Editing Charles Coughlin (section)

=== 1934 to 1936 ===
[[File:Elmer Thomas and Charles Coughlin on Time magazine 1934.jpg|thumb|Father Coughlin and Senator [[Elmer Thomas]] on the [[List of covers of Time magazine (1930s)|cover of ''Time Magazine'']] (1934)]]
In 1934, Coughlin founded the [[National Union for Social Justice (organization)|National Union for Social Justice]] (NUSJ), a nationalistic workers' rights organization. Its leaders were impatient with what they considered the Roosevelt's unconstitutional and pseudo-capitalistic [[Monetary policy|monetary policies]]. The NUSJ soon gained a strong following among [[Nativism (politics)|nativists]] and opponents of the Federal Reserve, especially in the [[Midwestern United States|American Midwest]].

By 1934, Coughlin was perhaps the most prominent Catholic speaker on political and financial issues. His radio audience included tens of millions of Americans every week. Historian [[Alan Brinkley]] wrote that "by 1934, he [Coughlin] was receiving more than 10,000 letters every day" and that "his clerical staff at times numbered more than a hundred."{{sfn|Brinkley|1983|p=119}} He foreshadowed modern [[talk radio]] and [[televangelism]].{{sfn|Sayer|1987|pp=17–30}} However, the [[University of Detroit Mercy]] states that ''Golden Hour's'' peak audience was in 1932.<ref name=coughlinbroadcast>{{Cite web |url=https://libraries.udmercy.edu/archives/special-collections/index.php?collectionSet=community&collectionCode=coughlin_cou&page=2 |title=An Historical Exploration of Father Charles e. Coughlin's Influence |access-date=August 9, 2020 |archive-date=January 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102195013/https://libraries.udmercy.edu/archives/special-collections/index.php?collectionSet=community&collectionCode=coughlin_cou&page=2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

It is estimated that at peak, one-third of the nation listened to his broadcasts.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ssa.gov/history/cough.html|title=Father Charles E. Coughlin|website=Social Security History|publisher=Social Security Administration|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=December 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214054259/https://www.ssa.gov/history/cough.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Golden Hour'' office was receiving up to 80,000 letters per week from listeners. Author Sheldon Marcus said that the size of Coughlin's radio audience "is impossible to determine, but estimates range up to 30 million each week".{{sfn|Marcus|1972|p=4}}

In 1934, Roosevelt sent Kennedy and Detroit Mayor [[Frank Murphy]] to visit Coughlin and try to temper his attacks.{{sfn|Brinkley|1983|p=127}} Coughlin visited Roosevelt several times at his estate in [[Hyde Park, New York|Hyde Park]], New York.<ref>{{cite book|author=JoEllen M Vinyard|title=Right in Michigan's Grassroots: From the KKK to the Michigan Militia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Sfkdhf3JwwC&pg=PA148|year=2011|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-05159-5|page=148|access-date=July 21, 2018|archive-date=January 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102195029/https://books.google.com/books?id=0Sfkdhf3JwwC&pg=PA148|url-status=live}}</ref> In a bid to control the excesses of the radio industry, Congress passed the [[Communications Act of 1934]], establishing the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC). FCC Chairman [[Frank R. McNinch]] warned that it would not allow broadcasters to use their networks or stations as “...an instrument of racial or religious persecution.”<ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=Doherty |first=Thomas |date=2021-01-21 |title=The Deplatforming of Father Coughlin |url=https://slate.com/technology/2021/01/father-coughlin-deplatforming-radio-social-media.html |access-date=2024-12-01 |work=Slate |language=en-US |issn=1091-2339}}</ref>

Coughlin's attacks on Roosevelt continued to increase. He began denouncing him as a tool of [[Wall Street]]. Coughlin opposed the New Deal with growing vehemence, attacking Roosevelt, capitalists and alleged Jewish conspirators. He encouraged the third-party candidacy of Louisiana Governor [[Huey Long]] for president in the 1936 election, but that was cut short by Long's assassination in 1935. Under Coughlin's direction, the NUSJ founded the [[Union Party (United States) | Union Party]] in preparation for the 1936 elections.