A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions, or nations - Henry Wallace

Hello, I am Henry Wallace, and I once said, “A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions, or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.” Today, I want to explore the meaning of this statement, how it applied during my time, and why it remains strikingly relevant today. When I made this statement, it was the 1940s, a time when the world was grappling with the horrors of fascism on a global scale. Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy had plunged the world into chaos, using propaganda, intolerance, and violence to achieve their goals of domination. But fascism was not merely a foreign threat. I recognized that its seeds could take root in any society, even in a democracy like the United States, if left unchecked. Fascism, I argued, was not confined to a single political system or nation—it was a mindset fueled by greed, intolerance, and a willingness to deceive and harm others to achieve power.