The Black Legion, an even more radical KKK splinter group, enthusiastically supported Thomas Canfield's fascist 1932 presidential candidacy. After the election, Canfield secretly met with Virgil Effinger, the Legion's leader, and promised to turn the Legion into the armed wing of his future regime. 

Immediately after Canfield took office on March 4, 1933, the Black Legion was renamed to the Minutemen, and replaced its Klan-style uniforms with navy blue uniforms based on those of the Italian Blackshirts and the original Minutemen. Despite these changes, the Minutemen adopted the Klan motto, "One Hundred Percent Americanism", and their anthem was based on the song "We Are All Loyal Klansmen". 

Effinger became the second most powerful man in America, running the Minutemen as his virtual fiefdom and committing widespread atrocities in the name of "Americanism". Despite his power, Effinger never joined the Cabinet of the United States, and Attorney General Eugene Talmadge felt Effinger was usurping his authority. 

23,000 Minutemen fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of Francisco Franco's Nationalists, whose earlier victory led Franco to join the Axis powers in 1940. In 1938, the Revolutionary Mexicanist Action rose up against the socialist government of Lázaro Cárdenas, and received support from the United States. 

By 1942, Cárdenas' government had collapsed, turning Mexico into a fascist state led by Mexicanist leader Nicolás Rodríguez Carrasco. The Minutemen also fought in the Pacific War against the Empire of Japan, and played a key role in the suppression of the Makapili Rebellion. 

On November 6, 1955, weeks after Effinger's death, the Blackshirts were disbanded and integrated into the regular US military. 

It Can Happen Here | Minutemen (1933–1955)