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Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 — December 19, 1968) was a leading American socialist, pacifist, Presbyterian minister, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America during the 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948 elections.
Norman Thomas in Joe Steele[]
Norman Thomas was the Socialist Party candidate in the 1932 presidential election. However, his candidacy only received attention in the most leftist parts of the country, such as the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City.[1]
Norman Thomas in Southern Victory[]
N. Mattoon Thomas was a Great War veteran and the Assistant Secretary of War in President Upton Sinclair's administration. During the Great war he took a machine gun bullet to the leg which would leave him with a slight limp for the rest of his life. He became Assistant Secretary of War in 1920 when Sinclair led the Socialists into the Powel House for the first time ever.[2]
In 1922, Thomas traveled to Canada to coerce Military Governor George Armstrong Custer into submitting his resignation in person. Thomas informed Custer that if he gave it willingly, Sinclair would highly praise him, but if he refused, he would be cashiered. He returned to Philadelphia with Custer's resignation in hand.[3]
Thomas was a leader in President Sinclair's efforts to slash the US Army's operating budget, earning him many enemies among the Army's officer corps, notably Irving Morrell. (It was during an argument with Morrell that both men learned of the death of former President Theodore Roosevelt in 1924.) However, he maintained a cordial enough working relationship with Chief of the General Staff Hunter Liggett.[4]
Thomas left office after Sinclair's second term.
Literary comment[]
In OTL, he was always known as "Norman M. Thomas," never "N. Mattoon Thomas."
References[]
- ↑ Joe Steele, pg. 36.
- ↑ Blood and Iron, pgs. 476-477, mmpb.
- ↑ Ibid., pgs. 476-480.
- ↑ The Center Cannot Hold, pgs. 33-34, mmpb.
| Party political offices (OTL) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None Party endorsed Robert M. La Follette (Progressive Party) |
Socialist Party of America presidential candidate 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, 1948 (lost all) |
Succeeded by Darlington Hoopes |
| Political offices (Southern Victory) | ||
| Preceded by Unknown; last known is Christopher Parsons Wolcott |
Assistant Secretary of War for the United States 1921-1929 |
Succeeded by Unknown; next known is Franklin D. Roosevelt |
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