Norman Thomas

Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – February 1, 1933) was the last President-elect of the old United States, former Representative from New York and Presbyterian Minister. Before he could assume the office of the President, Thomas was assassinated by the Government of National Salvation on the orders of Douglas MacArthur, an event which marked the beginning of the Red May Revolution and the Second American Civil War.

During his life, Thomas espoused views of peaceful revolution and Christian socialism, a fact which distanced him from the dominantly and more radical members of the Workers' Party. His personal popularity and openness to compromise with people outside of the radical left spectrum, including dissatisfied liberals and social democrats. Beloved candidate of the masses and the unifying figure for the American socialist movement, Norman Thomas was compared to the forefather of American socialism Eugene V. Debs. As the result of his tragic death by the hands of counterrevolutionaries, Thomas was described by many researchers as a secular martyr for the American people, especially for the supporters of Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, who consider themselves as ideological successors to the last President-elect of the Second Republic.

Early years
Norman Thomas was born November 20, 1884, in Marion, Ohio to a family of Presbyterian Minister Weddington Evans Thomas and Emma Williams (née Mattoon). Little is known of Thomas' childhood and adolescence, aside from the fact that he worked as a paper carrier for the Marion Star, an Ohio-based newspaper co-owned by Republican politician Warren G. Harding and Florence Kling Harding.

After he graduated from high school, a pastorate that was accepted by his father allowed Thomas to attend Bucknell University for a year. After leaving Bucknell, he finished his education at Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude in 1905. Among his professors in Princeton was Woodrow Wilson, the future First Secretary of the United States and theorist of the Congressional Government.

In 1905 Thomas helped to establish the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (later renamed to League for Industrial Democracy). Its stated purpose was to "throw light on the world-wide movement of industrial democracy known as socialism."

Norman Thomas' pacifist views and his staunch opposition to the American involvement in World War I brought him to the ranks of the Socialist Labor Party in 1914, which was the biggest political organization that fully objected to the war. When Socialist Labor figure Morris Hillquit made his campaign for mayor of New York in 1917 on an antiwar platform, Thomas wrote to him expressing his good wishes. To his surprise, Hillquit wrote back, encouraging the young minister to work for his campaign, which Thomas energetically did. In 1922 he became co-director of the League for Industrial Democracy.

Electoral politics
In 1927, Norman Thomas was elected to the US House of Representatives from New York City. During his term as a Congressman, Thomas was arrested in 1930 for his role in demonstrations that took place in the Central Park, New York City. After backlash from the American public and free speech marches in major cities, Norman Thomas was soon released.

Presidential campaign
To uproarious applause, Norman Thomas was chosen as the Presidential candidate in the 1932 elections with House Minority Leader Upton Sinclair as his running mate on the Workers’ Party ticket to challenge the incumbent President Herbert Hoover. Considered as something of a black horse candidate, Thomas appealed greatly to supporters of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, whom the WCP formed an electoral pact with. In spite of initially dividing opinion within the largely atheistic party, he soon proved a hugely popular and uniting figure among the American public, where even members of the middle class had grown disaffected from the Republican and Democratic parties amidst the catastrophic effects of the Great Depression. The campaign would be fiercely contested, with incumbent Hoover coming to represent the elite's attempts to preserve the old order of the United States in spite of the turmoil and decay it found itself in. Thomas would also be challenged by Democrat Huey Long, governor of Louisiana representing the left-leaning populist wing of the party, and independent fascist candidate and future Nazi war criminal William Pelley, running under the America First banner. Attempts to get Long to drop out of the race in order to form a united pro-capitalist ticket were unsuccessful, and rebuffed by Long himself, who appeared indifferent to wherever the future of America would be capitalist or socialist, even joking about joining the cabinet in the event of a victory for the Workers' Party. In spite of this and the seeming-obvious serious issues facing Hoover's campaign, much of the Republican Party still seemed confident of victory. Polls conducted by the party appeared to indicate a lead for Hoover, with voters focusing on protecting the traditional American way of life. However, their polls had suffered from poor sampling techniques and methodology, with a core sampling strategy based around vehicle registration plates, at a time when most vehicle-owners were wealthy, in addition to poorer vehicle-owners being forced to sell due to economic hardship. Hoover's campaign would go on to emphasize law and order, defending the armed suppression of the Bonus Army marchers taking place contemporarily.

The Republican Party's overconfidence would only lead to greater shock when the election results on November 8 produced a massive landslide for Thomas and the Workers' Party, with Thomas winning 56.7% of the popular vote and 398 electoral college votes. The WCP would also win a majority in the House of Representatives, with them and the DFLP winning over 70% of the vote between them. With unemployment at over 25%, and a 14% contraction in GDP being reported in 1932, the Republicans had seriously underestimated the level of discontent and disillusionment among the American public, even those who were relatively well-off. This would only lead to greater anger from the American right and a more extreme response being taken by reactionaries in the months ahead.

President-elect and death
The landslide victory of the Popular Front drove members of the American ruling class to conspire with the military and the far-right to safeguard their own interests. Congress would re-convene on December 5, when it was unexpectedly announced three members of Hoover's cabinet had resigned mere months before his term as president was to expire. One of the replacements for these members was General Douglas MacArthur, who was appointed to the office of Secretary of War. This move drew alarm from the opposition, but the PF member parties were unable to respond through legislative means as the new government which gave them a majority in Congress has yet to be sworn in. Suspicious activities and closed meetings were noticed within the halls of power. Within the WCP politburo, the dominant moderates decided to rule to accept the ongoing proceedings, in spite of growing unease on the party's left. Divisions quickly emerged in the party on the correct course of action to take, seeing the rise of two camps - the Legalists, who attempted to calm the situation, and Maximalists who believed in the need for action in the name of self-defence. Thomas for his part was broadly aligned with the former grouping, although he accepted the need to remain vigilant in the event of reprisals.

While these events were ongoing, behind closed doors underhand tactics and intimidation were being utilized by key figures to ensure a swift seizure of power. First Secretary Nicholas Longworth, responsible for assembling the caretaker government, had initiated proceedings through his appointments, but MacArthur largely ended up taking charge of the affair, essentially forcing President Hoover into authorizing a military handover of power. Funded by business interests, right-wing paramilitaries and the National Guard would be charged with the task of quelling opposition. With strikes and actions by the WCP limited during this time frame, the military was able to squarely focus their energies on the seizure of power. During this time, Thomas was staying at a hotel in Washington D.C., awaiting the start of his presidency on 1 February 1933 - the day planned for what would become known as the MacArthur Putsch.

On the night of the 31 January, President Hoover was coerced into declaring a state of emergency and martial law effective the following day, granting MacArthur executive authority. Upon assuming power, MacArthur immediately outlawed the Workers' Party, as his preselected loyalists, flanked by American Legion paramilitaries swept through the streets of Washington. WCP leadership was to be arrested or shot. A detachment of forces, lead by Lieutenant John C. Williams entered the hotel at 5:30 am, in the process killing two employees who stood in their way. They encountered Thomas in his room on the third floor, awake and fully dressed. Before the Lieutenant could read the arrest warrant, he is recalled to have immediately remarked "I suppose you have come to kill me". The President-Elect was subequently frogmarched through the building, in full view of terrified civillians, where he was observed scolding the soldiers. Thomas was pistol-whipped by Williams as he was lead outside, taken to the back of the building, before being placed against the wall and summarily executed by firing squad.