American Radicals, Left and Right

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

In 1939, a pair of mass rallies revealed the breadth of the American political spectrum on the eve of the Second World War. In February, the German-American Bund staged a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden (top); in September, the Communist Party USA gathered in Chicago (bottom).

.

Despite their apparent foreign allegiances, these extremist organizations from the far right and far left sought to depict themselves as wholly American. The “Star-Spangled Banner” was sung at each event, with attendees engaging in other patriotic displays. Each group appropriated an iconic president, too. The Bund claimed their vision of an America that was “patriotic, free from class hatred and political discrimination” originated with George Washington; the CPUSA, meanwhile, embraced Abraham Lincoln, whose fame as both the Great Emancipator and the Great Commoner fit their needs.

Latest Primary Source
  • |
    October 14, 2015 9:00 a.m.

    “The facts are that I wrote Haiti’s constitution, myself, and if I do say it, I think it’s a pretty…

  • |
    October 9, 2015 5:35 p.m.

    The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1964, ensuring that the right of citizens of the…

  • |
    October 7, 2015 4:30 p.m.

    Depiction of Sumerian beer drinkers, 2600BCE, using stalks to drink from large, communal containers. Image Available At: http://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2012/cdlj2012_002_fig/figure1.jpg An early…

  • |
    October 5, 2015 8:49 p.m.

    In 1933, Albert Einstein petitioned Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to allow “forty professors and doctors from Germany” to immigrate…

Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: