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A force of nature and her flim-flam man meet their mark. A true believer. The brilliant, amoral, and spectacularly bold Bessie Tyler and Edward Young Clarke--together, the Southern Publicity Association met the fervent William Joseph Simmons, saw an opportunity, and played on his many weaknesses. It was the volatile, precarious terrain of Post World War I America. Tyler and Clarke took Simmons's dying and broke KKK, with its 2,000 3,000 members in Georgia and Alabama, and in a few short years increased its membership to nearly five million. Chapters were established in every state of the union, and the Klan began influencing American political and social life. Between one-third and one-half of the eligible men in the country belonged to the organization.