The 1952 Progressive National Convention was held in July 4–6 1952 at the Ashland Boulevard Auditorium in Chicago, Illinois. The party ratified the 1952 presidential nominees and party platform of the Progressive Party, a short-lived minor American political party that had been founded in 1948.
The convention ratified the party's selection of Vincent Hallinan and Charlotta Bass to be its presidential and vice presidential nominees. Bass (an African American woman) became the first woman of color to be nominated for vice president. Hallinan was unable to attend the convention due to serving jail time for contempt of court. A presidential nomination acceptance speech was read on his behalf by his wife, Vivian. Bass attended the convention and delivered a vice presidential nomination acceptance speech. W. E. B. Du Bois, the convention's temporary chairman, delivered the convention's keynote speech.
Hallinan and Bass received 140,000 votes in the general election, which amounted to 0.2% of the popular vote. This was far less than the 1,157,326 (2% of the popular vote) that the party had received in the 1948 election.
Background Progressive Party The Progressive Party was a left wing party. The Progressive Party was formed ahead of the preceding 1948 presidential election as a collective of several left wing groups and parties. Among these was Communist Party USA (the American Communist Party). The Communist Party had come to see its involvement in the new Progressive Party as more likely to result in electoral success than running candidates under its own label, due to communism's growing unpopularity in the United States amid the rise of the Cold War. It therefore was a member organization of the Progressive Party for the 1948 presidential elections, rather than running its own nominees. In 1948 election, former vice president Henry A. Wallace served as the party's presidential nominee, with Glen H. Taylor as his vice presidential running mate. Despite early projections of Wallace receiving as much as 10% or 20% of the popular vote, the party's ticket ultimately won a disappointing 2% of the popular vote. The party was perhaps harmed in the election by the active participation of the American Communist Party in the party, which was off-putting to non-communist voters.
In the years since the 1948 election (amid the Red Scare), many of the Progressive Party's national leaders had been accused by the American government of being communists and subversives. Wallace (the party's founder and its 1948 presidential nominee) was absent from the convention. Wallace had disassociated himself from the party and its membership soon after the start of the Korean War in reaction to the accusations levied by the government against key party figures. In April 1952, columnist Victor Riesel derided the then-upcoming convention as "the biggest propaganda show" of "the Pro-Soviet apparatus in this country." By 1952, it had become a rump of what it had been in 1948. Decades later, University of Pittsburgh history professor Richard Jules would reflect that after 1948, the Progressive Party, "faltered on through the 1952 campaign, but was justifiably viewed by most non-Communist observers as little more than a Communist front".
In his report on the opening day of the convention, Ray Dorsey of the Cleveland Plain Dealer described the party as "far to the left" writing that,
Convention logistics
The convention's theme was "The People Speak – for Peace". The three-day convention had 2,000 delegates and approximately 2,500 total participants. It took place at the Ashland Boulevard Auditorium on the West Side of Chicago. The city of Chicago was also set to host the Republican convention and the Democratic convention that same month. The Progressive Party had previously held a non-presidential national party convention at the Ashland Boulevard Auditorium in 1950. The 1952 convention concluded on July 6, the eve of the Republican convention.
The convention took place during particularly hot summer weather in Chicago, and the interior of the convention venue is remembered to have been especially hot due to its lighting.
Convention leadership and notable participants W. E. B. Du Bois (an alternate delegate to the convention) served as the convention's temporary chairman for its first evening. On the second day of the convention, former congressman Vito Marcantonio was voted to serve as the permanent chairman for the remainder of the convention. Pauline Taylor (chairwoman of the Ohio state party) served as the convention's permanent secretary. Among the top figures in the party's leadership at the time of the convention was the party's secretary Calvin Benham Baldwin, who was also involved in the convention.
Among the other notable participants in the convention were Hugh De Lacy (former congressman) and Willard Ransom (Indiana NAACP leader).
Nominees
In March 1952, the Progressive Party's national committee selected its presidential ticket in a party meeting held in Chicago. Vincent Hallinan was chosen for president and Charlotta Bass was chosen for vice president. Bass (an African American woman) was the first woman of color nominated for vice president. The convention in part served to have the party's delegates formalize the nomination of this ticket. The nomination vote was held on the second day of the convention.
Reporter Sidney Roger (a leftist, and attendee of the 1952 Progressive convention) would later reflect in the 1990s on the convention and its nominees, remarking,
Party platform The party's platform was adopted on July 5. The co-chairs of the convention's platform committee were Earl B. Dickerson (president of the National Lawyers Guild), Katherine Van Orden, and Hugh Bryson. Dickerson touted the party's platform as promising on civil rights for African Americans, arguing that both party's had proven unable to pass civil rights legislation. Dickerson remarked, "the undeniable fact is that not since 1875 has either party passed a single law to implement equality."
The initial draft of the platform called for: Ending the Korean War through negotiation (party literature in advance of the platform's adoption had dubbed the war "a useless and senseless intervention") Seating the People's Republic of China (Chinese Communist Party-led government of mainland China) in the United Nations An "end of United States intervention throughout the world" An end to the United States' blockade of Formosa (part of the First Taiwan Strait Crisis) An extensive plan (to be sponsored by the United Nations, and developed in collaboration with the People's Republic of China) that would rehabilitate the Asian continent
Peace The platform called peace "the mandate of the people".Progressive Party Platform, p. 4
Calvin Benham Baldwin (party secretary) said that the party would, "demand a formula which will allow the American people to live at peace with the 200,000,000 people of the Soviet Union and the 460,000,000 people of China."
The platform called for: Rejecting "the idea that war is inevitable" Ending "the biggest graft of all: the war-racket" A ceasefire to the Korean WarProgressive Party Platform, p. 1 Cooperation between the United States and the Soviet UnionProgressive Party Platform, p. 3 Disarmament Disarmament in Germany: "stop the rearmament and renazification of a disunited Germany. We must work out an agreement at the conference table with England, France, and the Soviet Union to make Germany united and disarmed neutral. Opposition to rearming Japan, and calling for "a conference of all the former belligerents against Japan for the negotiation of a peace treaty Negotiation of an international agreement outlawing the use of atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. Such a treaty would have "effective control and inspection of atomic stockpiles and installations" Ratification of the Geneva Protocol banning the use of chemical weapons and biological weapons in war Using the United Nations as a tool to advance "progressive universal disarmament" Opposition to any bill mandating universal military training. Repealing the military draft law Providing "full representation in the United Nations by admitting all present applicant nations, including seating the People's Republic of China (Chinese Communist Party-led government of mainland China) in the United Nations Withdraw United Nations recognition of "fascist Spain" (Francoist Spain) Ending "trade barriers to peaceful trade between America and the Soviet Union, China, and Eastern Europe." "Support the demands for independence and freedom of colonial peoples all over the world." Ending "support for fascist and racist regimes such as the Malan government in South Africa" Ending support for, "all other imperialism which hold African and Asian peoples in colonial bondage" "Support democratic movements in Latin America and reverse the present policy of support to South American dictatorships." "Repeal all laws imposing restrictions on the economic and political independence of the Philippines" Granting "full and immediate" Puerto Rican independence, and extending economic assistance to an independent Puerto Rico Granting full statehood to the territories of Alaska and Hawaii Holding of "a conference of the "five great powers" as "the only peaceful means for securing an over-all settlement of differences"
Jobs and security Promising "jobs and security for all Americans", the platform called for:
A "prompt return to a peacetime economy", which it asserted would be "the only real guarantee of economic security for the American people." The platform accused the two major parties of contrarily proposing "war and a war economy" as a means to "generate prosperity and stave off depression". The platform faulted war production with "soaring prices, crushing taxes, frozen wages, mounting unemployment, and sharply reduced living standards", and argued that "production for peace" would reverse these trends.Progressive Party Platform, p. 5 Strict price controls, including price ceilings and the restoration of rent at pre-Korean War rates through federal rent control.Progressive Party Platform, p. 6 Ending "wage-freeze", and a "return to free collective bargaining" Repealing the Taft–Hartley Act, re-enacting the Wagner Act, and preventing the passage of the "anti-labor bill" proposed by Sen. Howard W. Smith A national housing program that would add 2.5 million new units of low-cost rental units each year, along with public housing subsidies to sustain low rents. "Wipe out the slums and provide all Americans with decent homes, without discrimination or segregation." Various tax policies: Creation of a tax exemption for families of four with income below $4,000 and for individuals with incomes below $2,000. Creation of childcare tax deductions for working mothers Increased corporate taxes Closing of tax loopholes for "wealthy individuals and large corporations" Preventing the creation of a federal sales tax Repealing "the excise tax on necessities" Tax relief for small businesses Welfare programs to "guarantee to all Americans without discrimination benefits equal to a minimum decent standard of living", which would specifically include: Comprehensive federal welfare system for senior citizens Compensation of no less than $150 monthly to senior citizens Expansion of the Social Security Act to cover all workers and all self-employed individuals, including farmers Unemployment and disability benefits of "no less than $40 weekly, with additional dependency allowances" Child benefits to families of $3 weekly per child Providing dependency benefits to working mothers at an amount equal to unemployment benefits