Norman Thomas

**Norman Mattoon Thomas** (20 November, 1884 – 19 December, 1968) was an American revolutionary, politician, and former Presbyterian minister who served as the 3rd General Secretary of the Socialist Commonwealth of America from January 26, 1949 to January 25, 1953. Previous to this, he also served as the Vice President of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, and as the 98th Mayor of New York City. A devoted member of the Socialist Party of America (SPA), he was the party's nominee for president in the 1928 United States presidential election, losing to Republican candidate Herbert Hoover.

Thomas was born in Marion, Ohio in 1884 as the son of a Presbyterian minister, and after graduating from Princeton University he enrolled in Union Theological Seminary, becoming ordained as a minster himself in 1911. When the German campaign of unrestriced submarine warfare threatened to pull the United States into the Weltkrieg, Thomas became an outspoken opponent of American intervention and joined the SPA in 1918. He was selected to head the autonomous branch of anti-revolution unions of the CSA at the June 1925 Pan-Union Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Thomas emerged as the unofficial leader of the SPA after the death of Eugene V. Debs in 1926, becoming the party's nominee for president in the 1928 presidential election. He succeeded in taking several Midwestern states, the best result for the party up to that time, but was unable to keep Herbert Hoover from attaining a majority of votes in the electoral college. He was elected Mayor of New York City in 1934 and unsuccessfully ran for Governor of New York in 1934, losing to Quentin Roosevelt.

In 1936, Thomas was selected as the SPA nominee for vice president, running alongside New York Senator Jack Reed. Following the 1937 contingent election in the House of Representatives, in which House Speaker John Nance Garner won, Thomas was one of many prominent socialists who called for a general strike to protest the results. Once the Second American Civil War began, Thomas publicly called for an overthrow of the U.S. government. He oversaw the movements of Syndicalist forces during the Battle of New York City, successfully beating back Federalist troops. He would spend the next two years attempting to alleviate the wartime destruction in the state of New York, as well as helping to counter Canadian military incursion.

Relocating to Chicago in 1939, Thomas would serve as a member of the Executive Committee of the Combined Syndicates of America for the remainder of the war. Being seen as Jack Reed's most trusted advisor, Thomas was later appointed as Vice President of Provisional Revolutionary Government following the signing of the Rocky Mountain Armistice. Thomas was the Federalist faction nominee for president of the Commonwealth in 1944, losing to Unionist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. After briefly retreating from public life, Thomas was appointed General Secretary of the Commonwealth following Upton Sinclair's electoral victory in 1948. He oversaw the implementation of Sinclair's market reforms. After being succeeded as general secretary by David Dubinsky, Thomas would retire from politics. Upon his death he was venerated by the Commonwealth government as an elder statesman and champion of social justice.