My selections though this list needs further paring down  Just as Koch inherited his oil business from his father Americans for Prosperity borrows from the ultraright group also founded in part by his dad the John Birch Society  Conceived by Robert Welch and a small group of conservative industrialists including Fred Koch  Davids father and the namesake of the family firm of Koch Industries  the John Birch Society cloaked its probusiness anticivil rights agenda in the rhetoric of the Cold War  Cushioned with large donations from Koch and others the Birch Society helped propel Barry Goldwater to the Republican nomination in  and helped Republicans make gains in the congressional midterms of   Like Americans for Prosperity the John Birch Society rarely acknowledged its funding from the very rich Instead it depicted itself as a citizens group merely interested in American ideals of freedom Rather than argue the policy nuances of entitlement programs or new regulations the Birch Society marshaled opposition by depicting progressive reform as capitulation to the Soviet Union In that polarized environment the interests of millionaires suddenly became aligned with patriotic families who wanted to do their part against the communist threat  Shortly after the Birch Society faded David Koch founded Americans for Prosperity in  then known as Citizens for a Sound Economy authorBerkowitz Bill  locationOakland CA  He was introduced to conservative politics by his father a member of the advisory council of the fiercely anticommunist John Birch Society  And Charles Koch at his fathers request briefly joined the group  Fred Koch was a founder of the John Birch Society  a coven of anticommunists and intellectual louts The Koch brothers success allows them to further their fathers work They know well what money is how to make it and what it can do when focused on ruthless ideology  David and Charles had absorbed their fathers conservative politics and adopted the John Birch Societies interest in a school of Austrian economists who promoted freemarket ideals They were particularly influenced by the work of Friedrich von Hayek the author of The Road to Serfdom which argued that centralized government planning led inexorably to totalitarianism  For decades the Koch brothers billionaire heirs of one of the largest privately held companies in the United States have covertly sought to promote their hardright ideology through third parties think tanks foundations and front groups Their late father Fred having earned a fortune assisting the nascent Soviet oil industry eventually became a rightwing extremist and member of the John Birch Society  His sons especially David Koch  have not only expanded the family business but infiltrated their fathers political views into the mainstreamcite news  urlhttpdocsnewsbankcomopenurlctxverzrftidinfosidiwnewsbankcomAWNBNYOBrftvalformatinfoofifmtkevmtxctxrftdatDAEAAsvcdatInfoWebaggregatedreqdatFBEEADE  titleThe Billionaire RightWinger  dateAugust    agencyNew York Observer  accessdateDecember    authorConaso