Thomas, Norman Mattoon (1884–1968)

US political leader, six times Socialist candidate for president 1928–48. One of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union in 1920, he also served as a director of the League for Industrial Democracy 1922–37. He was a brilliant speaker and published A Socialist's Faith (1951).

Born in Marion, Ohio, Thomas graduated from Princeton University in 1905 and, after studying at the Union Theological Seminary, was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1911. As pastor of the East Harlem Church he first confronted the problem of urban poverty and joined the Socialist Party in 1918, leaving the ministry for political activism two years later.

By 1950, he noted, most of his so-called radical platform had been adopted by the USA, such as Social Security and public-health programmes.