There was a time in the 1960s when W. Cleon Skousen, who <a href='https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/deseretnews/name/w-skousen-obituary?id=29061381'>died in 2006</a> at 92, was a widely known and controversial conservative figure in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
<a href='https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=3116763&itype=CMSID'>Skousen</a> was a popular speaker, teacher and writer, whose books about scriptures reflected a literal, nonmodernist approach to the Bible.
He was a zealous anti-communist who freely mixed his Mormonism with his political views. He worked for a time as a special agent for the FBI and later as Salt Lake City’s police chief. His books — including “<a href='https://www.deseretbook.com/product/3592023.html?srsltid=AfmBOooaTHmgAN6HfxtzZkJ3K9GXPemNzTWCSZ61MF34SkF1Cf0vYGSZ'>The First 2,000 Years</a>” and “<a href='https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Communist-Exposing-Communism-Restoring/dp/1545402159'>The Naked Communist</a>” — became ubiquitous in Latter-day Saint homes as members grappled with the Cold War and predictions of an imminent apocalypse.
On this week’s show, Latter-day Saint historian <a href='https://benjaminepark.com/'>Benjamin Park</a>, who is working on a biography of Skousen, discusses the man’s early beginnings and why his works are finding an unexpected audience among President Donald Trump’s supporters today.

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Why this past LDS anti-communist zealot is relevant today | Episode 446

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