1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:05,720 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 2 00:00:05,880 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, a 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: show for those interested in the big and bizarre moments 4 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: of history. I'm Gabe Lusier, and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: looking at the story of the first and so far 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 1: only candidate to run for the White House while locked 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: up in the Big House. The day was May thirteenth, 8 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty. The Socialist Party of America nominated Eugene V. 9 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:47,200 Speaker 1: Debs as its presidential candidate. That wasn't surprising in itself, 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: as Debs had already run for president four times on 11 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: the Socialist ticket since nineteen hundred. The difference in the 12 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty election was that Debs was currently serving a 13 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 1: ten year prison cents for seditious activities, and wasn't due 14 00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: for release until nineteen twenty eight, four years after the 15 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: end of his presidential term. By the time of his imprisonment, 16 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,839 Speaker 1: the sixty four year old Debs had spent a lifetime 17 00:01:14,959 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: advocating in defense of the common man. He began his 18 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: career as a railroad worker in his hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana. 19 00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: He started out as a paint scraper at age fourteen, 20 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,280 Speaker 1: but quickly worked his way up to become a railroad fireman, 21 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: the person who shovels coal into a train's firebox. In 22 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,119 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy five, he found his calling as a labor 23 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: advocate while serving as the secretary of the Brotherhood of 24 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: Locomotive Firemen. In this role, Debs pledged that the union 25 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: would fight to quote provide for the widows and orphans 26 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: who are daily left penniless and at the mercy of 27 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: public charity by the death of a brother fireman. Deb's 28 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: growing interest in the plight of the working c class 29 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: eventually led him to politics. He served two terms as 30 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: the Terre Haute City Clerk from eighteen seventy nine to 31 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty three, and was then elected to the Indiana 32 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 1: General Assembly in eighteen eighty four. Nine years later, Debs 33 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: expanded the scope of his advocacy by founding the American 34 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 1: Railway Union, or the ARU. The group's mission was to 35 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,800 Speaker 1: protect all workers in the railroad industry, rather than just 36 00:02:27,880 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: the fireman, and it quickly became one of the largest 37 00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: labor unions in the country, with one hundred and twenty 38 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: five local chapters nationwide. However, one year later, In eighteen 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: ninety four, Debs received his first prison sentence for his 40 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: role in the Pullman Railroad strike, the largest strike of 41 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: the nineteenth century. The fact that he was jailed for 42 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,359 Speaker 1: leading a worker's strike convinced Debs that the country's two 43 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: major political parties, Republicans and Democrats, were both under the 44 00:02:59,200 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: thumb of wealth the industrialists. This led him to conclude 45 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: that a third party was needed, one that would reflect 46 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: the interests of American workers. Debs used his six months 47 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: behind bars to acquaint himself with the works of Karl 48 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: Marx and the tenets of the European labor movements. After 49 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 1: his release, he declared himself a socialist and helped found 50 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 1: the Socialist Party of America. He ran as their nominee 51 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: in four consecutive presidential elections, and while he never won 52 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: a single electoral vote, he did garner six percent of 53 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 1: the popular vote during his fourth run in nineteen twelve. Still, 54 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: after losing four straight bids for the White House, Debs 55 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,840 Speaker 1: decided to set his sites a little lower in nineteen 56 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: sixteen by running for an Indiana congressional seat. He campaigned 57 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: on a platform of American neutrality in the First World War, 58 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 1: believing that the conflict would benefit arms, manufacturers and other 59 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: profiteers while resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands 60 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: of working class soldiers. Debs lost the race in Indiana, 61 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: but he continued his anti war crusade by holding public 62 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: rallies across the northeast United States. During a fiery speech 63 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: in March of nineteen seventeen, he told a New York 64 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: crowd of thousands that quote, I will never go to 65 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: war for a capitalist government. I'd rather be lined up 66 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 1: against a wall and shot down as a trader to 67 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: Wall Street than fight as a trader to myself. I 68 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: tell you it is better to live for your country 69 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:38,839 Speaker 1: than to die for Rockefeller and Morgan. One month later, 70 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,679 Speaker 1: the United States officially declared war against Germany, but even 71 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: that didn't deter Debs. He continued holding rallies even as 72 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: President Woodrow Wilson began to crack down on anti war critics. 73 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,520 Speaker 1: At first, the administration contented itself with an elaborate propaganda 74 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: campaign meant to bolster public support for the war, but 75 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 1: then in June of nineteen seventeen, Congress passed the Espionage Act, 76 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: which enabled the government to block the distribution of anti 77 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: war newspapers and to arrest protesters on charges of interfering 78 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: with military progress. This was followed by the Sedition Act 79 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: of nineteen eighteen, which restricted the free speech rights of 80 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: US citizens by making it illegal to quote, wilfully, utter, print, write, 81 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:34,240 Speaker 1: or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about 82 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: the government of the United States. Speaking out against the 83 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: war had just become more dangerous than ever, but still 84 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: Debs would not relent. He continued to speak at Socialist 85 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: Party gatherings throughout the Midwest, culminating in his now famous 86 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 1: appearance at a city park in Canton, Ohio, on June sixteenth, 87 00:05:55,480 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: nineteen eighteen. For the better part of two hours, Deb's delay, 88 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: I've heard a socialist critique of US involvement in the war, 89 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: which he described as a battle between the ruling classes 90 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: of opposing nations. They have always taught and trained you, 91 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:14,480 Speaker 1: he said, to believe it to be your patriotic duty 92 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,480 Speaker 1: to go to war and to have yourselves slaughtered at 93 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,159 Speaker 1: their command. But in all the history of the world, you, 94 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,799 Speaker 1: the people, have never had a voice in declaring war. 95 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: The master class has always declared the wars. The subject 96 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: class has always fought the battles. The master class has 97 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the 98 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: subject class has had nothing to gain and all to lose, 99 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: especially their lives. A few days after his appearance in Canton, 100 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,839 Speaker 1: Eugene Debs was arrested on his way to another event 101 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: in Cleveland. He was subsequently tried and found guilty on 102 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 1: three counts of violating the Espionage and Sedition Acts, and 103 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,919 Speaker 1: for that he was sentenced to ten ten years in 104 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: a federal penitentiary. Acting as his own attorney, Debs appealed 105 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:08,719 Speaker 1: his case all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court, 106 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: but the verdict was ultimately upheld, and so in April 107 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: of nineteen nineteen, Debs reported to prison in Moundsville, West Virginia, 108 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: where he was assigned the convict number of two two 109 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: five three. He telegraphed his supporters just before his arrival, 110 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: saying quote, I enter the prison doors a flaming revolutionist, 111 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 1: my head erect, my spirit untamed, and my soul unconquerable. 112 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: Deb's popularity among his supporters proved equally resilient when the 113 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: Socialist Party held its national convention in New York on 114 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: May thirteenth, nineteen twenty, it unanimously nominated Debs as its 115 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,440 Speaker 1: candidate for the presidency. By that point, Debs had been 116 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: transferred to a penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, where he'd been 117 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: given a new convent nine six five three. In a 118 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: bid to capitalize on his notoriety as America's most famous 119 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:12,160 Speaker 1: political prisoner, the Socialist Party produced campaign buttons with Deb's 120 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: picture and the words convict nine six five three for President. 121 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: Two weeks after the convention, Debs officially accepted the party's 122 00:08:21,720 --> 00:08:25,559 Speaker 1: nomination in a carefully choreographed event at the Atlanta prison. 123 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:29,920 Speaker 1: It was filmed by newsreel cameras and shown in movie 124 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: theaters across the country, much to the annoyance of President Wilson. 125 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: In the months ahead, Debs continued to campaign from his 126 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: prison cell, issuing weekly statements through the United Press wire service. 127 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: He and his fellow Socialists knew they didn't really stand 128 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: a chance of winning the election, so rather than trying 129 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:53,200 Speaker 1: to sell the public on socialist policies, they billed the 130 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,800 Speaker 1: party as a protest vote against the government's repressive free 131 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: speech laws and for a candidate who was literally barred 132 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 1: from the campaign trail, he didn't fare as badly as 133 00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: you might expect. When the election results came in on 134 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: November two, nineteen twenty, Republican Warren G. Harding was declared 135 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: the winner with four hundred and four electoral votes. The 136 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: Democrat James Cox's won twenty seven. Debs had once again 137 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: failed to garner a single electoral vote, but he came 138 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,120 Speaker 1: in a distant third in the popular claiming three point 139 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: four percent of the electorate, or just under a million votes. 140 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,360 Speaker 1: Deb's supporters spent the rest of the year pleading for 141 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: President Wilson to grant him a pardon, but even after 142 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:45,800 Speaker 1: Congress repealed the Sedition Act on December thirteenth, Wilson emphatically refused. However, 143 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: his successor, President Harding, proved more sympathetic. On Christmas Day, 144 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty one, he commuted Deb's sentence, along with twenty 145 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: three other protesters who'd been convicted under the Sedition Act. 146 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,720 Speaker 1: Debs was released after spending two and a half years 147 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,400 Speaker 1: in prison, and when he exited through the gates to 148 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: the cheers of his fellow inmates, he once again found 149 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:14,280 Speaker 1: newsreel cameras waiting for him. Due to his declining health, 150 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: Eugene Victor Debs never mounted a sixth campaign for president. 151 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: He died a free man in nineteen twenty six at 152 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,959 Speaker 1: the age of seventy, and is remembered today as one 153 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: of the most effective political dissidents of the twentieth century, 154 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: as well as the first and hopefully only person to 155 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: run for president from prison. I'm gay, Blues Yay, and 156 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,600 Speaker 1: hopefully you now know a little more about history today 157 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to keep up 158 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:49,679 Speaker 1: with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 159 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: and Instagram at TDI HC Show, and if you have 160 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send him my 161 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: way by writing to this Day at iHeartMedia dot com. 162 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: Thanks to kas B. Bias for producing the show, and 163 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:06,959 Speaker 1: thanks to you for listening. I'll see you back here 164 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History Class.