born May 20, 1891, Wichita, Kan., U.S.
died June 27, 1973, Princeton, N.J.
U.S. Communist Party leader (1930–44).
He was imprisoned in 1919–20 for his opposition to U.S. participation in World War I. In 1921 he joined the U.S. Communist Party; he served as the party's general secretary from 1930 to 1944 and was its presidential candidate in 1936 and 1940. In 1944 he was removed from his position for declaring that capitalism and socialism could coexist, and in 1946 he was expelled from the party.