Channels, Spring 2017

Channels • 2017 • Volume 1 • Number 2 Page 47 times, allowing for an income tax, the direct election of senators, the right of women to vote, and the later-repealed prohibition on selling alcohol. In some ways, Americans and their representatives saw something deeply imperfect about their nation and sought large- scale changes in order to bring improvement. Due to America’s military actions overseas, her global position changed to the status of a leading power. The United States was changing internally, and the outside world was changing around her, providing an interesting and powerful background for a study. These 26 years of Eugene V. Debs’ life provide the historical setting for an examination of his impact as a leader of the Socialist Party. The relevant topics towards which this study will be directed include the state of socialist political parties in America before Debs, his impact on membership as a popular figure, his influence on ideology and its spread, the results of his presidential campaigns, his effect on the structure and health of the Party organization, and the external, national trends in favor of or opposition to socialism which contextualize his leadership. By considering these various categories, this work will seek to synthesize a matrix for evaluating the effect of Eugene Debs’ leadership. Achieving understanding of each subject and Debs’ influence in relation to each will allow for a general consideration of the overall results of his actions and presence as the key figure in the political party of American Socialism. As far as the overall view of the field toward Debs, there is a fairly consistent division of positions among scholars. Eugene Debs was a controversial figure in his day, and the analysis of historians has maintained the sharp dichotomy of opinion despite the fact that both sides are working from basically the same sources. Given Debs’ proximity to the present day and his nature as an activist, speaker and writer, his speeches, papers, and the many opinions of various others are readily and fortunately available for those who have attempted to compose a thorough account of his life and achievements. There has been some variance due to the different aspects of Debs’ life and work which have been considered. Still, two major opposing perspectives in the field prevail. One is that Debs was a powerful, energetic speaker who brought the Socialist movement in America together as a Party and forced the major parties to coopt its progressive social agenda. The other claims that Debs was a distracted, ineffective idealist whose grand plans and utopian initiatives combined with his obstinate unwillingness to actively work in the organization of the Party’s political apparatus undermined the opportunity for the Socialist Party to succeed meaningfully in its heyday. While the polarization is not this complete, these are the bookend distinctions, with most works falling on a continuum in between. Characteristic of the two main opinions relating to Debs are the works Eugene V. Debs Speaks and “Labor Hero Eugene V. Debs: ‘A Dedication to Unpopularity’” against “Debs’ Cooperative Commonwealth Plan for Workers” and Eugene V. Debs: A Biography . The former was originally published as The Bending Cross , by the authors James Cannon, Frederick C. Gamst, Bernard Brommel, and Ray Ginger respectively. While other writers and works have elaborated on both sides, these books and articles are characteristic and authoritative and thus warrant some further examination to establish the key arguments that historical analyses of Debs use.