James G. Patton
James G. Patton
ACLU Member
As at Feb. 8, 1946, James G. Patton served on the National Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union.[1]
Progressive leaning
Fred Stover's tenure at the IFU was stormy and controversial. Stover was an outspoken pro-FDR liberal who originally shared these beliefs and had a positive working relationship with National Farmers Union President James G. Patton. The two both supported the United Nations and a movement towards peace, and opposed a militaristic foreign policy and the increasing international arms race. They both fought to end the disparity of income between farm and industrial economies and to preserve commodity price parity. However, things changed in 1948, with the presidential candidacy of former Secretary of Agriculture and Vice-President Henry A. Wallace. Stover actively supported Wallace and aligned himself politically with the Progressive Party's campaign and platform. (Indeed, Stover was the man who actually put Wallace's name into nomination for President at the Progressive Party's 1948 convention.) This conflicted with Patton's own perception of the Farmers Union as a nonpartisan organization that did not endorse specific candidates. Patton's insistence on a nonpartisan stance angered Stover, who believed Patton and the NFU were, in fact, behaving in a partisan manner against Wallace and against a firm progressive stand. He vowed that he would "not become either a conservative or a luke warm sterile and frightened liberal just to accomodate a few people who have yet to demonstrate that they can and will build the Farmers Union." As Stover led the IFU towards an intensely progressive vision, he came into continued conflict with the liberal, yet more mainstream NFU.
1950 was a crisis year for Stover and the IFU. The Korean War broke out in June of that year, and Patton made the decision to end the NFU's ongoing criticism of an aggressive American foreign policy in order to ensure his organization's continued political influence. In this, the NFU was following the lead of many other liberal organizations that in the early years of the Cold War wanted to deflect charges of being Communist or sympathizing with Communism. The phenomenon of Red-baiting finally touched the NFU and Stover in September 1950, when right-wing Republican Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire publicly charged that Communists had infiltrated and were taking over the NFU. He specifically mentioned that "the president of the organization [the IFU] is F.W. Stover. He has been and still is, so far as I know, one of the leaders of the Communist-dominated Progressive Party." Stover publicly and vehemently denied the charges, stating that "the Iowa Farmers Union is following its own line." Bridges' claims, together with the NFU's new political direction and support of American forces in Korea, created an atmosphere of hostility to Stover.[2]
Council for a Livable World
As at 1982, James G. Patton served as a Director on the board of the Council for a Livable World. The Council was founded in 1962 by nuclear physicist Leo Szilard and other scientists. Its purpose is to campaign against the proliferation of nuclear weapons through lobbying and by supporting candidates who share their vision.[3]
References
- ↑ Letter from Ernie Adamson, Chief Counsel, ACLU to Hon. Sam Rayburn, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 1946
- ↑ University of Iowa Libraries, Guide to the Fred Stover Papers
- ↑ CLW website: Board