Thomas, Norman (1885-1968)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1968 December 26 p. 3

Birth date: 1885

text of obituary:

Long-Time Socialist Leader Dead at 83

Norman Thomas, six-time candidate for president of the United States on the Socialist ticket, died last Thursday at a nursing home in Huntington, N. Y. at age 83. From 1928 through 1948 Thomas campaigned for the country's highest office every four years.

Although not successful in the political realm, many of his proposals have been implemented by other parties and are now generally accepted by the American public.

Some of the programs he advocated as early as 1932 were low-cost housing, slum clearance, five-day work week, public employment agencies, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions, health insurance for the aged, minimum-wage laws and the abolition of child labor.

Themes of his frequent lectures included world peace, anti-communism, civil liberties and Negro rights.