Progressive Union | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founder | Smedley Butler |
| Founded | June 28th, 1937 |
| Ideology | Progressivism, Social Democracy, Social Liberalism |
| Political position | center-left |
The Progressive Union is a center-left political party active in the United States of America. Founded in 1938 as a merger between several left-wing political parties, the party would rise in prominence throughout the 1940s.
Smedley Butler, An American soldier and Senator from Pennsylvania, was crucial in the formation of the Progressive Union
History[]
In both the 1932 and 1936 elections, there existed disatisfcation among American progressives who felt that the pro-business conservative factions had taken over both parties and that there was a need for a third party to represent the interests of the American working class. The earliest advocates for a third party would come from Pennsylvania Republican Senator Smedley Butler in 1934. However, the progressive vote was split amongst a bunch of different parties, including the progressive wings of the Democratic and Republican parties. In order to address these divisions, delegates from several left-wing parties would meet in Philadelphia in 1936. After years of talks between parties, the Progressive Union would officially be formed on June 28th, 1937 at the conclusion of the Philadelphia Convention. The Progressive Union would be founded as a merger between the Socialist Party, American Labor Party, the Social Democratic Federation, the Farmer–Labor Party, the Progressive Party, and progressive members of the Democratic and Republican parties. A "bull moose" would become the party's official logo in 1944, a nod to Theodore Roosevelt's original 1912 Progressive Party.
Henry A. Wallace, the first Presidential nominee for the Progressive Union (1940)
In the leadup the 1940 election, Smedley Butler had emerged as the frontrunner throughout much of 1939. However, Butler's death in early 1940 would open a power vacuum for the nomination. This would result in peace advocate Norman Thomas and Iowa politician Henry A. Wallace arising as the frontrunners in the leadup to the convention. Ultimately, Henry Wallace would edge out Norman Thomas for the presidential nomination, but Thomas would win the nomination for Vice President. The Wallace-Thomas ticket, while not winning in the electoral college, would overperform expectations in the popular vote, winning over 7 million votes in the process.
Following the 1940 election, the Progressive Union would go through an aggressive internal rebranding in order to attract more mainstream support from social liberals and social democrats rather than retaining a "hardline" base consisting of socialists. As a result, the Progressive Union would nominate more moderate candidates in both 1944 and 1948. However, this came at the cost of losing many of the socialists and more staunchly leftist members of the Progressive Union. Former nominee Henry A. Wallace would announce his breaking away from the Progressive Union in favor of re-establishing the Socialist Party of the United States alongside former Vice-Presidential nominee Norman Thomas.
In the 1948 election, the Progressive Union would officially gain control of the White House when Robert Wagner would win the 1948 election. This was attributed to the political unpopularity of the Robert Taft's Republican Party and the uninspiring campaign ran by Democrat Charles Edison. With this opening, the Progressive Union was able to successfully expand their outreach with African American voters in industrial cities, while also successfully holding their rural and white urban voters. While running a campaign which promised large, sweeping reforms, the Progressive Union and President Wagner would be limited by the Republicans and Democrats who still remained the dominant parties in Congress at the time.
During the Wagner Presidency, conservative Democrats would emerge as the most vocal opponents to his administration. This was because Wagner attempted to pursue surface-level Civil Rights initiatives. This was because urban African Americans had emerged as a large portion of the Progressive Union's voter base, putting them at direct odds with the Democratic Party whose voter base was increasingly white and southern. During this period, the two-party system had begun to shift from Democrats and Republicans towards Democrats and Progressive Unionists. This period of polarization, coupled with the Progressive Union's unprecedented government policy, led to accusations by prominent Democratic politicians that the Progressive Union was soft-on-communism, and even sympathetic towards the cause. In the leadup to the 1952 election, Democratic nominee and former Army General Douglas MacArthur had begun to posture himself as a tough-on-communist candidate. His war hero status and Wagner's perceived weakness on foreign policy would lead to the Democrats defeating the Progressives on the Presidential and Congressional level in 1952.
Election Results[]
| Election Year | Ticket | Electoral Vote | Popular Vote | Won Election? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940 | Henry A. Wallace / Norman Thomas | 0 | 7,492,120 | No |
| 1944 | Burton K. Wheeler / Maurice J. Tobin | 35 | 12,329,120 | No |
| 1948 | Robert Wagner Jr. / Glen H. Taylor | 273 | 22,239,129 | Yes |
| 1952 | Robert Wagner Jr. / Glen H. Taylor | 123 | 24,392,129 | No |
| 1956 | Elliot Roosevelt / Lyndon B. Johnson | 426 | 36,497,453 | Yes |