where it seemed that our administration, whether it is the Eisenhower or the Kennedy administration, both of them, had no set, stable foreign policy. We were constantly losing ground all over the world. We were going to conference tables with everything to lose and nothing to gain, and coming away by losing.
And we hoped by developing a powerful political organization we could exert some influence on the government and eventually even put, you might say, our man in the White House, let's say, in order to obtain a stable policy—because we felt that the Communists were gaining ground all over the place, we were doing nothing but losing.
Representative Boggs. Did you have a candidate for the Presidency?
Mr. Weissman. Excuse me?
Representative Boggs. Did you have a candidate—you said your man.