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The Socialist Party of America, led by Norman Thomas, contained within it both reformist and revolutionary elements. During the 1920s the party had often emphasized the need for revolutionary change, but in the 1932 election, with Thomas as their presidential candidate, Socialists offered a largely reformist platform — albeit reforms they hoped would lead toward a restructuring of the nation's polity. In their 1932 platform Socialists called for social insurance for the unemployed and elderly, as well as for national medical insurance, federal relief payments to the unemployed, federal jobs programs, a minimum hourly wage, the right for workers to bargain collectively in unions, a federal program to refinance people's homes and farms, repeal of Prohibition, and arms reduction. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president (on a much more conservative Democratic Party platform), the Socialists were shocked to find that...
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This section contains 290 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
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