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==Background==
The phrase "Koch brothers" generally refers to the sons of [[Fred C. Koch]], a founding member of the [[right-wing]] [[John Birch Society]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Davis | first=Jonathan T. | title=Forbes Richest People: The Forbes Annual Profile of the World's Wealthiest Men and Women | year=1997 | publisher=Wiley | isbn=978-0-471-17751-7 | page=138 | quote=Founding member (1958) John Birch Society — reportedly after seeing Russian friends liquidated}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Hoover's 500: Profiles of America's Largest Business Enterprises | year=1996 | publisher=[[Hoover's|Hoover's Business Press]] | isbn=978-1-57311-009-9 | pages=286 | quote=In 1929 Koch took his process to the Soviet Union, but he grew disenchanted with Stalinism and returned home to become a founding member of the anticommunist John Birch Society.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Brothers at Odds. | author= | first=Leslie | last=Wayne | authorlink= | url= | agency= | newspaper=The New York Times | publisher= | location=NY | issn=0362-4331 | oclc= | pmid= | pmd= | bibcode= | doi= | id= | date=7 December 1986 | page=Sec. 6; Part 2, p 100 col. 1. | pages= | at= | accessdate= | language= | trans_title= | quote=He returned a fervent anti-Communist who would later become a founding member of the John Birch Society. | archiveurl= | archivedate= | ref=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Diamond | first1=Sara | authorlink1= | last2= | first2= | authorlink2= | editor1-first= | editor1-last= | editor1-link= | others= | title=Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States | trans_title= | url= | archiveurl= | archivedate= | accessdate= | type= | edition= | series= | volume= | date= | year=1995 | month= | origyear= | publisher=Guilford Press | location=NY | language= | isbn=0-89862-862-8 | oclc= | doi= | id= | page=324 n. 86. | pages= | at= | trans_chapter= | chapter= | chapterurl= | quote= | ref= | bibcode= | laysummary= | laydate= | separator= | postscript= | lastauthoramp=}}</ref>{{irrel}} Fred Koch's most politically active sons are [[Charles G. Koch]] and [[David H. Koch]] who bought out their brothers [[Frederick R. Koch|Frederick]] and [[Bill Koch (businessman)|Bill]] from Koch Industries in 1983.<ref>The brothers settled in 2001, in {{cite news|author=Kroll, Luisa|title=Billionaire Family Feuds: The High Stakes Of Dysfunction And Dissent|date=June 1, 2012|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/06/01/billionaire-family-feuds-the-high-stakes-of-dysfunction-and-dissent/|publisher=Forbes|accessdate=July 10, 2012}}</ref>
David H. Koch was a [[United States Libertarian Party|Libertarian]] Vice-Presidential candidate in 1980. He advocated the abolition of Social Security, the FBI, the CIA, and public schools.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Libertarians: Freedom to a Fault?|work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=Phil|last=Kerby|date=September 13, 1979|section=Metro|page=D1}}</ref><ref name="nytimes-dk-1984">{{cite news|title=Man Without a Candidate|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|authorlink=Charlotte Curtis|first=Charlotte|last= Curtis|date=1984-10-16}}</ref> Koch put $500,000 of his own money into the race,<ref name="nytimes-dk-1984"/> and he and [[Ed Clark]], his presidential running mate, won 1.1% of the vote—the best Libertarian showing in a U.S. presidential race to date.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reason.com/archives/2008/11/17/where-did-the-libertarian-part|title=Where Did the Libertarian Party Go Wrong?|first=Brian|last=Doherty|date=November 17, 2008|accessdate=September 9, 2011|work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]}}</ref> But the experience caused David Koch to change course: "I had enough," he said. "We are not a nation that debates issues. We vote on candidates' personalities." By 1984, David had parted company with the Libertarian Party, because, he said, "they nominated a ticket I wasn't happy with" and "so many of the hard-core Libertarian ideas are unrealistic."<ref name="nytimes-dk-1984"/> Since then, Charles and David Koch have adopted a much less visible strategy toward advancing their libertarian positions. Interested in maintaining their privacy, they prefer to spend on donations to non-profit groups who do not disclose donors.<ref name=Bykowicz />
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