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Chapter 14
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in It Can’t Happen Here, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
American Fascism
Liberalism and Tolerance
Morality and Resistance
Political Communication and Mass Media
Summary
Analysis
In an epigraph from Zero Hour, Windrip writes that he’s just a normal, humble man who prefers to avoid conflict—except when he has to defend the people against evils, like the big Sangfrey River utility company. The chapter begins two weeks before the inauguration, with Windrip announcing his cabinet. He starts with Lee Sarason as Secretary of State, the tax-evading banker Webster R. Skittle as Secretary of the Treasury, and Colonel Osceola Luthorne as Secretary of War (even though his title is honorary and he has no actual military experience). Bishop Prang and Father Coughlin both turn down posts in the government, but Dr. Macgoblin will fill a new position, Secretary of Education and Public Relations, and Senator Porkwood will be Attorney General.
To no one’s surprise, Windrip fills his cabinet with his unqualified campaign advisors. This sends a clear message to all Americans: Windrip will reward loyalty with power. He does not care about his appointees’ experience, competence, or commitment to public service, but only whether they consistently support him and his choices. This is a sinister way to set up a dictatorship: it ensures that nobody in the government is likely to disagree with Windrip—and anyone who does can never get enough power to challenge him. Finally, Hector Macgoblin’s curious new job shows how controlling information is one of fascist regimes’ strongest tools for controlling the population. His new job essentially combines education and public relations into a department of propaganda.
Themes
Windrip appoints his “embarrassing friends and enemies” to faraway ambassadorships: he sends the writer Upton Sinclair to Britain, the businessman Milo Reno to France, and the nationalistic Mississippi Senator Bilbo to Russia. Mrs. Adelaide Tarr Gimmitch demands a cabinet position but ends up in Hollywood writing movies instead. As a joke, Windrip offers Franklin D. Roosevelt the ambassadorship to Liberia. Roosevelt turns down the offer and even skips Windrip’s inauguration, which thousands of journalists and visitors from all around the world attend. Windrip arrives in his old car, leading a procession of veterans and Minute Men.
Windrip quickly identifies which supporters will continue to serve his interests and which may turn against him or cause him trouble in the future. More specifically, he ostracizes all of the followers who sincerely believed in his political message—like Sinclair (who wanted wealth redistribution) and Gimmitch (who wanted to rejuvenate the national spirit through patriotic songs and senseless wars). In contrast, the followers he rewards care more about money and power than ideology. Thus, Windrip’s actions make it clear that all of his promises on the campaign trail were just a ploy to gain power—which he plans to use however he likes, with no regard for anyone else.
Themes
After taking the oath of office, Windrip promises to give the people “the real New Deal” and “a whale of a good time.” Then, he moves into the White House, immediately declares the Minute Men to be a new branch of the Army, and orders the government to arm them. The next morning, Windrip demands that Congress pass a bill to give him absolute control over legislation, law enforcement, and the courts. When it refuses, Windrip declares martial law and orders the Minute Men to arrest the dissenting congresspeople.
Windrip doesn’t just take power—he launches a coup d’état, overthrowing the U.S.’s democratic system and replacing it with a one-man dictatorship. He ensures that government institutions are loyal to him personally, not to the people or the Constitution, like they’re supposed to be. Worst of all, by making the Minute Men part of the army, he ensures that his decisions will always be loyally implemented, and that nobody can expel him from office through force.
Themes
Riots break out across the country. A mob of Black activists clashes with Minute Men outside the D.C. jail—two shots ring out and hit the Minute Men. Then, Windrip gives an impassioned speech ordering Minute Men across the country to kill anyone who gets in their way. The Minute Men massacre the mob in D.C. The rest of Congress assembles and passes Windrip’s bill—which the Supreme Court can’t stop, because its members are under house arrest.
Readers may not have expected the atrocities to start so soon—Doremus Jessup certainly didn’t. But by writing these massacres into his novel, Lewis tries to shock his American readers out of their complacency. He underlines how dangerous the U.S. president’s powers would be in the wrong hands, how difficult it would be to stop a dictator once they are already in the White House, and how dangerous it is to fight for democracy under an authoritarian regime that refuses to protect democratic rights and freedoms.
Themes
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When Bishop Prang starts questioning Windrip’s coup, his broadcast rights get cancelled, so he visits D.C. to talk with Windrip. Within a day, he’s in jail, supposedly for his own protection. (So are many journalists.) A quarter of Prang’s Indiana hometown travels to D.C. to protest, but when they arrive, they learn that Prang has gone mad and been locked up in an asylum. He’s never heard from again. Meanwhile, loyal Minute Men start to arrest and kill disloyal squadrons who refuse to do things like arrest treasonous nuns. General Emmanuel Coon even gives up his progressive politics when Windrip puts him in charge of the army. At his first major speech, Windrip warns the public about the country’s “powerful and secret enemies” and praises dictatorship. The country still loves him—and he has only been in office for eight days.
Prang’s disappearance again demonstrates that Windrip has no qualms about betraying his followers, even as he demands absolute loyalty from them. Without checks and balances on his power, Windrip can do absolutely anything he wants—including empowering his followers to terrorize the population. By presenting this terrorism as a necessary war against “powerful and secret enemies,” he carefully blurs the distinction between his own interests and the public interest. In other words, he encourages the public to view whatever he decides to do as the best course of action for the country (and therefore elect not to challenge it). Thus, Lewis shows his readers that, under a dictatorship, there is no rule of law anymore: nobody can be sure that they will remain safe and free if they follow the rules (or be punished if they break them).
Themes
