Norman Mattoon Thomas

Thomas, Norman Mattoon (1884–1968), U.S. socialist leader who ran six times (1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948) for the presidency of the United States as a Socialist Party candidate. He helped found the American Civil Liberties Union (1920) and the League for Industrial Democracy (1922). An ardent pacifist, he tried to keep the United States out of World War II. Many of his then radical proposals eventually became law.

See also: Socialism.