Editing Henry A. Wallace (section)

==1948 presidential election==
{{Further|Progressive Party (United States, 1948–1955)|Cold War|McCarthyism|Soviet espionage in the United States}}
[[File:Henry Wallace and Glen Taylor Laughing and Embracing Salvaged Crop.jpg|thumb|right|Wallace with his vice presidential candidate Glen H. Taylor]]
Shortly after leaving office, Wallace became the editor of ''[[The New Republic]]'', a progressive magazine.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 431–432</ref> He also helped establish the [[Progressive Citizens of America]] (PCA), a progressive political organization that called for good relations with the Soviet Union and more liberal programs at home. Though not a member of the PCA, Wallace was widely regarded as the organization's leader and was criticized for the PCA's acceptance of Communist members. In response to the creation of the PCA, anti-Communist liberals established a rival group, [[Americans for Democratic Action]] (ADA), which explicitly rejected any association with Communism.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 433–435</ref> Wallace strongly criticized the president in early 1947 after Truman promulgated the [[Truman Doctrine]] to oppose Communist threats to Greece and Turkey. Wallace also opposed Truman's [[Executive Order 9835]], which began a purge of government workers affiliated Communist groups deemed to be subversive.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 436–438</ref> He initially favored the [[Marshall Plan]], but later opposed it because he believed the program should have been administered through the United Nations.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 451–453, 457</ref> Wallace and the PCA were scrutinized by the [[FBI]] and the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], both of which sought to uncover evidence of Communist influence.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 446–450</ref>

[[Robert W. Kenny]], the former [[Attorney General of California]], launched an effort to elect delegates pledged to Wallace for the [[1948 Democratic National Convention]]. If this effort failed then they would launch a third-party campaign with Wallace as their presidential nominee.{{sfn|Schmidt|1960|p=32}}

Many in the PCA favored the establishment of a [[third party (United States)|third party]], but other longtime Wallace allies warned him against leaving the Democratic Party.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 452–454</ref> On December 29, 1947, Wallace launched a third-party campaign, declaring, "we have assembled a [[Gideon]]'s Army, small in number, powerful in conviction ... We face the future unfettered, unfettered by any principle but the general welfare".<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 456–457</ref> He was backed by many intellectuals and Hollywood and Broadway celebrities. Among his prominent supporters were [[Rexford Tugwell]], Congressmen [[Vito Marcantonio]] and [[Leo Isacson]], actress [[Ava Gardner]], musicians [[Paul Robeson]] and [[Pete Seeger]], and future presidential nominee [[George McGovern]].<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 481, 484–485, 488</ref> Calvin Baldwin became Wallace's campaign manager and took charge of fundraising and ensuring that Wallace appeared on as many state ballots as possible.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 460–461</ref> Wallace's first choice for running mate, [[Claude Pepper]], refused to leave the Democratic Party.<ref name="Culver & Hyde 2000, pp. 462–463">Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 462–463</ref> [[O. John Rogge]] actively sought to be Wallace's running mate, but was from the same state as Wallace, which would prevent New York electors from voting for them. Rogge was also unknown outside the eastern United States.{{sfn|Schmidt|1960|p=42}} Democratic Senator [[Glen H. Taylor]] of Idaho agreed to serve as Wallace's running mate.<ref name="Culver & Hyde 2000, pp. 462–463"/>

Wallace accepted the endorsement of the [[Communist Party USA|American Communist Party]], saying: "I'm not following their line. If they want to follow my line, I say God bless 'em".<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), p. 452, 464–466</ref> Truman responded to Wallace's left-wing challenge by pressing for liberal domestic policies, while pro-ADA liberals like [[Hubert Humphrey]], [[Robert F. Wagner]], and [[James Roosevelt]] linked Wallace to the Soviet Union and the Communist Party.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 465–466</ref> Many Americans came to see Wallace as a [[fellow traveller|fellow traveler]] to Communists, a view reinforced by Wallace's refusal to condemn the [[1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état]].<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 464, 473–474</ref> In early 1948, the CIO and the AFL both rejected Wallace, with the AFL denouncing him as a "front, spokesman, and apologist for the Communist Party".<ref>Karabell (2007), p. 68</ref> With Wallace's foreign policy views overshadowing his domestic policy views, many liberals who had previously favored his candidacy returned to the Democratic fold.<ref>Patterson (1996), p. 157</ref>

Wallace embarked on a nationwide speaking tour to support his candidacy, encountering resistance in both the North and South.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 467–469</ref> He openly defied the [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow]] regime in the South, refusing to speak before segregated audiences.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 493–494</ref> [[Time (magazine)|''Time'']] magazine, which opposed Wallace's candidacy, described him as "ostentatiously" riding through the towns and cities of the segregated South "with his Negro secretary beside him".<ref name=Time1948>{{cite magazine |title=National Affairs – Eggs in the Dust |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,888452,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216122729/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C888452%2C00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 16, 2007 |date=September 13, 1948 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=January 17, 2009}}</ref> A barrage of eggs and tomatoes were hurled at Wallace and struck him and his campaign members during the tour. State authorities in Virginia sidestepped enforcing their own segregation laws by declaring Wallace's campaign gatherings private parties.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Am I in America?|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,779946,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201181234/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,779946,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 1, 2009 |date=September 6, 1948 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=January 17, 2009}}</ref> ''[[The Pittsburgh Press]]'' began publishing the names of known Wallace supporters. Scores of Wallace supporters in colleges and high schools lost their positions.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 468–469</ref> A supporter of Zionism, Wallace sought to deny Truman Jewish votes by promising to end the arms embargo on [[Israel]], which was currently fighting the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scher |first=Bill |date=2023-11-16 |title=When Middle East Politics (Almost) Tipped an American Presidential Election |url=http://washingtonmonthly.com/2023/11/16/when-middle-east-politics-almost-tipped-an-american-presidential-election/ |access-date=2024-03-14 |website=Washington Monthly |language=en-US}}</ref>

With strong financial support from [[Anita McCormick Blaine]], Wallace exceeded fundraising goals, and appeared on the ballot of every state except for Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Illinois.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 498–499</ref> The campaign distributed 25 million copies of 140 fliers and pamphlets. Nevertheless, Gallup polls showed support for Wallace falling from 7% in December 1947 to 5% in June 1948. He was endorsed by only two newspapers: the Communist ''Daily Worker'' in New York and ''The Gazette and Daily'' in York, Pennsylvania. Some in the press began to speculate that Wallace would drop out of the race.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 478, 497.</ref>

Wallace's supporters held a national convention in [[Philadelphia]] in July, formally establishing a new Progressive Party.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 480, 486</ref>{{efn|The party was influenced by, and took the same name as, defunct parties that had backed [[Theodore Roosevelt]] (in [[Bull Moose Party|1912]]) and [[Robert M. La Follette]] (in [[Progressive Party (United States, 1924–1934)|1924]]).<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), p. 486</ref>}} The party platform addressed a wide array of issues, and included support for the desegregation of public schools, [[gender equality]], a [[national health insurance]] program, free trade, and public ownership of large banks, railroads, and power utilities.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 480–481</ref>{{efn|Wallace did not dictate the party platform, and he personally opposed public ownership of banks, railroads, and utilities.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), p. 481</ref>}} The party was described as "progressively capitalist".<ref>Henry A. Wallace. [https://monthlyreviewarchives.org/index.php/mr/article/view/MR-001-12-1950-04_3 What Is Progressive Capitalism?], ''Monthly Review'', Vol. 1, No. 12: April 1950</ref> Another part of the platform stated, "responsibility for ending the tragic prospect of war is a joint responsibility of the Soviet Union and the United States".<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), p. 487</ref> During the convention, Wallace faced questioning regarding letters he had written to guru Nicholas Roerich; his refusal to comment on the letters was widely criticized.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 482–484</ref> Wallace was further damaged days after the convention when [[Whittaker Chambers]] and [[Elizabeth Bentley]] testified before the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]] that several government officials associated with Wallace (including [[Alger Hiss]] and [[John Abt]]) were Communist infiltrators.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 491–493</ref> Meanwhile, many Southern Democrats, outraged by the Democratic Party's pro-civil rights plank, bolted the party and nominated [[Strom Thurmond]] for president. With the Democrats badly divided, Republicans were confident that Republican nominee [[Thomas Dewey]] would win the election.<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 478–480</ref> Wallace himself predicted that Truman would be "the worst defeated candidate in history".<ref>Culver & Hyde (2000), p. 500</ref>

Though polls consistently showed him losing the race, Truman ran an effective campaign against Dewey and the conservative [[80th United States Congress]]. He ultimately defeated Dewey in both the popular and electoral vote.<ref>Patterson (1996), pp. 159–162</ref> Wallace won just 2.38 percent of the nationwide popular vote and failed to carry any state. His best performance was in New York, where he won eight percent of the vote. Just one of the party's congressional candidates, incumbent Congressman Vito Marcantonio, won election.<ref name="auto3">Culver & Hyde (2000), pp. 500–502</ref> Wallace traveled over 55,000 miles during the campaign.{{sfn|Schmidt|1960|p=214}} Though Wallace and Thurmond probably took many voters from Truman, their presence in the race may have boosted the president's overall appeal by casting him as the candidate of the center-left.<ref>Patterson (1996), p. 162</ref> In response to the election results, Wallace stated, "Unless this bi-partisan foreign policy of high prices and war is promptly reversed, I predict that the Progressive Party will rapidly grow into the dominant party. ... To save the peace of the world the Progressive Party is more needed than ever before".<ref name="auto3"/>

Historians Edward Schapsmeier and Frederick Schapsmeier argue:<ref>Schapsmeier and Schapsmeier, ''Schapsmeier and Schapsmeier.'' Henry A. Wallace of Iowa: The Agrarian Years, 1910-1940" (1970) p 181. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/abs/prophet-in-politics-henry-a-wallace-and-the-war-years-19401965-by-edward-l-schapsmeier-and-frederick-h-schapsmeier-ames-iowa-the-iowa-state-university-press-1970-pp-268-895/466D87392D5E3ED3D7A3A7A9B21FE695 online review]</ref><blockquote>The Progressive party stood for one thing and Wallace another. Actually the party organization was controlled from the outset by those representing the radical left and not liberalism per se. This made it extremely easy for Communists and fellow travelers to infiltrate into important positions within the party machinery. Once this happened, party stands began to resemble a party line. Campaign literature, speech materials, and campaign slogans sounded strangely like echoes of what Moscow wanted to hear. As if wearing moral blinkers, Wallace increasingly became an imperceptive ideologue. Words were uttered by Wallace that did not sound like him, and his performance took on a strange Jekyll and Hyde quality—one moment he was a peace protagonist and the next a propaganda parrot for the Kremlin.</blockquote>