[citation needed] McCalden first became involved in politics as a member of the National Front, where he became editor of the party newspaper Nationalist News.

After meeting neo-nazi and Holocaust denier[1] Willis Carto, the two men founded the Institute for Historical Review, of which McCalden was appointed Director and Editor-in-Chief (although he generally operated under the name Lewis Brandon in these roles).

[citation needed] In 1980, acting as "Lewis Brandon" and on behalf of the IHR, McCalden offered a $50,000 reward for proof that Jews were gassed to death in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp.

After McCalden declined an acceptance by Auschwitz survivor Mel Mermelstein, a lawsuit was filed by public interest attorney William John Cox.

[4] On 15 October 1990, at the age of 39, McCalden died in El Segundo, California, from complications due to viral pneumonia caused by AIDS.