It Can't Happen Here characters

Appears from the start

The aging editor of the Daily Informer in Fort Beulah, Vermont. Liberal, skeptical, and more comfortable commenting than acting, he initially regards American dictatorship as an alarming possibility rather than an immediate certainty. His newspaper, family, and neighbors gradually force him to decide what resistance requires of an ordinary citizen.

Also known as Buzz Windrip

First appears in chapter 3

A charismatic senator seeking the presidency with sweeping promises of prosperity, national restoration, and protection for supposedly neglected ordinary Americans. His folksy performance masks an appetite for personal power and a program that treats dissent and minority rights as obstacles.

First appears in chapter 3

Windrip's polished political strategist and propagandist, credited with shaping both the candidate's public image and the movement's program. Intelligent, theatrical, and ambitious, he stands close to the center of the coming administration.

Appears from the start

A widow who runs a lodging house in Fort Beulah and has a long, intimate friendship with Doremus. Independent and politically alert, she sees the danger in Windrip more readily than many respectable townspeople and challenges Doremus's habit of detached observation.

Appears from the start

Doremus's wife, a patient and conventional presence at the center of the Jessup household. She values family security and familiar routines even as public events make private safety increasingly impossible.

Appears from the start

Doremus and Emma's energetic younger daughter. Quick-witted and less deferential than her elders, she is drawn to Julian Falck and refuses to treat national politics as something remote from her own future.

First appears in chapter 2

A young intellectual in Fort Beulah and Sissy's close companion. His serious concern about fascism gives political direction to youthful discontent that older residents often dismiss as talk.

Appears from the start

Doremus's resentful former handyman, embittered by his social position and eager for authority over people who once employed him. Windrip's movement offers him a uniform, status, and official scope for intimidation.

Appears from the start

Doremus's widowed daughter, living in Fort Beulah with her son David. Personal losses make her protective of her family, while the regime's violence steadily transforms her private anger into open resolve.

Appears from the start

A wealthy, blunt, self-reliant farmer and one of Doremus's oldest friends. His practical independence makes him resistant to mass enthusiasm and valuable to neighbors who need help beyond official channels.

First appears in chapter 2

A nationally popular radio preacher whose demands for moral and economic reform help prepare the public for Windrip's campaign. His mass following gives political weight to religious grievance.

First appears in chapter 16

A stern military figure within the new government. Less interested in Windrip's rustic showmanship than in discipline and command, he represents the armed, bureaucratic power behind the regime.

First appears in chapter 29

A labor organizer and communist whom Doremus encounters among the regime's prisoners. Ideologically certain but personally courageous, he becomes a companion in captivity despite deep political differences.