League for Independent Political Action
Encyclopedia
The League for Independent Political Action (LIPA) was an American political organization established in late November or early December 1928 in New York City
. The organization, which brought together liberals
and socialists
, was seen as a coordinating agency for a new political party in the United States. No such party was forthcoming, however, and the group remained in existence as a small membership organization
into the middle years of the 1930s, when it was gradually rendered obsolete by the move to the New Deal
by Franklin D. Roosevelt
and the Democratic Party
. The organization was terminated in 1936.
which saw the election of Herbert Hoover
as President of the United States
, a number of prominent liberals and socialists gathered in New York City to assess the American political situation. Those gathered agreed on the need for a new political party in America bringing together progressives around a common program. Additional meetings were subsequently held at which a platform was written and a name given to the new organization — the League for Independent Political Action (LIPA). This name appears to have been borrowed wholesale from the official organization back of the 1924 independent Presidential campaign of Wisconsin
progressive Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Sr., the "League for Progressive Political Action."
The group soon published an initial leaflet entitled Wanted: A New Political Alignment which elucidated the principles of the new organization. This document proclaimed that "a political awakening is coming" which would cast aside the "Republican-Democratic alliance." The 1928 election had "revealed the fact" the Democratic Party had "not one fundamental economic issue to distinguish them from Republicans," according to this LIPA founding document.
The LIPA founding declaration announced the need for a new "political realignment" to correspond with the "general and far reaching industrial transformation" which the United States had experienced. It further called upon "forward-looking people in existing political parties and independent of existing parties" to join together in a "new party based on the principle of increasing social control" over industrial production and product
distribution.
, and the increase in land values those surplus gains which are not necessary to induce effective service" or which were the byproduct of monopoly
.
The LIPA also declared itself in favor of "social insurance from the hazards of accident, ill health, unemployment, and old age." A new party was necessary for the achievement of these ends, the organization declared:
The organization also opined in favor of low tariffs
, emphasizing that the Democratic Party had abandoned this historic principle and that farmers and consumers would see their tax burden reduced as the country steadily moved toward "the eventual goal of free trade
, as an aid to the soundest prosperity and international good-will, and for the purpose of reducing special privilege, political corruption
, and exploitation by favored interests."
Despite its repeated insistence that a new party would be necessary for the achievement of these ends, the LIPA officially declared that it "does not intend itself to become the new party but rather to act as a coordinating agency bringing together all those groups which ought to unite in the formation of such a party." Included in its sites were the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, the Socialist Party of America
, so-called "progressive elements now working in the old parties," trade unionists, progressive farmers, professionals, liberal journalists, and religious activists
.
The executive committee of the organization subsequently adopted a rule prohibiting the endorsement of candidates of either the Republican or Democratic Parties whenever third party candidates representing the general principles of the League shared the ballot with them. Although this prohibition was binding upon all officers and members of the governing national and executive committees of the league, local branches and their officers were merely "requested to conform to the same rules," while individual members were "free to follow their own judgment" on such matters.
, Frank Crosswaith, Samuel Orr
, Jacob Panken
, and Norman Thomas
), a pair of Socialist candidates for Congress from Wisconsin, and a pair of candidates from the Niagara Falls Labor Party and New Bedford, Massachusetts Labor Party, respectively.
Following the 1930 election, the League attempted to organize its supporters into functioning branches, with a goal of holding state conferences of progressive farmers, trade unionists, and political activists. In states with no functioning third parties already in the field, these state conferences were envisioned as the catalyst for the formation of new state political parties.
The Chairman of the LIPA from its earliest days was philosopher John Dewey
. Dewey attempted to jumpstart the political power of the organization by bringing in sitting U.S. Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska
, writing the progressive Midwesterner on December 23, 1930 and asking him to renounce both of the "old parties" and helping to give birth to a new political party based upon the principles of planning and control. This new organization would be instrumental "for the purpose of building happier lives, a more just society, and that peaceful world which was the dream of Him whose birthday we celebrate this Christmas Day," Dewey wrote.
Senator Norris was not inclined to go to this political extreme, however, writing Dewey back that "the people will not respond to a demand for a new party except in case of a great emergency, when there is practically a political revolution." This exchange between the scholar and the Senator received wide coverage in the popular press.
The appeal by Dewey to Norris had the additional affect of alienating A.J. Muste
, head of Brookwood Labor College
, who resigned his position on the LIPA executive committee, declaring his belief that "we must build our political machinery for a genuine labor party down on the ground first" by energizing masses of workers rather than by "inviting such figures practically to form a new party. In resigning, Muste stated that "for the present it is of the utmost importance to avoid every appearance of seeking messiahs who are to bring down a third party out of the political heavens."
Despite Dewey's widely publicized failure, the LIPA still managed modest organizational growth, ending 1930 with approximately 4,500 dues-paying members and local branches in about 20 states. Average paid membership for the entire year was 3,756 for all of 1930, which grew to 6,062 in 1931, according to a report by the Executive Secretary of LIPA, Howard Y. Williams.
By the beginning of 1932, there were a total of 11 state committees, 51 local branches, and 43 local representatives intent upon organizing additional branches of LIPA. The League made use of dinners and banquets to promote the organization, while Executive Secretary Williams delivered dozens of addresses to trade unions, women's groups, farm organizations, community forums, and other organizations.
The LIPA was formally governed by annual conferences of its members. The May 1931 gathering determined to hold a joint conference of third party groups in an effort to wield unified action in the 1932 election campaign.
Late in 1931, with the Great Depression
sweeping America and the ranks of the unemployed swelling with no end in sight, the LIPA invited a number of economists and progressive political activists to assist in formulating a platform for the group for the 1932 campaign. In January 1932 those participating gathered to draft a formal document called "A Four Year Presidential Plan, 1932-1936," which the League executive committee finalized and released to the press. This document again asserted the necessity for an independent political party to solve the nations ills, declaring:
The 1932 platform advocated higher progressive income taxes and inheritance taxes, lower tariffs continuing the process towards eventual free trade, public ownership of utilities, coal, oil, and railroads, and reform of the banking industry to eliminate "extra-banking activities" as well as "investment trusts" and "trading activities." Provisions were included for the restoration of civil rights through the abolition of syndicalism laws, the Espionage Act, and the use of unlawful searches and so-called "Third Degree" tactics by the police. Equal economic, political, and legal rights were demanded for black Americans as well as an end to legal laxity towards lynching
. "Drastic cuts, approximating 50 percent" were demanded for military expenditures on the army, navy, and air force while the abolition of military conscription through a constitutional amendment was insisted upon.
and the inauguration of the liberal social policies of the New Deal
undermined the political impetus driving the League for Independent Political Action. Early in 1933, the group's official Monthly Bulletin was merged into Common Sense magazine. It was formally terminated in October of that year.
With its members engaged in other political activities during the kinetic years of the middle-1930s, the League for Independent Political Action rapidly lost members. It continued to limp along as a shell of its former self until it was formally terminated in 1936.
A partial run of the monthly organ of LIPA, the News Bulletin, is available on microfilm with the master negative held by the Cleveland Public Library
.
The organization also published a number of political pamphlets, including:
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The organization, which brought together liberals
Progressivism in the United States
Progressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
and socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, was seen as a coordinating agency for a new political party in the United States. No such party was forthcoming, however, and the group remained in existence as a small membership organization
Membership organization
A membership organization is a broad term for a group or body which has members. Typically any member of the public can join and a membership fee or "subscription" is payable, but arrangements vary widely...
into the middle years of the 1930s, when it was gradually rendered obsolete by the move to the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
by Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. The organization was terminated in 1936.
Establishment
Within a month after the 1928 Presidential electionUnited States presidential election, 1928
The United States presidential election of 1928 pitted Republican Herbert Hoover against Democrat Al Smith. The Republicans were identified with the booming economy of the 1920s, whereas Smith, a Roman Catholic, suffered politically from Anti-Catholic prejudice, his anti-prohibitionist stance, and...
which saw the election of Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, a number of prominent liberals and socialists gathered in New York City to assess the American political situation. Those gathered agreed on the need for a new political party in America bringing together progressives around a common program. Additional meetings were subsequently held at which a platform was written and a name given to the new organization — the League for Independent Political Action (LIPA). This name appears to have been borrowed wholesale from the official organization back of the 1924 independent Presidential campaign of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
progressive Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Sr., the "League for Progressive Political Action."
The group soon published an initial leaflet entitled Wanted: A New Political Alignment which elucidated the principles of the new organization. This document proclaimed that "a political awakening is coming" which would cast aside the "Republican-Democratic alliance." The 1928 election had "revealed the fact" the Democratic Party had "not one fundamental economic issue to distinguish them from Republicans," according to this LIPA founding document.
The LIPA founding declaration announced the need for a new "political realignment" to correspond with the "general and far reaching industrial transformation" which the United States had experienced. It further called upon "forward-looking people in existing political parties and independent of existing parties" to join together in a "new party based on the principle of increasing social control" over industrial production and product
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....
distribution.
Program
General principles which the group espoused included government takeover of "strategic industries which are now being grossly mismanaged by private interests," including public utilities, coal mines, and the transportation system. LIPA was critical of the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States, declaring that the present system allowed "some to have so much more than they need and often without working for it" and declared the intention "to skim off through progressive taxes on unearned incomes, inheritanceInheritance tax
An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...
, and the increase in land values those surplus gains which are not necessary to induce effective service" or which were the byproduct of monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
.
The LIPA also declared itself in favor of "social insurance from the hazards of accident, ill health, unemployment, and old age." A new party was necessary for the achievement of these ends, the organization declared:
"The employers are not going to protect against these evils in any adequate way. They must help pay the cost and will never do it, speaking generally, until forced to do so by legislation. The leaders of the old parties will not work for the enactment of these laws because the Republican and Democratic parties are merely the political expressions of the great business organizations.... If we want social insurance, we must help to build up a new party."
The organization also opined in favor of low tariffs
Tariff
A tariff may be either tax on imports or exports , or a list or schedule of prices for such things as rail service, bus routes, and electrical usage ....
, emphasizing that the Democratic Party had abandoned this historic principle and that farmers and consumers would see their tax burden reduced as the country steadily moved toward "the eventual goal of free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, as an aid to the soundest prosperity and international good-will, and for the purpose of reducing special privilege, political corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
, and exploitation by favored interests."
Despite its repeated insistence that a new party would be necessary for the achievement of these ends, the LIPA officially declared that it "does not intend itself to become the new party but rather to act as a coordinating agency bringing together all those groups which ought to unite in the formation of such a party." Included in its sites were the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
, so-called "progressive elements now working in the old parties," trade unionists, progressive farmers, professionals, liberal journalists, and religious activists
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada...
.
The executive committee of the organization subsequently adopted a rule prohibiting the endorsement of candidates of either the Republican or Democratic Parties whenever third party candidates representing the general principles of the League shared the ballot with them. Although this prohibition was binding upon all officers and members of the governing national and executive committees of the league, local branches and their officers were merely "requested to conform to the same rules," while individual members were "free to follow their own judgment" on such matters.
Development
The LIPA made its first political endorsements in the election of 1930, recommending the entire ticket of the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, Socialist candidates in New York state (including Heywood BrounHeywood Broun
Heywood Campbell Broun, Jr. was an American journalist. He worked as a sportswriter, newspaper columnist, and editor in New York City. He founded the American Newspaper Guild, now known as The Newspaper Guild. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he is best remembered for his writing on social issues and...
, Frank Crosswaith, Samuel Orr
Samuel Orr
Samuel Orr was a socialist politician from New York City best remembered for being one of the five elected members of the Socialist Party of America expelled by the New York State Assembly during the Red Scare of 1919-1920.-Early years:...
, Jacob Panken
Jacob Panken
Jacob Panken was an American socialist politician, best remembered for his tenure as a New York municipal judge and frequent candidacies for high elected office on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
, and Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
), a pair of Socialist candidates for Congress from Wisconsin, and a pair of candidates from the Niagara Falls Labor Party and New Bedford, Massachusetts Labor Party, respectively.
Following the 1930 election, the League attempted to organize its supporters into functioning branches, with a goal of holding state conferences of progressive farmers, trade unionists, and political activists. In states with no functioning third parties already in the field, these state conferences were envisioned as the catalyst for the formation of new state political parties.
The Chairman of the LIPA from its earliest days was philosopher John Dewey
John Dewey
John Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
. Dewey attempted to jumpstart the political power of the organization by bringing in sitting U.S. Senator George W. Norris of Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, writing the progressive Midwesterner on December 23, 1930 and asking him to renounce both of the "old parties" and helping to give birth to a new political party based upon the principles of planning and control. This new organization would be instrumental "for the purpose of building happier lives, a more just society, and that peaceful world which was the dream of Him whose birthday we celebrate this Christmas Day," Dewey wrote.
Senator Norris was not inclined to go to this political extreme, however, writing Dewey back that "the people will not respond to a demand for a new party except in case of a great emergency, when there is practically a political revolution." This exchange between the scholar and the Senator received wide coverage in the popular press.
The appeal by Dewey to Norris had the additional affect of alienating A.J. Muste
A. J. Muste
The Reverend Abraham Johannes "A.J." Muste was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. Muste is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, and the US civil rights movement.-Early years:...
, head of Brookwood Labor College
Brookwood Labor College
Brookwood Labor College was the first residential labor college in the United States. The school was established in 1921 near Katonah, New York. The school was closely supported by affiliate unions of the American Federation of Labor until 1928, when pressure began to be exerted by the AF of L's...
, who resigned his position on the LIPA executive committee, declaring his belief that "we must build our political machinery for a genuine labor party down on the ground first" by energizing masses of workers rather than by "inviting such figures practically to form a new party. In resigning, Muste stated that "for the present it is of the utmost importance to avoid every appearance of seeking messiahs who are to bring down a third party out of the political heavens."
Despite Dewey's widely publicized failure, the LIPA still managed modest organizational growth, ending 1930 with approximately 4,500 dues-paying members and local branches in about 20 states. Average paid membership for the entire year was 3,756 for all of 1930, which grew to 6,062 in 1931, according to a report by the Executive Secretary of LIPA, Howard Y. Williams.
By the beginning of 1932, there were a total of 11 state committees, 51 local branches, and 43 local representatives intent upon organizing additional branches of LIPA. The League made use of dinners and banquets to promote the organization, while Executive Secretary Williams delivered dozens of addresses to trade unions, women's groups, farm organizations, community forums, and other organizations.
The LIPA was formally governed by annual conferences of its members. The May 1931 gathering determined to hold a joint conference of third party groups in an effort to wield unified action in the 1932 election campaign.
Late in 1931, with the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
sweeping America and the ranks of the unemployed swelling with no end in sight, the LIPA invited a number of economists and progressive political activists to assist in formulating a platform for the group for the 1932 campaign. In January 1932 those participating gathered to draft a formal document called "A Four Year Presidential Plan, 1932-1936," which the League executive committee finalized and released to the press. This document again asserted the necessity for an independent political party to solve the nations ills, declaring:
"We are in the midst of a tragic breakdown of industry, employment, and finance, with all the attendant human suffering. The Republican and Democratic parties cannot meet the emergency for they are the tools and servants of the forces and the men who have promoted the very policies which have in large measure brought about the crisis. Only a new party can restore the agencies of government to the service of he people.... This party will restore reality to democracy by attacking the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few and by preventing the insecurity, disproportionate risk, fear, and loss of vital civil libertiesCivil libertiesCivil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
which are the lot of many."
The 1932 platform advocated higher progressive income taxes and inheritance taxes, lower tariffs continuing the process towards eventual free trade, public ownership of utilities, coal, oil, and railroads, and reform of the banking industry to eliminate "extra-banking activities" as well as "investment trusts" and "trading activities." Provisions were included for the restoration of civil rights through the abolition of syndicalism laws, the Espionage Act, and the use of unlawful searches and so-called "Third Degree" tactics by the police. Equal economic, political, and legal rights were demanded for black Americans as well as an end to legal laxity towards lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
. "Drastic cuts, approximating 50 percent" were demanded for military expenditures on the army, navy, and air force while the abolition of military conscription through a constitutional amendment was insisted upon.
Dissolution and legacy
The election of Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and the inauguration of the liberal social policies of the New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
undermined the political impetus driving the League for Independent Political Action. Early in 1933, the group's official Monthly Bulletin was merged into Common Sense magazine. It was formally terminated in October of that year.
With its members engaged in other political activities during the kinetic years of the middle-1930s, the League for Independent Political Action rapidly lost members. It continued to limp along as a shell of its former self until it was formally terminated in 1936.
A partial run of the monthly organ of LIPA, the News Bulletin, is available on microfilm with the master negative held by the Cleveland Public Library
Cleveland Public Library
The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...
.
Conventions
| Convention | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Annual Conference | Washington, DC | May 17-18, 1930 | Attended by 200 delegates from 12 states. |
| 2nd Annual Conference | New York City New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... |
May 22-23, 1931 | Attended by about 500 delegates. |
Prominent members
- Devere Allen
- Harry Elmer BarnesHarry Elmer BarnesHarry Elmer Barnes was a prominent American historian in the 20th century. A "progressive who had some classical liberal impulses," he was associated for virtually his entire career with Columbia University.-Early career:...
- Paul Brissenden
- Jane P. Clark
- John DeweyJohn DeweyJohn Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
- Paul H. Douglas
- W.E.B. DuBois
- Sherwood EddySherwood EddySherwood Eddy was an American Protestant missionary, author, administrator and educator. He was born George Sherwood Eddy on January 19, 1871 to George Alfred Eddy and Margaret Louise Nolan at Leavenworth, Kansas. He attended Phillips Andover Academy, graduated from Yale University in 1891 and...
- Helen Hamlin Fincke
- Nathan Fine
- Sidney HillmanSidney HillmanSidney Hillman was an American labor leader. Head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, he was a key figure in the founding of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and in marshaling labor's support for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Democratic Party.-Early years:Sidney Hillman was...
- Hannah Clothier Hull
- Harry W. LaidlerHarry W. LaidlerHarry Wellington Laidler was an American socialist functionary, writer, magazine editor, and politician. He is best remembered as Executive Director of the League for Industrial Democracy, successor to the Intercollegiate Socialist Society, and for his close political association with perennial...
- Corliss LamontCorliss LamontCorliss Lamont , was a socialist philosopher, and advocate of various left-wing and civil liberties causes. As a part of his political activities he was the Chairman of National Council of American-Soviet Friendship starting from early 1940s...
- John A. Lapp
- Robert Morss LovettRobert Morss LovettRobert Morss Lovett was an American academic, writer, editor, political activist, and government official....
- Archibald MacLeishArchibald MacLeishArchibald MacLeish was an American poet, writer, and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the Modernist school of poetry. He received three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.-Early years:...
- William Mahoney
- James H. MaurerJames H. MaurerJames Hudson "Jim" Maurer was a prominent American trade unionist who twice ran for the office of Vice President of the United States on the ticket of the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
- Lewis MumfordLewis MumfordLewis Mumford was an American historian, philosopher of technology, and influential literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a writer...
- A. J. MusteA. J. MusteThe Reverend Abraham Johannes "A.J." Muste was a Dutch-born American clergyman and political activist. Muste is best remembered for his work in the labor movement, pacifist movement, and the US civil rights movement.-Early years:...
- Reinhold NiebuhrReinhold NiebuhrKarl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and commentator on public affairs. Starting as a leftist minister in the 1920s indebted to theological liberalism, he shifted to the new Neo-Orthodox theology in the 1930s, explaining how the sin of pride created evil in the world...
- Joseph Schlossberg
- Oswald Garrison VillardOswald Garrison VillardOswald Garrison Villard was an American journalist. He provided a rare direct link between the anti-imperialism of the late 19th century and the conservative Old Right of the 1930s and 1940s.-Biography:...
- Charney VladeckBaruch Charney VladeckBaruch Charney Vladeck was an American Jewish labor leader, manager of the Jewish Daily Forward for twenty years, and a member of the New York City Council.-Early years:...
- Howard Y. Williams
Publications
The official organ of the League for Independent Political Action was the News Bulletin of the League for Independent Political Action. This was established in June 1930 and merged into the magazine Common Sense in April 1933 and terminated in October of that same year. (Common Sense continued publication through 1943.)The organization also published a number of political pamphlets, including:
- Wanted: A New Political Alignment. New York: League for Independent Political Action, 1929.
- Paul H. Douglas, Why a Political Realignment. New York: League for Independent Political Action, 1930.
- Henry Raymond Mussey, Unemployment: A Practical Program. New York: League for Independent Political Action, 1930.
- Oswald Garrison Villard, The Tariff Scandal. New York: League for Independent Political Action, 1930.
- John Dewey, Democracy Joins the Unemployed: Address. New York: League for Independent Political Action, 1932.
- Audacity! More Audacity! Always Audacity! New York: United Action Campaign Committee of the League for Independent Political Action, n.d. [1933].
- Why the League for Independent Political Action. New York: League for Independent Political Action, n.d. [c. 1934].
- Fascism. St. Paul, MN: League for Independent Political Action and the Farmer Labor Political Federation, n.d. [c. 1934].
Further reading
- Karel Denis Bicha, "Liberalism Frustrated: The League for Independent Political Action, 1928-1933." Mid-America, vol. 47 (1966), pp. 19-28.
- Robert Elliott Kessler, The League for Independent Political Action, 1929-1933. Dissertation. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1969.
External links
- "League for Independent Political Action Executive Committee Agenda, October 4, 1929," W. E. B. Du Bois Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
See also
- Progressivism in the United StatesProgressivism in the United StatesProgressivism in the United States is a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century and is generally considered to be middle class and reformist in nature. It arose as a response to the vast changes brought by modernization, such as the growth of large...
- Social democracySocial democracySocial democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...