Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) is a liberal American political organization advocating

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

policies. ADA views itself as supporting

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and economic justice through

lobbying In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, whic ...

, grassroots organizing, research, and supporting progressive candidates.

History

Formation

The ADA grew out of a predecessor group, the

Union for Democratic Action 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.Zuckerman, ''The Wine of Violence: An Anthology on Anti-Semit ...

(UDA). The UDA was formed by former members of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

and the

Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies The Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (CDAAA) was an American mass movement, political action group formed in May 1940. Also known as the White Committee, its leader until January 1941 was William Allen White. Other important members ...

as well as labor union leaders, liberal politicians, theologians, and others who were opposed to the

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaig ...

adopted by most left-wing political organizations in the late 1930s and early 1940s.Brock, ''Americans for Democratic Action: Its Role in National Politics'', 1962, p. 49. It supported an interventionist, internationalist foreign policy and a pro- union, liberal domestic policy. It was also strongly

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and th ...

.Powers, ''Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism'', 1998, pp. 200–201, . It undertook a major effort to support left-wing

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

members of Congress in 1946, but this effort was an overwhelming failure.Davis, ''The Civil Rights Movement'', 2000, p. 27, . James Isaac Loeb (later an

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

and diplomat in the John F. Kennedy administration), the UDA's executive director, advocated disbanding the UDA and forming a new, more broadly based, mass-membership organization. Beinart, ''The Good Fight: Why Liberals—and Only Liberals—Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again'', 2007, p. 4, .Libros, ''Hard Core Liberals: A Sociological Analysis of the Philadelphia Americans for Democratic Action'', 1975, p. 22, . The ADA was formed on January 3, 1947, and the UDA shuttered. Among ADA's founding members were leading anti-communist liberals from academic, political, and labor circles, including theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.,

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

, union leader Walter Reuther, civil rights lawyer Joseph Rauh, and

Hubert Humphrey Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was an American pharmacist and politician who served as the 38th vice president of the United States from 1965 to 1969. He twice served in the United States Senate, representing M ...

. Its founders hoped to solidify a progressive, pragmatic, noncommunist "vital center" in mainstream politics, embodying Schlesinger's concept formulated in his 1949 book ''

The Vital Center ''The Vital Center: The Politics of Freedom'' is a 1949 book by Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. It defends liberal democracy and a state-regulated market economy against the totalitarianism of communism and fascism. Summary Schles ...

''.Mark L. Kleinman, "Americans for Democratic Action", in ''The Oxford Companion to United States History'', ed. Paul S. Boyer (Oxford/NY: Oxford UP, 2001), 34.

Action

On April 3, 1948, ADA declared its decision to support a Democratic Party ticket of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Supreme Court Judge William O. Douglas over incumbent U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Truman lacked popular support, and the ADA succeeded in pushing Truman leftward on issues such as

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

. It also led a full-scale attack on Progressive Party candidate and former US vice president

Henry A. Wallace Henry Agard Wallace (October 7, 1888 – November 18, 1965) was an American politician, journalist, farmer, and businessman who served as the 33rd vice president of the United States, the 11th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and the 10th U.S. S ...

because of his opposition to the Marshall Plan and support for appeasement of the Soviet Union. The ADA portrayed Wallace and his supporters as dupes of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Adolf A. Berle Jr. Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. (; January 29, 1895 – February 17, 1971) was an American lawyer, educator, writer, and diplomat. He was the author of '' The Modern Corporation and Private Property'', a groundbreaking work on corporate governance, a pr ...

and Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. believed that Eisenhower would accept the nomination. He did not. ADA supported Truman after his victory in the 1948 election. Though anti-communist, unlike other contemporary liberal groups like the Progressive Citizens of America (PCA), which supported cooperation with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the ADA was still subject to significant McCarthyist scrutiny. The plight of the ADA during that period prompted

to accept a position as honorary chair of the organization in 1953, and in doing so, put Senator McCarthy in a position in which he would have had to "call her a communist as well" to continue his inquiries into the activities of the group. Because of her actions, many ADA leaders credited her with saving the organization. In the early 1960s, ADA's influence peaked when a number of its key members (e.g. James Loeb, Arthur Schlesinger Jr.) were picked to join the administration of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. While active in liberal causes ranging from civil rights to Lyndon B. Johnson's

Great Society The Great Society was a set of domestic programs in the United States launched by Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964–65. The term was first coined during a 1964 commencement address by President Lyndon B. Johnson at the University ...

reforms, by the mid-1960s the ADA's influence was on the wane. It was badly split over the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

: initially supporting Johnson's war policy, the ADA had come to oppose the war by early 1968. It endorsed founder Hubert Humphrey's presidential candidacy that year, but with "barely concealed ambivalence". After Richard Nixon's victory, the ADA was pushed to the political margins, overshadowed by more centrist groups like the Trilateral Commission and Coalition for a Democratic Majority.

Leadership

Founders

Prominent founding members included: * Joseph Alsop * Stewart Alsop * Chester Bowles * Marquis Childs * David Dubinsky *

Elmer Davis Elmer Holmes Davis (January 13, 1890 – May 18, 1958) was an American news reporter, author, the Director of the United States Office of War Information during World War II and a Peabody Award recipient. Early life and career Davis was born ...

* John Kenneth Galbraith * Leon Henderson *

James I. Loeb James I. Loeb (August 18, 1909 – January 10, 1992) was a 20th-century American politician and U.S. ambassador to Peru, who served as the first national executive secretary of Americans for Democratic Action and Equatorial Guineau. Background ...

* Reinhold Niebuhr * Joseph P. Lash *

Joseph L. Rauh Jr. Joseph Louis Rauh Jr. (January 3, 1911 – September 3, 1992) was one of the United States' foremost civil rights and civil liberties lawyers. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian hono ...

* Walter Reuther *

* Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. * Arthur Schlesinger Jr. *

John H. Sengstacke John Herman Henry Sengstacke (November 25, 1912 – May 28, 1997) was an American newspaper publisher and owner of the largest chain of African-American oriented newspapers in the United States. Sengstacke was also a civil rights activist and wor ...

James Wechsler James Arthur Wechsler (October 31, 1915 – September 11, 1983) was an American journalist who worked as a newspaper columnist, Washington bureau chief, editor-in-chief, and editorial page editor of The ''New York Post''. He was a prominent vo ...

* Walter White * Wilson W. Wyatt In April 1948 at New York state convention, ADA elected the following new officers:

Jonathan Bingham Jonathan Brewster Bingham (April 24, 1914 – July 3, 1986) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the US delegate to the United Nations General Assembly and was elected to Congress from The Bronx, serving in the House of Representatives ...

of Scarborough as chairman with vice chairmen Dr. William Lehman of Syracuse, Benjamin Mc:Laurin of New York City, Howard Linsay of New York City, Jack Rubenstein ( Textile Workers Union,

CIO CIO may refer to: Organizations * Central Imagery Office, a predecessor of the American National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency * Central Intelligence Office, the national intelligence agency of the former Republic of Vietnam * Central Intellige ...

), and Charles Zimmerman ( International Ladies' Garment Workers Union).

Chairs and presidents

Since 1947, ADA's leaders have been: * 1947–1948: Wilson Wyatt * 1948–1949: Leon Henderson * 1949–1950: Senator Hubert Humphrey * 1950–1953: Francis Biddle * 1954–1955: Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and James E. Doyle (co-chairs) * 1955–1957: Joseph L. Rauh Jr. * 1957–1959:

Robert R. Nathan Robert R. Nathan (December 25, 1908 – September 4, 2001) was an American economist heavily involved in US industrial mobilization during World War II, a liberal activist, and a pioneer in third-world economic development. Early life Nathan gr ...

* 1959–1962:

Samuel H. Beer Samuel Hutchison Beer (July 28, 1911 – April 7, 2009) was an American political scientist who specialized in the government and politics of the United Kingdom. He was a longtime professor at Harvard University and served as president of the ...

* 1961–1964:

Paul Seabury Paul Seabury (May 6, 1923 – October 17, 1990) was an American political scientist and foreign policy consultant. Life Born in Hempstead, Long Island, Seabury was a native New Yorker. He graduated from Swarthmore College in 1946, and from Co ...

* 1962–1965:
John P. Roche
* 1965–1967: Rep. Don Edwards * 1967–1969: John Kenneth Galbraith * 1970–1971: Joseph Duffey * 1971–1973: Rep. Allard K. Lowenstein * 1974–1976: Rep.

Donald M. Fraser Donald MacKay Fraser (February 20, 1924 – June 2, 2019) was an American politician from Minnesota who served as U.S. Representative from Minnesota's 5th congressional district from 1963 to 1979 and as mayor of Minneapolis from 1980 to 1994. Ea ...

* 1976–1978: Senator

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pre ...

* 1978–1981: Rep. Patsy T. Mink * 1981–1984: Rep.

Robert F. Drinan Robert Frederick Drinan (November 15, 1920 – January 28, 2007) was a Jesuit priest, lawyer, human rights activist, and Democratic U.S. Representative from Massachusetts. Drinan left office to obey Pope John Paul II's prohibition on political ...

, S.J. * 1984–1986: Rep. Barney Frank * 1986–1989: Rep. Ted Weiss * 1989–1991: Rep.

Charles B. Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the ...

* 1991–1993: Senator Paul D. Wellstone * 1993–1995: Rep.

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashvill ...

* 1995–1998: Jack Sheinkman * 1998–2000: Rep. Jim Jontz * 2000–2008: Rep. Jim McDermott * 2008–2010: Richard Parker * 2010–2016: Rep. Lynn Woolsey * 2017–2018: State Senator Daylin Leach * 2018–: State Senator

Art Haywood Art Haywood III is an American politician from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently serving as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the numbe ...

Voting records

ADA ranks legislators, identifies key policy issues, and tracks how members of Congress vote on these issues. The annual ADA Voting Record gives each member a Liberal Quotient (LQ) rating from 0, meaning complete disagreement with ADA policies, to 100, meaning complete agreement with ADA policies. A score of 0 is considered

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and a score 100 is considered liberal. The LQ is obtained by evaluating an elected official's votes on 20 key foreign and domestic social and economic issues chosen by the ADA's Legislative Committee. Each vote given a score of either 5 or 0 points, depending on whether the individual voted with or against the ADA's position, respectively. Absent voters are also given a score of 0 for the vote.

References

External links

*
Americans for Democratic Action records, 1932–1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Americans for Democratic Action Organizations established in 1947 Political advocacy groups in the United States Liberalism in the United States 1947 establishments in the United States Walter Reuther