Upton Sinclair

### Affiliation

United States of America (SPA)Socialist Commonwealth of America (SPA-Federalist)

### Occupation

* 2nd President of the Socialist Commonwealth (1949 - 1957)
* Member of the Worker's Congress from New Jersey (1945 - 1949)

## Biographical information

### Marital status

Meta Fuller (1900 - 1911)Mary Craig Kimbrough (1913 - 1961)

### Place of death

Bound Brook, New Jersey, S.C.

**Upton Beall Sinclair Jr.** (20 September, 1878 – 25 November, 1968) was an American politician, writer, and muckraker journalist who served as the 2nd President of the Socialist Commonwealth from Janaury 25, 1949 to January 25, 1957.

A lifelong member of the Socialist Party of America, Sinclair first gained widespread notoriety for his 1906 novel *The Jungle*, which exposed the corruption and poor sanitary conditions in the meatpacking industry. The public uproar following the publish of Sinclair's novel led to the creation of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. In addition to this exposé, Sinclair would publish *The Brass Check* in 1919, which served as a critique of the newspaper industry and the popular use of yellow journalism, leading to the creation of the first code of ethics for American journalism.

Sinclair briefly left the SPA in 1917 over his support for American intervention in the First Weltkrieg. He would later return to the party in 1920, and later became a member and notable advocate for the Combined Syndicates of America. After running unsuccesfully several times for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sinclair ran as the SPA candidate for Governor of California in 1926 and 1930. In 1930, he created the End Poverty in California (EPIC) movement, and published the pamphlet *I, Governor of California, and How I ended Poverty: A True Story of the Future*, which laid out his plans to deal with the Great Depression once he became Governor. Despite the enormous popularity of EPIC among California voters, Sinclair barely lost the 1930 election to equally popular Republican Mayor of San Francisco James "Sunny Jim" Rolph, in the closest and most contentious gubernatorial election in California history. Sinclair attempted to seek the Governorship for a third time in 1934, but was arrested and convicted by the state in 1931 for supposedly violating the Criminal Syndicalism Act of 1919, which criminalized syndicalist activity. Sinclair appealed his conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, and in the case of *California v. Sinclair*, ruled that the law was unconstitutional. Sinclair's conviction was overturned, and he was set free.

Upon the outbreak of the Second American Civil War, Sinclair opted to remain in California, even as the Provisional Pacific Coalition was fighting against the Combined Syndicates of America. Following the ceasefire, Sinclair and his wife moved back to New Jersey, and once again began partaking in politics. He was invited to the Second Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. Afterwards, he was elected as one of the first trade union representatives in the Worker's Congress for the state of New Jersey. In 1948, he became the Federalist faction nominee for president, and went on to defeat incumbent President Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. During his tenure, Sinclair re-introduced a market economy to the Socialist Commonwealth, while also retaining the system of labor vouchers created by his predecessor. Sinclair successfully pushed for the creation of a national healthcare system, improved nationwide infastructure, and served as a key founder of the Fourth International. He was re-elected in 1952, and was succeeded by Walter Reuther in 1956.

Historical rankins have generally placed him as one of the greatest leaders of the Socialist Commonwealth. Despite proposals in his younger years for the establishment of a planned economy, in modern times his administration is seen as the first popular advocate for Market socialism in the world.

## Early life and education

Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Upton Beall Sinclair Sr. and Priscilla Harden Sinclair. His father was a liquor salesman whose alcoholism shadowed his son's childhood. Priscilla Harden Sinclair was a strict Episcopalian who disliked alcohol, tea, and coffee. Both of Upton Sinclair's parents were of British ancestry. His paternal grandparents were Scottish, and all of his ancestors emigrated to America from Great Britain during the late 1600s and early 1700s. As a child, Sinclair slept either on sofas or cross-ways on his parents' bed. When his father was out for the night, he would sleep in the bed with his mother. His mother's family was very affluent: her parents were very prosperous in Baltimore, and her sister married a millionaire. Sinclair had wealthy maternal grandparents with whom he often stayed. This gave him insight into how both the rich and the poor lived during the late 19th century. Living in two social settings affected him and greatly influenced his books. Upton Beall Sinclair Sr. was from a highly respected family in the South, but the family was financially ruined by the Civil War, the end of slavery causing disruptions of the labor system during the Reconstruction era, and an extended agricultural depression.

Sinclair developed a love for reading when he was five years old. He read every book his mother owned for a deeper understanding of the world. He did not start school until he was 10 years old. He was deficient in math and worked hard to catch up quickly because of his embarrassment. In 1888, the Sinclair family moved to Queens, New York City, New York, where his father sold shoes. Upton entered the City College of New York five days before his 14th birthday, on September 15, 1892. He wrote jokes, dime novels, and magazine articles in boys' weekly and pulp magazines to pay for his tuition. With that income, he was able to move his parents to an apartment when he was seventeen years old.

He graduated from City College in June 1897. He subsequently studied law at Columbia University, but he was more interested in writing. He learned several languages, including Spanish, German, and French. He paid the one-time enrollment fee to be able to learn a variety of subjects. He would sign up for a class and then later drop it. He again supported himself through college by writing boys' adventure stories and jokes. He also sold ideas to cartoonists. Using stenographers, he wrote up to 8,000 words of pulp fiction per day. His only complaint about his educational experience was that it failed to educate him about socialism. After leaving Columbia without a degree, he wrote four books in the next four years; they were commercially unsuccessful though critically well-received: *King Midas* (1901), *Prince Hagen* (1902), *The Journal of Arthur Stirling* (1903), and a Civil War novel, *Manassas* (1904).

## Muckracker

In addition to writing poetry, Sinclair began working as an investigative journalist in 1904. He took an interest in Chicago's meatpacking plants, and soon began spending several weeks in disguise, working undercover to research the conditions of workers in the plants. His experiences fueled the creation of *The Jungle*, which became an instant sensation upon its release. In addition to this, Sinclair began sending numerous letters to President Theodore Roosevelt, inquiring as to how he planned to regulate the meatpacking industry. Annoyed with his zealotry, Roosevelt referred to Sinclair in private as a "crackpot" and told Frank Doubleday to "Tell Sinclair to go home and let me run the country for a while." Roosevelt would ultimately sign the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act into law, which banned the mislabeling of food products and increase sanitation respectively. Sinclair primarily intended the book to be showcase the mistreatment of workers in meatpacking plants, specifically immigrant workers. Sinclair would later remarked "I had aimed at the Public's heart and by accident I hit it in the stomach." With the income from *The Jungle*, Sinclair founded the utopian—but non-Jewish white only—Helicon Home Colony in Englewood, New Jersey. The colony burned down under suspicious circumstances within a year.

From 1913 to 1914, Sinclair made three trips to the coal fields of Colorado, which led him to write *King Coal* and caused him to begin work on the larger, more historical *The Coal War.* In 1914, Sinclair helped organize demonstrations in New York City against Rockefeller at the Standard Oil offices. The demonstrations touched off more actions by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the *Mother Earth* group, a loose association of anarchists and IWW members, in Rockefeller's hometown of Tarrytown. In 1919, Sinclair wrote *The Brass Check* after spending years investigating the corrupt nature of American newspapers. Aside from his political and social writings, Sinclair took an interest in occult phenomena and experimented with telepathy. His book *Mental Radio* (1930) included accounts of his wife Mary's telepathic experiences and abilities.

## 1930 gubernatorial campaign and the EPIC movement

In the 1920s, the Sinclairs moved to Monrovia, California, (near Los Angeles), where Sinclair founded the state's chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Wanting to pursue politics, he twice ran unsuccessfully for United States Congress on the Socialist Party ticket: in 1920 for the House of Representatives and in 1922 for the Senate. He was the party candidate for governor of California in 1926, winning nearly 50,000 votes.

With the Great Depression severely affecting the state of California, particularly farmers, Sinclair felt called to once again run for governor. In 1930, Sinclair published *I, Governor of California, and How I ended Poverty: A True Story of the Future*, which outlined his plan for the state. In it, he laid out the End Poverty In California (EPIC) plan, which involved creating massive public works programs, a progressive income tax, guaranteed old age pensions, and the insitution of a planned economy, or as he called it: "production for use". Sinclair's EPIC plan rapidly gained popularity during the lead up to election day, and the California branch of the Socialist Party of America saw a massive rise in support. The SPA soon began facilitating the creation of EPIC social clubs across California. The California Democratic Party, fearing a vote split leading to a Sinclair victory, decided not to nominate a candidate for governor, and instead endorsed Republican candidate James Rolph.

Hollywood studio bosses unanimously opposed Sinclair. They pressured their employees to assist and vote for Rolph's campaign, and made false propaganda films attacking Sinclair, giving him no opportunity to respond. Additionally, the major film studioes threatened to move to their operations to another state if Sinclair was elected. Conservatives considered his proposal an attempted communist takeover of their state and quickly opposed him, using propaganda to portray Sinclair as a staunch syndicalist. Sinclair himself was occasionally sent death threats through the mail. Sinclair's supporters responded in kind, organizing pro-EPIC demonstrations, and occasionally getting into brawls with California Republicans on the streets. On November 4, 1930, Rolph just barely defeated Sinclair with 50.8% of the vote, compared to Sinclair's 49.2%. This would make the 1930 gubernatorial election the closest in California history.

## California v. Sinclair and the Civil War

Following his 1930 defeat, Sinclair had publicly declared that he intented to run for governor for a third time in 1934. However in 1931, Sinclair was suddenly arrested by Los Angeles Police Department and indicted for supposedly using his 1930 gubernatorial campaign to ecourage syndicalist agitation, a violation of the California Criminal Syndicalism Act of 1919. Socialists from around California and the country protested Sinclair's arrest, the American Civil Liberties Union reached out and chose to defend Sinclair in court. In 1932, Sinclair was convicted by a California jury, to which he appealed the conviction to the Supreme Court of California. The higher court upheld the decision, so Sinclair and the ACLU appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court in 1933. In the case of *California v. Sinclair,* the court sided with Sinclair, with Chief Justice Louis Brandeis handing down the opinion, stating that "The remedy for dangerous speech not in sweeping suppression, but in the open exchange of ideas, vigorous debate, and the power of reason." Despite his conviction being overturned, Sinclair reversed course, and opted not to run again in 1934, telling others that he was exhausted and that he feared for his life. He reportedly remarked to one friend that "The moneyed class with have nothing short of my head if I even so much as leave my house in the morning."

Sinclair and his wife were still living in Monrovia when the Second American Civil War began in early 1937. He had mixed feelings about the intent and general tactics of the Combined Syndicates, but still privately supported their efforts. Sinclair intentionally kept a low profile during this time, fearing that the government of California may target him again for his past association with the C.S.A.. He had intially wanted to cover the conflict as a war correspondent, but decided against it. During the war, he spent most of his time at home, focusing on writing more non-political novels. This where Sinclair began writing the first few books in his Lanny Budd series of novels. By the end of the war, he had published *Wide Is the Gate*, the fourth book in the series. In 1943, Sinclair and his wife made the decision to move back to New Jersey.

## Representative in the Worker's Congress

Due to his popularity in socialist circles, Sinclair was invited by the C.S.A. Executive Committee to the opening of the Second Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The convention convened in June 1943, and Sinclair took part in debates over the ratification of a new syndicalist costitution. These debates led to him strongly identifying with the Federalist wing of the Socialist Party of America, as oppossed to the more orthodox Unionist wing. The convention officially ended in September, and Sinclair returned home to New Jersey.

In 1944, Sinclair was nominated by local trade unions to serve as the first official union representative in the newly formed Worker's Congress. Sinclair accepted, and was elected and later inaugurated in early 1945. Once in Washington, D.C., he was appointed to the congressional committee for resources and agriculture. Resource shortages and the rationing of food were problems that Sinclair dealt with constantly during his first term.

During the Amarillo Affair, Sinclair was one of the leading critics of the Flynn administration, calling for the resignation of General Secretary Foster in fiery speeches. In one speech, where he spoke about the inhumane treatment of veterans, Sinclair was quoted as saying that "The brave men and women who fought in the civil war, and who now sit in prison camps across the southwest, have known nothing but death and subjugation. It is now the Commonwealth's resposibility to show them what freedom is." Sinclair's actions made him a rising star in Commonwealth politics, and he generally received praise for his statements in congress.

## Presidency

In early 1948, during the lead up to the upcoming congressional election that would decide control of the presidency, Sinclair was nominated by the Federalists as their nominee for president. Sinclair accepted the nomination, and began campaigning all across the war torn Commonwealth. On election day, Sinclair defeated incumbent Elizabeth Gurley Flynn in an electoral blowout. Upon his inauguration, he selected Norman Thomas, Flynn's main opponent in the 1944 election, to be his general secretary.

## Legacy

Sinclair is often ranked as the greatest president of the Socialist Commonwealth. His economic reforms stimulated the fledglingly Commonwealth economy, allowing it to recover from the Second American Civil War. Under his leadership, the country established itself as a robust middle power, and one that could properly counter the might and influence of the German Empire.