The Communist Party in the Presidential Election of 1928

• Date: 01 September 1958
• Author: Vaughn Davis Bornet
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295801100306
• Published date: 01 September 1958
• Subject Matter: Articles

514

THE

COMMUNIST

PARTY

IN

THE

PRESIDENTIAL

ELECTION

OF

1928

VAUGHN DAVIS BORNET*

*

Glen

Ellyn,

Illinois.

HIS

IS

THE

STORY

of

the

Communist

party

in

the

presidential

election

of

1928.

As

such,

it

is

the

first

analysis

of

the

conduct

of

that

JL

party

during

the

course

of

a

major

election

campaign.

Neither

books

nor

articles

have

described

the

ideals,

platform,

convention,

candidates’

speeches,

and

purposes

of

this

&dquo;political

party&dquo;

during

such

a

time.

For

this

reason

the

real

nature

of

the

Communist

party

in

American

political

life

has

remained

obscure

in

spite

of

the

millions

of

words

writen

about

it.

The

present

narrative

shows

the

electoral

efforts

of

the

party

in

juxtaposition

with

its

other

activities

of

the

time.

Its

leaders

are

quoted

from

party

sources

which

are

authentic

beyond

question.

I

The

political

campaign

of

1928

had

neither

a

beginning

nor

an

ending

point

for

the

Communist

party.

The

nominating

convention

in

May

was

not

its

beginning.

The

counting

of

the

votes

in

November

settled

nothing

with

finality.

To

a

certain

extent

this

is

true

of

all

parties;

yet

with

the

Com-

munists

the

situation

differed

considerably.

As

William

Z.

Foster

announced

in

his

speech accepting

the

nomination

for

President:

We

are

not

going

into

the

national

election

campaign

solely

for

the

purpose

of

getting

votes....

We

also

have

other

bigger

objectives....

Our

aim

must

be

to

arouse

the

class-

consciousness

of

the

masses

in

a

political

sense

and

to

mobilize

them

for

struggle

on

all

fronts.

Vote-getting

is

only

one

aspect

of

this

general

mobilization

of

the

workers.’

Foster

refrained

from

announcing

what

party

leaders

knew,

that

its

method

of

participation

in

the

campaign

had

been

determined

by

direct

orders

from

the

Third

International

(Comintem),

a

fact

openly

admitted

after

the

election.2

2

The

Communist

press

began

to

take

notice

early

in

1928

of

the

rumors

that

Herbert

C.

Hoover

would

be

the

nominee

of

the

Republicans

and

Alfred

E.

Smith

the

candidate

of

the

Democrats.

Both

quickly

received

character

assassination

in

the

pages

of

the

Communist

and

the

Daily

Worker

which

was

thorough

and

imaginative.

Nor

did

Socialist

party

leaders

Nor-

man

Thomas

escape

vilification.

Hoover

was

venemously

attacked

as

a

man

1

Acceptance

Speeches ...

of

the

Workers

(Communist)

Party

(New

York,

National

Elec-

tion

Campaign

Committee,

1928),

p.

11.

2

"Carrying

out

the

decisions

of

the

Ninth

Plenum

of

the

Comintern,

the

American

Com-

munist

Party

entered the

campaign

as

an

independent

force...."

J.

Louis

Engdahl,

"The

Victors

in

the

American

Elections,"

International

Press

Correspondence,

VIII

(Vienna,

Nov.

16,

1928),

1500.

Italics

in

the

original.

Engdahl

was

an

important

offi-

cial

in

the

American

party

writing

in

the

interparty

house

organ

of

the

Third

Inter-

national.

515

who

allegedly

made

fabulous

profits

out

of

relief

work

in

World

War

I.

Smith,

Tammany

Hall,

and

Democratic

leaders

were

cartooned

repeatedly

as

grafters

and

thieves.

Thomas

was

termed

the

&dquo;arch

betrayer&dquo;

of

the

working

class.

An

article

on

Hoover

in

the

January

issue

of

the

Communist

used

typical

invective:

The

election

of

Hoover

in

1928

means

that

for

the

next

four

years

there

will

head

the

government

an

unscrupulous

adept

at

utilizing

misery

and

devastation

for

imperialist

purposes.

There

is

no

infamous

act

he has

not

been

guilty

of

against

defenseless

people.

His

hands

were

alleged

to

be

&dquo;dripping

with

the

blood&dquo;

of

the

European

workers.3

Against

these

candidates

of

the

hated

capitalists,

the

Communists

would

present,

they

said,

a

truly

proletarian

ticket.

The

tone

of

the

campaign

was

set

in

a

Daily

Worker

editorial

on

May

Day.

The

Soviet

Union

was

exalted

as

&dquo;the

Socialist

fatherland&dquo;

of

all

who

toiled

&dquo;in

every

nation

of

the

world.&dquo;

The

Red

Army

of

the

Soviet

Union

was

said

to

be

&dquo;at

the

disposal

of

the

working

class

and

of

the

exploited

peoples

of

all

nations,&dquo;

for

here

was

&dquo;the

army

of

the

Revolution.&dquo;

In

all

imperialist

countries

the

developing

events

show

the

working

class

that

none

of

its

demands

and

needs

of

life

can

be

secured

except

through

class

struggle

under

the

leadership

of

the

revolutionary

Communist

Party

and

the

Communist

International....

The

Union

of

Socialist

Soviet

Republics

is

the

stronghold

of

the

revolution.

The

World

revolutionary

movement

is

the

Communist

movement.

Its

leadership

is

the

Communist

International.

The

world

revolution

casts

up

accounts

today

and

finds

itself

stronger

than

ever

for

the

stormy

times

which

will

usher

in

the

Union

of

Socialist

Soviet

Republics

of

the

World.

Readers

of

the

Daily

Worker

were

therefore

urged

to

&dquo;Join

the

Workers

(Communist)

Party

of

America,

section

of

the

Communist

International.&dquo;

4

The

American

party’s

chief

English-language

organ

had

set

the

tone

for

the

coming

political

fray,

and

the

nine

foreign-language

newspapers

followed

suit.

II

The

Communists

held

their

party

nominating

convention

in

New

York

City

from

May

25

to

27,

1928.

The

message

of

greetings

sent

the

group

by

the

Political

Secretariat

of

the

Third

International

hoped

that

the

coming

&dquo;fight&dquo;

would

develop

the

&dquo;class

struggle.&dquo;

5

The

convention

quickly

replied

with

enthusiasm:

The

National

Convention

pledges

itself

to

be

worthy

of

the

confidence

of

the

Com-

munist

International,

and

solemnly

promises

to

enter

into

the

election

struggle

- which

will

be

a

struggle

against

the

corrupt

bureaucracy

of

the

American

Federation

of

Labor

and

the

renegade

Socialist

Party

- with

the

true

platform

of

the

class

struggle,

as

a

champion

of

the

working

class,

working

farmers,

and

oppressed

Negro

race

and

as

an

organizer

of

the

struggle

against

United

States

imperialism.’

3

H.

M.

Wicks,

"Herbert

Hoover,"

Communist,

VII

(January,

1928),

73-74.

See

also

J.

Louis

Engdahl,

"The

Presidential

Elections

in

the

United

States,"

International

Press

Correspondence,

VIII

(Vienna,

June

28,

1928),

641-42,

an

article

subtitled

"Herbert

Hoover - Wall

Street’s

Agent."

4

"Revolutionary

Greetings,"

Daily

Worker,

May

1,

1928.

5

Daily

Worker,

May

25,

1928.

6

Ibid.,

May

28,

1928.