Lyndon LaRouche, the political extremist and conspiracy theorist who ran for president in eight consecutive national elections, died Tuesday, his political action committee confirmed. He was 96.
“Those who knew and loved Lyndon LaRouche know that humanity has suffered a great loss, and today we dedicate ourselves anew to bring to reality the big ideas for which history will honor him,” read a statement on the website of LaRouchePAC, which noted that LaRouche died on the birthday of former President Abraham Lincoln, whom he celebrated in his writings.
A native of Lynn, Massachusetts, LaRouche was a former member of the Socialist Workers Party who first ran for president in 1976 as a candidate of the U.S. Labor Party. In subsequent elections, LaRouche ran as either a Democratic or independent candidate. His final run for president took place in 2004.
LaRouche espoused several conspiracy theories, most notably that the International Monetary Fund was “engaged in mass murder” by spreading AIDS through its economic policies, that former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Vice President Walter Mondale were Soviet “agents of influence,” and that the Queen…
