Union for Democratic Action

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The Union for Democratic Action (UDA) was an American political organization advocating liberal policies and the preservation and extension of democratic values domestically and overseas.[1][2] It existed from 1941 to 1947, and was the precursor organization to the group Americans for Democratic Action.

History[]

The Union for Democratic Action was co-founded by liberal theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (then a member of the Socialist Party of America), James I. Loeb (later an ambassador and diplomat in the John F. Kennedy administration), International Ladies Garment Workers Union official , actor Melvyn Douglas, and others at the Town Hall Club in New York City on May 10, 1941.[1][2][3][4][5] The impetus for the formation of the UDA was the pacifism advocated by the Socialist Party, which many socialist intellectuals and left-wing activists felt was inappropriate given the threat to western democratic nations posed by Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany.[6] Other leaders and members of the UDA came out of William Allen White's Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies, which was becoming increasingly conservative.[5] The organization was explicitly pro-union, and barred political conservatives from membership.[2] The organization also explicitly barred communists from membership as well.[3][7]

Niebuhr was the organization's first and only chairperson.[4] Loeb was its executive director.[7]

The organization was widely quoted; its members often held influential positions in the presidential administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and it strongly supported the Lend-Lease arms supply program.[8] But it was financially very weak and had only a handful of low-membership chapters on the East Coast.[2][6][8] It had only one active chapter in 1944[2] and a mere 5,000 members in 1946.[9] The organization was politically astute, however. It pioneered the use of the voting records of members of Congress as a means of swaying public opinion for or against its favored candidates.[8]

The UDA undertook a major effort to support left-wing Democratic candidates for Congress in 1946.[7][10][11] The defeat of a large number of Democrats in the 1946 elections prompted Loeb to advocate UDA's disbanding and the formation of a new, more broadly based, mass-membership organization.[9][12] The Americans for Democratic Action was formed on January 4, 1947, and the UDA shuttered.[10][12][13]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ a b Zuckerman, The Wine of Violence: An Anthology on Anti-Semitism, 1947, p. 220.
  2. ^ a b c d e Boyle, The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968, 1998, p. 49.
  3. ^ a b Brock, Americans for Democratic Action: Its Role in National Politics, 1962, p. 49; Parmet, The Master of Seventh Avenue: David Dubinsky and the American Labor Movement, 2005, p. 214.
  4. ^ a b Brown, Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr's Prophetic Role and Legacy, 2002, p. 102.
  5. ^ a b Ceplair, "The Film Industry's Battle Against Left-Wing Influences, From the Russian Revolution to the Blacklist," Film History, 2008, 400-401.
  6. ^ a b Libros, Hard Core Liberals: A Sociological Analysis of the Philadelphia Americans for Democratic Action, 1975, p. 13.
  7. ^ a b c Powers, Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism, 1998, p. 200-201.
  8. ^ a b c Brown, Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr's Prophetic Role and Legacy, 2002, p. 103.
  9. ^ a b Beinart, The Good Fight: Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again, 2007, p. 4.
  10. ^ a b Davis, The Civil Rights Movement, 2000, p. 27.
  11. ^ Halpern, UAW Politics in the Cold War Era, 1988, p. 138-139.
  12. ^ a b Libros, Hard Core Liberals: A Sociological Analysis of the Philadelphia Americans for Democratic Action, 1975, p. 22.
  13. ^ Hambly, "The Liberals, Truman, and the FDR as Symbol and Myth," The Journal of American History, March 1970; Heale, American Anticommunism: Combating the Enemy Within, 1830-1970, 1990, p. 140.

Bibliography[]

  • Beinart, Peter. The Good Fight: Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again. Carlton, Victoria, Australia: Melbourne University Press, 2007.
  • Boyle, Kevin. The UAW and the Heyday of American Liberalism, 1945-1968. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1998.
  • Brock, Clifton. Americans for Democratic Action: Its Role in National Politics. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1962.
  • Brown, Charles C. Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr's Prophetic Role and Legacy. Harrisburg, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 2002.
  • Ceplair, Larry. "The Film Industry's Battle Against Left-Wing Influences, From the Russian Revolution to the Blacklist." Film History. 2008: 399-411.
  • Davis, Jack E. The Civil Rights Movement. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2000.
  • Halpern, Martin. UAW Politics in the Cold War Era. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1988.
  • Hambly, Alonzo L. "The Liberals, Truman, and the FDR as Symbol and Myth." The Journal of American History. 56:4 (March 1970).
  • Heale, M.J. American Anticommunism: Combating the Enemy Within, 1830-1970. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990.
  • Libros, Hal. Hard Core Liberals: A Sociological Analysis of the Philadelphia Americans for Democratic Action. Cambridge, Mass.: Schenkman Publishing Co., 1975.
  • Parmet, Robert D. The Master of Seventh Avenue: David Dubinsky and the American Labor Movement. New York: New York University Press, 2005.
  • Powers, Richard Gid. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New Haven, Con..: Yale University Press, 1998.
  • Zuckerman, Nathan. The Wine of Violence: An Anthology on Anti-Semitism. New York, Association Press, 1947.

External links[]

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