George Lincoln Rockwell

George Lincoln Rockwell was a man of contradictions, known to the world as the founder of the American Nazi Party but remembered by some who met him as polite and charming. Born in Bloomington, Illinois, on March 9, 1918, he was the son of two vaudeville performers, George "Doc" Rockwell and Claire Schade, who counted Groucho Marx and other Jewish entertainers among their friends. After his parents divorced when he was six, Rockwell had a difficult youth, splitting his time between Maine and New Jersey and experiencing physical and psychological abuse from an aunt. He briefly studied philosophy at Brown University before dropping out to join the U.S. Navy in 1941. He served as a pilot in World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of Commander. It was during his military service that he was introduced to National Socialism, reading Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and becoming obsessed with its ideology. Rockwell, a 49-year-old white man, was married twice and had seven children in total, though his political activities would estrange him from his family.

After his naval career, Rockwell dedicated himself to promoting his extremist views. In 1959, he founded the American Nazi Party (ANP) in Arlington, Virginia, establishing a headquarters that became a notorious local landmark. From this base, he advocated for the deportation of all Black people to Africa and the sterilization of Jewish people. Rockwell and his uniformed followers, known as "storm troopers," became a visible and jarring presence, picketing theaters showing the film "Exodus," heckling Civil Rights demonstrators, and protesting school integration at Arlington school board meetings. He gained national notoriety through media stunts and inflammatory rhetoric, coining the slogan "White Power!" and running for governor of Virginia in 1965. Just before his death, he renamed the party the National Socialist White People's Party in an attempt to broaden its appeal.

The afternoon of Friday, August 25, 1967, found Rockwell engaged in a mundane task. Shortly before noon, he drove his 1958 blue-and-white Chevrolet to the Econ-o-Wash laundromat in the Dominion Hills shopping center on Wilson Boulevard, not far from his party's "barracks." After a brief stop inside, he told an employee he needed to get some bleach from his car. As Rockwell returned to his vehicle and sat in the driver's seat, two shots were fired from the rooftop of the shopping center. The bullets tore through the car's windshield, striking him in the head and chest. The car rolled forward, hitting another vehicle, as Rockwell collapsed. He died almost instantly from a gunshot wound to the heart, found splayed in the parking lot next to a box of Ivory Snow soap and a copy of the New York Daily News.

Arlington police responded quickly, but Rockwell was pronounced dead at the scene. The investigation did not lead to an anti-Nazi activist or an external enemy, but to a disgruntled member of Rockwell's own inner circle. Within 30 to 45 minutes of the shooting, police arrested John Patler, 29, about a mile away. Patler, a former Marine, had been a high-ranking "captain" in the ANP and had served as an editor and cartoonist for the party's magazine, "The Storm Trooper." However, Rockwell had expelled him from the party in April 1967 for alleged "Bolshevik leanings" and for creating dissension among the members.

The motive for the assassination was believed to be revenge for Patler's expulsion. Prosecutors built a circumstantial case against him, also alleging that he had been behind a previous, unsuccessful attempt on Rockwell's life at his home in June 1967. Patler was charged with murder, and his trial captivated the community that had long been uneasy with the Nazi party's presence.

In December 1967, a jury found John Patler guilty of first-degree murder. The court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. He was granted parole and released in August 1975 after serving eight years of his sentence. He later violated his parole and was returned to prison for another six years. Throughout his legal appeals, which were all unsuccessful, Patler never publicly admitted to killing George Lincoln Rockwell.

The aftermath of Rockwell's death was as controversial as his life. The Pentagon refused to allow his burial at Culpeper National Cemetery because his followers insisted on wearing their swastika armbands at the service. His body was returned to the party headquarters and was cremated during a secret Nazi ceremony the following day. His death marked a turning point for the American Nazi movement; his party splintered into various successor groups, though his influence on far-right extremism persisted for decades. The case is considered solved and closed with the conviction of John Patler.