So while making it appear that their grievances were solely with Vance, the mutineers also proceeded to attack the Executive Committee as being in Vance’s pocket. This was a great injustice to men who had served the Society selflessly for years and who had collectively invested well over two million dollars in moving the Society ahead.
During his 14 years as CEO, Vance had managed to hold the confidence of such Executive Committee stalwarts as Thomas N. Hill (Mr. Welch’s right-hand man during the Society’s first 25 years), Joseph P. Grinnan, the Hon. Clyde R. Lewis, and Dr. Philip E. Binzel, Jr.
The mutineers attacked the Executive Committee so that the JBS Board of Incorporators would have a pretext to intervene, supersede the established authority of the Executive Committee, and choose, in effect, new leadership for the Society. The men who sat on this corporate board were either employees or in one case a former employee.
Never in the history of The John Birch Society had a JBS leader been so replaced. It was totally contrary to the procedure that Robert Welch had established for succession: Larry McDonald was chosen by the Executive Committee; A. Clifford Barker was chosen by the Executive Committee; Charles R. Armour was so chosen, as was G. Allen Bubolz, and, yes, G. Vance Smith.
But the new JBS leaders were selected in effect (actually through an intermediate Board of Directors) by the employees on the JBS Board of Incorporators, who selected two of their own to be the President and Vice President of the Society. The Executive Committee was effectively neutered, and the new leaders now have virtually no accountability.
Of additional concern, these new officers had no experience in successful business management, were ill-equipped to lead, and, amazingly, seemed little inclined to do so. None of those who now have the titles have been willing to relocate to Appleton to carry out their sought-after leadership responsibility. Essentially, they have left the Society without any strong leadership at the top.
Equally disturbing, the new team has jeopardized the future leadership succession of the Society. They have not only neutered the established role of the Executive Committee in choosing the Society’s leader, but they have also made it virtually impossible to develop the next generation of qualified Birch leaders because of the short time they have left to serve. Among the three new officers, the youngest is 68 and the oldest is 73.
Historically, the Society has drawn on the stream of new young talent with experience in volunteer leadership positions for its staff and even its top leaders. But that pool has been drying up. The former JBS management was grappling with that problem when the coup occurred. In one fell swoop, the coup added to the problem by casting aside two of the Society’s top leaders, to be replaced by an absentee leadership.
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