Draft:1952 Progressive National Convention
| 1952 presidential election | |
 ,_ca._1901-1910_(scl-mss064-0451~1)_retouched_(cropped).jpg) Nominees Hallinan and Bass | |
| Convention | |
|---|---|
| Date(s) | July 4–6, 1952 |
| City | Chicago, Illinois |
| Venue | Ashland Auditorium |
| Chair | Vito Marcantonio |
| Keynote speaker | W. E. B. Du Bois |
| Notable speakers | |
| Candidates | |
| Presidential nominee | Vincent Hallinan of California |
| Vice-presidential nominee | Charlotta Bass of New York |
| Voting | |
| Total delegates | 2,000 |
The 1952 Progressive National Convention was held in July 4–6 1952 at the Ashland Auditorium in Chicago, Illinois. The party ratified the 1952 presidential nominees and party platform of the Progressive Party, a short-lived minor American political party that had been founded in 1948.
Background
[edit]The Progressive Party was a left wing party.[1] The convention's theme was "The People Speak – for Peace". The three-day convention had 2,000 delegates, and took place at the Ashland Auditorium on the West Side of Chicago.[2] The convention concluded on July 6,[1] the eve of the Republican convention.
In the years since the previous presidential election (amid the Red Scare), many of the party's national leaders had been accused by the American government of being communists and subversives.[3] Former vice president Henry A. Wallace (the party's founder and its 1948 presidential nominee) was absent from the convention,[4] having (soon after the start of the Korean War) disassociated himself from the party and its membership as a result of such accusations that the government had levied against key party figures.[3][1] In April 1952, columnist Victor Riesel derided the then-upcoming convention as "the biggest propaganda show" of "the Pro-Soviet apparatus in this country."[5]
W. E. B. Du Bois as the convention's temporary chairman for the first evening of the convention.[6] On the second day of the convention, former congressman Vito Marcantonio was voted to serve as its chairman.[2][6]
Nominees
[edit]In March 1952, the Progressive Party selected its presidential ticket in a convention held in Chicago. Vincent Hallinan was chosen for president and Charlotta Bass was chosen for vice president. Bass (an African American woman) was the first woman of color nominated for vice president.[7] The convention in part served to have the party's delegates formalize the nomination of this ticket.[2]
The nomination vote was held on the second day of the convention.[6]
Party platform
[edit]The party's platform was adopted on July 5.[8] The co-chairs of the convention's platform committee were Earl Dickerson (president of the National Lawyers Guild), Katherine Van Orden, and Hugh Bryson.[6] Dickerson touted the party's platform as promising on civil rights for African Americans, arguing that both party's had proven unable to pass civil rights legislation. Dickerson remarked, "the undeniable fact is that not since 1875 has either party passed a single law to implement equality."[9]
The initial draft of the platform called for:[10]
- Ending the Korean War through negotiation
- Seating the People's Republic of China (Chinese Communist Party-led government of mainland China) in the United Nations
- An "end of United States intervention throughout the world"
- An end to the United States' blockade of Formosa (part of the First Taiwan Strait Crisis)
- An extensive plan (to be sponsored by the United Nations, and developed in collaboration with the People's Republic of China) that would rehabilitate the Asian continent
https://www.newspapers.com/image/624325466
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https://digital.library.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735059397053/viewer
Peace
[edit]The platform called peace "the mandate of the people".[11][12]
Calvin Benham "Beany" Baldwin (party secretary) said that the party would, "demand a formula which will allow the American people to live at peace with the 200,000,000 people of the Soviet Union and the 460,000,000 people of China."[10]
The platform called for:
- Rejecting "the idea that war is inevitable"[11]
- Ending "the biggest graft of all: the war-racket"[13]
- A ceasefire to the Korean War[12][14]
- Cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union[12][15]
- Disarmament[12]
- Disarmament in Germany: "stop the rearmament and renazification of a disunited Germany. We must work out an agreement at the conference table with England, France, and the Soviet Union to make Germany united and disarmed neutral.[11]
- Opposition to rearming Japan, and calling for "a conference of all the former belligerents against Japan for the negotiation of a peace treaty[11]
- Negotiation of an international agreement outlawing the use of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. Such a treaty would have "effective control and inspection of atomic stockpiles and installations"[11]
- Ratification of the Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical weapons and biological weapons in war[11]
- Using the United Nations as a tool to advance "progressive universal disarmament"[11]
- Opposition to any bill mandating universal military training.[11]
- Repealing the military draft law[11]
- Providing "full representation in the United Nations by admitting all present applicant nations,[11] including seating the People's Republic of China (Chinese Communist Party-led government of mainland China) in the United Nations[11][10]
- Withdraw United Nations recognition of "fascist Spain" (Francoist Spain)[11]
- Ending "trade barriers to peaceful trade between America and the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe."[11]
- "Support the demands for independence and freedom of colonial peoples all over the world."[11]
- Ending "support for fascist and racist regimes such as the Malan government in South Africa"[11]
- Ending support for, "all other imperialism which hold African and Asian peoples in colonial bondage"[11]
- "Support[ing] democratic movements in Latin America and reverse[ing] the present policy of support to South American dictatorships."[11]
- "Repeal[ing] all laws imposing restrictions on the economic and political independence of the Philippines"[11]
- Granting "full and immediate" Puerto Rican independence, and extending economic assistance to an independent Puerto Rico[11]
- Granting full statehood to the territories of Alaska and Hawaii[11]
- Holding of "a conference of the "five great powers" as "the only peaceful means for securing an over-all settlement of differences"[11]
Jobs and security
[edit]Promising "jobs and security for all Americans", the platform called for:[11]
Equal civil rights
[edit]The platform called for greater civil rights protections.[12]
The platform called for:
- Protection of the civil rights of African Americans (often referred to in the platform as "Negro people", common parlance of the era) by ending segregation in the United States) (which the platform called "America's shame"),[17] thereby bringing "full and equal rights for the negro people – now".[13]
- "A federal fair employment practices law with effective enforcement powers to guarantee equality in job opportunities and training for the Negro people, Puerto Ricans, Mexican-Americans, and all other minorities."[17]
- "A federal anti-poll tax" that would guarantee "minorities the right to register to vote in the primary and general elections for federal offices.[17]
- Revising Standing Rules of the United States Senate in order to prohibit the filibuster.[17]
- A federal anti-lynching law[17]
- The "immediate issuance" of an Executive Order by the president to bring prosecutions under federal civil rights statutes.[17]
- The "immediate issuance" of an Executive Order by the president that would prohibit federal contractors from engaging in employment discrimination[17]
- Ending housing segregation and housing discrimination[17]
- "Imediate issuance" of a new Executive Order to end segregation and discrimination in the United States Armed Forces, federal departments and agencies, and the Panama Canal Zone[17]
- "Real home rule for the District of Columbia", alongside federal legislation that would place a prohibition within the District on "every form of segregation and discrimination".[17]
- "Full representation of the Negro and Puerto Rican and Mexican-American people in Congress, in State legislatures, and all other levels of public office."[17]
- Require that appropriations of federal money for any public purpose must require a specific provision prohibiting the funds from being used in a manner discriminatory towards minorities.[17]
- Full citizenship for American Indians (Native Americans in the United States), and granting to them the "right to administer their own affairs without loss of Reservation rights" as well as "adequate compensation for loss of tribal land rights."[17]
Restoration of First Amendment freedoms
[edit]The platform pledged to "restore freedom to all Americans"[17] and to restore the Bill of Rights for all Americans",[13]
The platform called for:
- The protection of labor rights[14]
- The repeal of the Taft–Hartley Act, Smith Act, and McCarran Internal Security Act[13]
- The defeat of McCarthyism and "McCarrenism"[13]
List of significant speakers
[edit]July 4
[edit]After hearings on the party platform, the convention's first evening included speeches by several notable individuals.[6]
- Welcoming address:
- Elmer A. Benson, national party co-chairman and former governor of Minnesota[2][10]
- Robert Morss Lovett, Illinois state party chairman[2]
- Paul Robeson, musician[2] and national co-chairman of party[10]
- W. E. B. Du Bois, activist, sociologist, and former diplomat (keynote address)[2]
July 5
[edit]- Vivian Hallinan, wife of presidential nominee (acceptance speech on husband's behalf)[2]
- Charlotta Bass, vice presidential nominee (acceptance speech)[6]
Summary of major speeches
[edit]Acceptance speeches
[edit]With Hallinan serving a jail term for contempt of court and was unable to attend, his wife Vivian gave an acceptance speech on his behalf.[2]
Keynote address by W. E. B. Du Bois
[edit]The convention's keynote address was delivered by W. E. B. Du Bois. His speech was delivered after the conclusion of public hearings on the party's platform.[2] Du Bois, who had previously supported Wallace's campaign as the 1948 Progressive presidential nominee, again supported the party's presidential ticket.[19] His speech was introduced by the party's national secretary, Calvin Benham Baldwin.[6]
Du Bois' speech criticized the "two old parties" (the Democrats and Republicans) as both being dedicated to continuing Cold War hostilities with the Soviet Union, arguing that the Progressive Party held the necessary role in ending these tensions.[2]
Media coverage
[edit]The party pushed the FCC to order radio and television networks to grant and facilitate airtime of its nominees' acceptance speeches, taking advantage of the equal-time rule. While the networks granted the convention broadcast time during its convention, a spokesperson for the networks also clarified that the FCC had only directed them to give equal time to candidates and not party organizations.[20][2]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Progressives' Convention Comes to Close". JG-TC: Journal Gazette and Times-Courier. The Associated Press. July 7, 1952. Retrieved 5 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jonhston, Richard J. H. (July 5, 1952). "Progressive Party Gathers in Chicago". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ a b "County To Send No Delegates To Progressive Party Convention". Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania). July 2, 1952. Retrieved 5 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Holden, Ashley E. (July 3, 1952). "The Mystery of Henry Wallace". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Riesel, Victor (April 23, 1952). "Labor Plans Truman "Draft"". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Convention Program Set By Progressives". New York Times. June 8, 1952. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Meares, Hadley (2 September 2020). "The Fabulous Life Of Charlotta Bass, The First Woman Of Color To Run For US Vice President". LAist. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ "Progressive Party Ends Convention". The Boston Globe. The Associated Press. July 7, 1952. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Progressives Open Convention". Clarion-Ledger. The Associated Press. July 7, 1952. Retrieved 5 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Progressives Open Convention, Plan Peace Platform". The Sacramento Bee. The Associated Press. July 4, 1952. Retrieved 5 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Progressive Party Platform, p. 4
- ^ a b c d e "Progressives End Convention". The Evening News (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania). The Associated Press. July 7, 1952. Retrieved 5 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e Progressive Party Platform, p. 2
- ^ a b Progressive Party Platform, p. 1
- ^ Progressive Party Platform, p. 3
- ^ Progressive Party Platform, p. 5
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Progressive Party Platform, p. 6
- ^ Progressive Party Platform, p. 7
- ^ "I Won't Vote". The Nation. February 7, 2002. Archived from the original on July 21, 2020.
- ^ "Progressive Party Set to Broadcast". The Register (Santa Ana) International News Service. July 5, 1952. Retrieved 4 November 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
Sources cited
[edit]- "Progressive Party Platform". digital.library.pitt.edu. University of Pittsburgh ULS Digital Collections. July 1952. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
| Preceded by 1948 |
Progressive National Conventions | Succeeded by N/A |
Progressive National Convention Category:Political conventions in Chicago Progressive National Convention Category:1950s political conferences Progressive National Convention Category:1950s in Chicago Progressive National Convention