Comrade Johns: Oregon's Socialist Presidential Candidate

Abstract

In 1924, Frank T. Johns was nominated as the Socialist Labor Party's (SLP) candidate for president of the United States. Known as “Comrade Johns” by fellow SLP party members, Johns became interested in socialist industrial unionism as a young mail carrier and became an outspoken proponent of SLP principles. During his 1924 presidential run, Johns won only 0.1 percent of the national popular vote, but the SLP was thrilled by his sincere “dedication to his party's principles.” Johns became the party's candidate for president again in 1928, but died during a campaign speech while attempting to rescue a drowning boy from the Descutes River. “Socialism in the century's first two decades was viable political philosophy,” the authors explain, and Johns's short political career “offers documentation of the brief but important SLP moment both nationally and in Oregon.”