Socialist Party of America

The Socialist Party of America was a socialist political party in the United States. It was formed in 1901 by a merger between the Social Democratic Party of Eugene V. Debs, formed three years earlier by veterans of the Pullman Strike of the American Railway Union, and a wing of the older Socialist Labor Party of America.

Electoral campaigns

From 1904 to 1912, the Socialist Party ran Eugene Debs for president. The best showing ever for a Socialist ticket was in 1912, when Debs polled 6% of the popular vote. In 1920 Debs ran again, this time from prison, where he was serving time for opposing American involvement in World War I.

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The Socialist Party did not run a presidential candidate in 1924, but joined the American Federation of Labor and railroad brotherhoods in support of the Progressive Party's candidate, Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. of Wisconsin. In 1928, the Socialist Party returned as an independent electoral entity under the leadership of Norman Thomas, a founder of the American Civil Liberties Union. Thomas would remain the party's presidential candidate and leader until after World War II.

Related Topics:
1924 - American Federation of Labor - Progressive Party - Robert M. La Follette, Sr. - 1928 - Norman Thomas - American Civil Liberties Union - World War II

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