Wikipoo lists 20 names - interestingly 15 are Democrat
Ku Klux Klan members in United States politics
Robert Byrd[edit]
Senator Robert Byrd was a Kleagle, a Klan recruiter, in his 20s and 30s.
Robert C. Byrd, was a recruiter for the Klan while in his 20s and 30s, rising to the title of Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. After leaving the group, Byrd spoke in favor of the Klan during his early political career. Though he claimed to have left the organization in 1943, Byrd, wrote a letter in 1946 to the group's Imperial Wizard stating "The Klan is needed today as never before, and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia." Byrd attempted to explain or defend his former membership in the Klan in his 1958 U.S. Senate campaign when he was 41 years old.[1] Byrd, a Democrat, eventually became his party leader in the Senate. Byrd later said joining the Klan was his "greatest mistake."[2] However, in a 2001 incident Byrd repeatedly used the phrase "white niggers" on a national television broadcast.[3]
Edward Douglass White[edit]
Supreme Court Chief Justice White
Edward Douglass White, a Democrat and the Chief Justice of the United States, was a known member of the KKK in his home state of Louisiana, where he had served as U.S. Senator.[4][5]
Hugo Black[edit]
Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black
In 1921, Hugo Black successfully defended E. R. Stephenson in his trial for the murder of a Catholic priest, Fr. James E. Coyle. Black, a Democrat, joined the Ku Klux Klan shortly afterwards, in order to gain votes from the anti-Catholic element in Alabama. He built his winning Senate campaign around multiple appearances at KKK meetings across Alabama. Late in life Black told an interviewer:
at that time, I was joining every organization in sight! ... In my part of Alabama, the Klan was not engaged in unlawful activities ... The general feeling in the community was that if responsible citizens didn't join the Klan it would soon become dominated by the less responsible members.[6]
News of his membership was a secret until shortly after he was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Black later said that joining the Klan was a mistake, but he went on to say, "I would have joined any group if it helped get me votes."
entire article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_in_United_States_politics
