Samuel Webb (born June 4, 1945) is an American activist and political leader, who served as the Chairman of the
Communist Party USA from 2000 to 2014, succeeding the party's longest running leader
Gus Hall
Gus Hall (born Arvo Kustaa Halberg; October 8, 1910 – October 13, 2000) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and a perennial candidate for president of the United States. He was the Communist Party nominee in the ...
. Webb did not accept nomination to be reelected as chairman at the
30th National Convention in 2014, at which
John Bachtell was elected the party's new chairman. Webb continued to serve on the party's National Committee until 2016 when he renounced his party membership and joined the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
.
Biography
Samuel Webb was born in
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...
and graduated from
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a public undergraduate liberal arts university located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is a member of the Maple League, a group of primarily undergraduate universities in Eastern Canada.
History
St. Franc ...
in
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
, Canada, in 1967. He holds an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
from the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...
.
He worked as a Communist Party organizer in
Michigan
Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
from 1978–1988.
Webb led the CPUSA when it made the decision to support some
Democratic candidates in the
2004 presidential election. While the Party regarded both major parties as two
capitalist
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
entities in a collaborative dictatorship for established financial institutions, it believed that rule by the Democrats was preferable to rule by the Republicans, arguing that the latter puts the interests of working people in considerable danger. During the
2008 election, Webb called President
Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
a "people's advocate" and said that some of his early decisions, in reversing some of President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
's policies, were praiseworthy.
In 2005 Webb wrote ''Reflections on Socialism'', a paper reflecting ideas that Webb first presented at the 2005
Left Forum
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. This paper points out that socialism is once again being discussed in the
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
and student movements, in popular magazines and certainly in the halls of power worldwide.
Webb traveled to
China,
[Margolis, Dan. "CPUSA Delegation returns from China, Vietnam". '' People's Weekly World''. December 22, 2006; retrieved December 14, 2011 a]
CPUSA website
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
and
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
,
in order to meet
communist and
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
leaders.
On February 4, 2011 Webb published an essay in the Communist Party magazine ''Political Affairs''
"A Party of Socialism in the 21st Century: What It Looks Like, What It Says, and What It Does" It set forth positions that came under sharp criticism from Communist parties across the world, as well as a portion of CPUSA members, as being
revisionist,
social democratic, and anti-Communist. These parties included the Communist Parties of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
as well as the CPUSA Houston club, the Austin Hogan Transit Club of NYC, the CPUSA Tucson Club, the LA Metro Club, and the Communist Party of San Francisco.
In 2014, Webb did not seek reelection as the National Committee's chairman and stepped down from office. At the
30th National Convention of the Communist Party USA
The 30th National Convention of the Communist Party USA was held from 13 to 15 June 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. The Party set its agenda taking into account developments since its May 2010 convention, including the April 2014 convention of the AFL ...
,
John Bachtell was elected as the new Chairman of the National Committee, thereby ending Webb's 14 years as the party's leader.
During the
2016 Democratic primary
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential ...
, Webb defended
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
and urged supporters of
Bernie Sanders to support her in the general election.
References
External links
*
Reflections on SocialismSocialism Revisited
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Sam
1945 births
Activists from Maine
American Marxists
American anti-poverty advocates
Far-left politicians in the United States
American socialists
Communist Party USA politicians
Living people
St. Francis Xavier University alumni
University of Connecticut alumni