Norman Mattoon Thomas

Norman Mattoon Thomas 1884-1968, American socialist leader, b. Marion, Ohio; grad. Princeton (1905), Union Theological Seminary (1911). He served as pastor of several Presbyterian churches and did settlement work in New York City until 1918. (He formally left the ministry in 1931.) In World War I, he became a pacifist and joined (1918) the Socialist party. He founded (1918) The World Tomorrow, was (1921-22) an associate editor of the Nation, and became (1922) codirector of the League for Industrial Democracy. He was also active in setting up the American Civil Liberties Union . Thomas unsuccessfully sought election as governor of New York (1924, 1938) and as mayor of New York City (1925, 1929). After the death (1926) of Eugene Debs , he assumed leadership of the Socialist party and was repeatedly (1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948) the party's candidate for president. He polled his highest vote, about 880,000, in 1932. An advocate of evolutionary socialism, Thomas was a constant critic of the American economic system and of both major parties; he strongly opposed American entry in World War II while bitterly denouncing both fascism and Soviet communism. After the war, he lectured and wrote extensively on the need for world disarmament and the easing of cold war tensions. In 1955, he resigned his official posts in the Socialist party, but he remained its chief spokesman until shortly before his death. His works include The Conscientious Objector in America (1923), Socialism of Our Time (1929), Human Exploitation (1934), Appeal to the Nations (1947), Socialist's Faith (1951), The Test of Freedom (1954), The Prerequisite for Peace (1959), Great Dissenters (1961), and Socialism Reexamined (1963).

Bibliography: See biographies by M. B. Seidler (2d ed. 1967), H. Fleischman (1964, repr. 1969), and B. K. Johnpoll (1970).

Thomas, Norman Mattoon (1884–1968) US politician. In 1926 Thomas became leader of the Socialist Party and was its unsuccessful candidate for president six times between 1928 and 1948. A strong anti-communist, he campaigned for social welfare measures, civil rights, free speech and world peace.

Thomas, Norman [Mattoon] (1884–1968), born in Ohio, graduated from Princeton (1905) and was a Presbyterian minister in New York City until his Socialist interest caused him to turn to other activities. He was an editor of The Nation (1921–22), and a writer, speaker, and editor on social reform and pacifism. His unsuccessful Socialist candidacies for public office include those for governor of New York (1924), mayor of New York City (1925, 1929), U.S. representative (1930), and President (1928–44). Among his writings are The Conscientious Objector in America (1923), revised as Is Conscience a Crime? (1927); The Challenge of War (1925); What Is Industrial Democracy? (1927); Socialism of Our Time (1929); The Choice Before Us (1934); Socialism on the Defensive (1938); Keep America Out of War (1939), with Bertram D. Wolfe; We Have a Future (1941); What Is Our Destiny? (1944); A Socialist's Faith (1951); The Test of Freedom (1954); The Prerequisites for Peace (1959); and The Great Dissenters (1961).