Thomas, Norman Mattoon, << muh TOON >> (1884-1968), was an American pacifist and Socialist leader. He ran six times as the Socialist Party candidate for the presidency of the United States. Thomas founded the periodical World Tomorrow in 1918. He also helped establish the American Civil Liberties Union.
Thomas was born in Marion, Ohio, on Nov. 20, 1884. He studied at Princeton University and at the Union Theological Seminary. During the 1920’s, he ran for mayor of New York City and for governor of New York. He first ran for president in 1928. Thomas was at first somewhat sympathetic to Soviet Communism, but by the mid-1930’s he opposed both Soviet Communism and Marxism. He opposed U.S. involvement in World War I (1914-1918), and he later tried to keep the United States out of World War II (1939-1945). But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he supported the war effort. Thomas also wrote several books, including As I See It (1932) and A Socialist Faith (1951). Thomas died on Dec. 19, 1968.
