William Regnery II

William H. Regnery II (born February 1941) is an American white nationalist[1] political activist and donor, and an heir to a multi-million dollar fortune. He is the founder of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist/supremacist think tank that has been credited with expanding the alt-right.

William H. Regnery II
BornFebruary 1941 (age 79)
EducationUniversity of Pennsylvania (did not graduate)
OccupationFundraiser
RelativesWilliam H. Regnery (paternal grandfather)
Henry Regnery (uncle)
Alfred S. Regnery (cousin)

Early life

William H. Regnery II was born in February 1941.[2] His paternal grandfather, William H. Regnery, was a "textile magnate, banker, and philanthropist in Chicago."[2] His uncle, Henry, in 1947 founded Regnery Publishing,[3] which the Regnery family sold in 1993.[4]

Regnery enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Political Science; however, he dropped out before graduation.[2] He was in charge of the family business "for only 15 months", but he was later sued by his family, who subsequently sold the business.[2]

Activism

While in college, Regnery was an active member of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.[2] He also worked on Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign.[2]

Regnery founded the Charles Martel Society, a non-profit organization based in Georgia, in 2001.[5][6] The organization publishes a racist and anti-semitic journal, The Occidental Quarterly.[7] According to the Associated Press, the society "raised $568,526 between 2007 and 2014" in tax deductible contributions.[6]

Regnery founded the National Policy Institute, an Identitarian[5] think tank now based in Alexandria, Virginia, in 2005. In 2011, he hired Richard B. Spencer to run it.[2]

Regnery is described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "a prime mover and shaker in white nationalism" and "famously reclusive".[8] They add that he has worked to organize and fund a racist and anti-semitic network of publishers, websites and groups.[3]

Personal life

Regnery resides in Boca Grande, Florida.[2]

According to George Hawley, an assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama, Regnery "seems to be the black sheep of the family, and he generally avoids the public spotlight."[5]

References
  1. CQ Press (2019). Issues for Debate in American Public Policy: Selections from CQ Researcher. CQ Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-1-5443-0397-0.
  2. Roston, Aram; Anderson, Joel (July 23, 2017). "The Moneyman behind the alt-right". BuzzFeed. Retrieved October 22, 2017.
  3. "William H. Regnery II". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  4. "About Regnery Publishing". Retrieved 2017-10-22.
  5. Hawley, George (2017). Making Sense of the Alt-Right. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 58–59. ISBN 9780231185127. OCLC 987742156. Despite its innocuous name, NPI has since its inception been a white-nationalist organization.
  6. "White nationalists raise millions with tax-free charities". Enterprise-Journal. McComb, Mississippi. December 22, 2016. p. A7. Retrieved October 24, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. The Georgia-based Charles Martel Society was founded by wealthy publisher William H. Regnery II, who also founded the National Policy Institute. The group raised $568,526 between 2007 and 2014 and publishes The Occidental Quarterly.
  7. "In the world of 'academic racism,' four groups play leading roles". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
  8. "All-White Dating Service Planned", Southern Poverty Law Center, Summer 2004
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.