While the Socialist Party received an injection of enthusiasm in the aftermath of the first Presidential run of Norman Thomas in November 1928 and gained adherents in the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street Crash and the coming of the Great Depression, many believe the party's growth during the first half of the 1930s was also due to Clarence Senior's energetic leadership. Historian David Shannon called 1930. Senior's first year on the job as Executive Secretary, "the first full year of vigorous leadership for the party since [Otto] Branstetter resigned in the early 1920s." A period of growth followed, with 32 new SPA locals established in 1930, 96 more in 1931, and nearly 600 in 1932.