Eugene V. Debs b. November 5, 1855
- The Left Chapter
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American Socialist leader, presidential candidate and legend Eugene V. Debs was born November 5, 1855.
Debs campaigned against US participation in WWI and was sentenced ten years in jail for a speech he gave. He had his sentence commuted by president Warren G. Harding in December, 1921 but died in 1926 of cardiovascular issues that were a result of his time in prison.
Debs was the Socialist candidate for president of the United States five times, one of those runs being in 1920 when he was in prison. Remarkably he got 913,693 votes despite this.
Debs famously said at his trial "years ago I recognized my kinship with all living beings, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth. I said then, and I say now, that while there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free."
On The Left Chapter we have looked at Debs many times including these posts: