the populist, progressive Ku Klux Klan

The original Ku Klux Klan, formed after the War of Rebellion to impose white supremacy in the defeated south, was significantly different from the organization that rose to great power in the 1920s. As historian Linda Gordon explains in her new book, the second Klan was strong in the north and west and broadened its appeal by aligning with other movements. The KKK targeted Catholics and Jews as well as blacks; it supported Prohibition and women's suffrage; it joined evangelical Christians in denouncing the theory of evolution; its rituals were similar to many other fraternal organizations that also mushroomed in the 1920s.In my homestate of Colorado, the Klan helped elect the governor and several congressmen, but was also seen as reformist and against the power elite.

The second Klan had political power. It claimed 26 governors and 62% of the members of Congress. Gordon thinks those numbers are exaggerated, but the group was viewed by politicians as powerful. None of the presidents from Wilson to Hoover ever condemned the organization. Its greatest legislative triumph was passage of the 1924 immigration law that barred Asians and largely restricted entry to people from northern and western Europe.

The Klan rose fast and fell fast. By the end of the 1920s several leaders had been discredited by highly publicized crimes, including rape, murder, and embezzlement. The membership plunged. In the south, of course, Jim Crow laws stayed on the books and were vigorously enforced.