Progressive Party (1948) , in some states The Independent Progressive Party is a left -wing political party that existed in 1948-1955 and was created by Henry Wallace , former Vice President of Franklin Roosevelt , and Idaho Senator Glen Taylor during the 1948 presidential campaign years .
| Progressive party | |
|---|---|
| Progressive party | |
| Established | 1948 |
| Dissolution date | 1955 |
| Headquarters | |
| Ideology | new nationalism , American progressivism , leftists (from social liberalism to democratic socialism ), pacifism |
| Allies and Blocks | American Labor Party and US Communist Party |
It is not connected with the pre-existing parties of the same name by Theodore Roosevelt and Robert Lafollet . Unlike these predecessor parties, the party received a small number of votes in the elections of 1948 and 1952 (2.37% or less than 1%). She did not even manage to become the “third” in the literal sense of the word, since in the presidential election of 1948, her candidate Wallace was somewhat ahead of the racist dictixrat Strom Turmond under the slogan “ Segregation Forever”.
Program
Henry Wallace’s ideal was characterized as “a convergent community combining the best aspects of“ American capitalism “,“ European socialism “and“ Russian communism “” [1] . The economic component of the Progressive Party platform was based on Keynesian ideas of stimulating demand and on the views of Torstein Veblen . It provided for a “mixed economy” and state planning, in line with the programs of the European left social democrats at the points of nationalization of the largest banks and individual monopolized industries. Wallace's political platform included end of segregation, full suffrage for African Americans and universal state health insurance. At that time, such a platform was unusual and ahead of its time. In the southern states, African Americans participated in the campaign along with whites. Wallace himself refused to speak to a segregated audience and stop in places where segregation was supported.
Institution
The backbone of the party was the left wing of the Democratic Party - the Progressive Citizens of America (PGA) organization, formed in December 1946 through the merger of the Civil Political Action Committee (NGKPD) and the Independent Civil Committee of Science, Arts and Free Professions (NGKNDI). The PGA actively opposed the unfolding Cold War and for rapprochement with the USSR, which distinguished it from another left-liberal group in the Democratic Party, Americans for Democratic Action, which adhered to an interventionist and anti - communist orientation.
The founding congress of the Progressive Party July 23-25, 1948 in Philadelphia was attended by 3,240 delegates from all 48 states. The composition of progressive representation reflected the social structure of the movement as a whole. The average age of the delegates was 20 years lower than at the congresses of Republicans and Democrats. Women made up one third of the participants in the convention, trade union members 35% 20% were war veterans, 21% - people of free professions, 9% - small entrepreneurs.
Composition and support
The progressive party united mainly the circles of liberal intelligentsia and left-wing trade unions. This "third" party was supported by prominent representatives of science and art: Albert Einstein , William Dubois , Norman Mailer , Paul Robson , Rockwell Kent , Pete Seeger , Linus Pauling , Thomas Mann , Arthur Miller , Howard Fast , Clifford Odets , Lewis Milestone , Albert Malz , George Antale , Larry Adler , Sam Jaffe , Aaron Copland , Uta Hagen , Burl Ives , Judy Holliday , Lee Jay Cobb , Lilian Hellman , John Houston , Dashil Hammett , I.F. Stone , Artie Shaw , Frank Lloyd Wright , Anne Revir . The progressive party was also supported by representatives of the small left flank of the American political mainstream, including Democratic Party member Eleanor Roosevelt , widow of Franklin Roosevelt, and former Republican Party member Vito Marcantonito, fellow member of Fiorello La Guardia .
Wallace's candidacy was supported by the small American Labor Party , as well as the US Communist Party . However, support for the latter rather hurt Wallace due to the outbreak of the Cold War and anti-communist hysteria (from which McCarthyism developed). Progressists began to be blamed for allegedly being led by Communist leaders William Z. Foster and Eugene Dennis .
Election Participation
At first, the Progressive Party could count on the voices of many New Deal supporters who were unhappy with the more conservative Harry Truman . Opinion polls predicted Wallace from 11% to 18% of the vote. Therefore, Presidential Aide Clark Clifford turned to Truman with a memorandum, proposing to neutralize the progressives with two different tactics: in domestic politics - a more leftist and populist program that takes into account the interests of workers, farmers and African Americans, and in foreign policy - inciting hostility towards the Soviet Union, exposing the peace-loving Wallace his puppet. This was facilitated by the actions of the USSR itself, which strengthened its control over Eastern Europe and established a blockade of West Berlin. In the atmosphere of chauvinism, suspicion and persecution of dissidents (the second “ Red Hysteria ”) in the USA, the election campaign of the Progressive Party was hampered.
As a result, the number of votes for the progressive candidate (2.37%) turned out to be lower than the most pessimistic forecasts, which meant a serious defeat of the antiwar and leftist movements. At the same time, half of the 1,157 million votes cast for Wallace came from New York State, where he ran for the American Labor Party.
Henry Wallace left the Progressive Party in 1950, when North Korea’s invasion of South forced him to move away from pacifism and support Truman's Korean War. In the 1952 election, party candidates, Vincent Hallinan and Charlotte Bass (the first African American nominated as vice president) received only 0.2% of the vote. The party came to naught and was dissolved in 1955.
See also
- Third parties (USA)
- US Presidential Election (1948)
- US Presidential Election (1952)
- Progressive Party (USA, 1912)
- Progressive Party (USA, 1924)
- Vermont Progressive Party
Notes
- ↑ G.E. Minasyan. Leftist US forces against the Cold War (1945-1948) . American society on the threshold of the 21st century: results, problems, prospects: Materials of an international scientific conference. M.: Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1996. - C. 72-75 . amstud.msu.ru (1995). Date of treatment November 13, 2014.