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The [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] (CPUSA) was organized at Moscow’s behest in 1921, merging [[John Reed]]’s [[Communist Labor Party]] with the [[Communist Party of America]], organized by a former socialist, Midwesterner Charles Emil Ruthenberg.  The Russian [[Bolshevik]]s saw themselves as leaders of a worldwide revolutionary movement.  Fear of radical revolutions became prominent in 1919-20. There was a good deal of disorder, and no small amount of criminal behavior. On May Day, 1919, some 36 bombs were sent by mail to prominent politicians, judges, and other “enemies of the [[left]].” <ref>Stanley Coben, A. Mitchell Palmer: Politician (New York: Da Capo Press, 1972), 203-04.</ref>  The ''New York Times'' wrote of a “nationwide bomb conspiracy.” The Washington house of Attorney General [[A. Mitchell Palmer]] was damaged by a bomb which went off prematurely and killed the bomber.

The [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] (CPUSA) was organized at Moscow’s behest in 1921, merging [[John Reed]]’s [[Communist Labor Party]] with the [[Communist Party of America]], organized by a former socialist, Midwesterner Charles Emil Ruthenberg.  The Russian [[Bolshevik]]s saw themselves as leaders of a worldwide revolutionary movement.  Fear of radical revolutions became prominent in 1919-20. There was a good deal of disorder, and no small amount of criminal behavior. On May Day, 1919, some 36 bombs were sent by mail to prominent politicians, judges, and other “enemies of the [[left]].” <ref>Stanley Coben, A. Mitchell Palmer: Politician (New York: Da Capo Press, 1972), 203-04.</ref>  The ''New York Times'' wrote of a “nationwide bomb conspiracy.” The Washington house of Attorney General [[A. Mitchell Palmer]] was damaged by a bomb which went off prematurely and killed the bomber.

Palmer, the “Fighting Quaker,” responded with major cross-country raids—the Palmer Raids—on radical organizations, including the New York-based Union of Russian Workers, on November 7-8, 1919, the second anniversary of the [[Bolshevik Revolution]]. On January 2, 1920, Federal agents arrested more than 4,000 [[Communist]]s in 33 different cities. The ''[[Washington Post]]'' warned “[t]here is not time to waste on hair-splitting over infringement of liberty.” [[J. Edgar Hoover]], a 24-year old Justice Department official, located a U.S. Army trans-port, termed the “Soviet Ark,” to take a shipload of radicals home, and invited Members of Congress to see them off at Ellis Island. He now emerged as a national figure, whilst his superior, the Attorney General, began making plans to run for President.

Palmer, the “Fighting Quaker,” responded with major cross-country raids—the Palmer Raids—on radical organizations, including the New York-based Union of Russian Workers, on November 7-8, 1919, the second anniversary of the [[Bolshevik Revolution]]. On January 2, 1920, Federal agents arrested more than 4,000 [[Communist]]s in 33 different cities. The ''[[Washington Post]]'' warned “[t]here is not time to waste on hair-splitting over infringement of liberty.” [[J. Edgar Hoover]], a 24-year old [[Justice Department]] official, located a U.S. Army trans-port, termed the “Soviet Ark,” to take a shipload of radicals home, and invited Members of Congress to see them off at Ellis Island. He now emerged as a national figure, whilst his superior, the Attorney General, began making plans to run for President.

The unrest did not last. May Day 1920 passed without incident. With his credibility badly damaged, Palmer saw his presidential aspirations erode. [[Warren G. Harding]], running for President against Democrat James Cox, said that “too much has been said about Bolshevism in America.” <ref> Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht, America’s Reign of Terror: World War I, the Red Scare, and the Palmer Raids (New York: Random House, 1971), 108.</ref> The [[Wilson administration]], leaderless following Wilson’s stroke on October 2, 1919, had become undisciplined and erratic. Such intervals would recur, with both parties involved, but now a sense of civic order returned. Theodore Draper observed,

The unrest did not last. May Day 1920 passed without incident. With his credibility badly damaged, Palmer saw his presidential aspirations erode. [[Warren G. Harding]], running for President against Democrat James Cox, said that “too much has been said about Bolshevism in America.” <ref> Roberta Strauss Feuerlicht, America’s Reign of Terror: World War I, the Red Scare, and the Palmer Raids (New York: Random House, 1971), 108.</ref> The [[Wilson administration]], leaderless following Wilson’s stroke on October 2, 1919, had become undisciplined and erratic. Such intervals would recur, with both parties involved, but now a sense of civic order returned. Theodore Draper observed,