Francis Xavier Waldron (August 10, 1905 – January 31, 1961), best known by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Eugene Dennis and Tim Ryan, was an American

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician and union organizer, best remembered as the long-time leader of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

and as named party in '' Dennis v. United States'', a famous McCarthy Era Supreme Court case.

Biography

Early years

Francis Xavier Waldron was born on August 10, 1905, in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

. He worked in various jobs and was a member of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

, for which he was active in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

as a union organizer.

Political career

Waldron joined the Workers (Communist) Party in 1926. In 1929, Waldron fled to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to avoid criminal charges for his political activities under the California Criminal Syndicalism Act. Waldron returned to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1935 and assumed the

Eugene Dennis. Dennis became

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the party after the expulsion of Earl Browder and was a staunch supporter of the

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

line. On July 20, 1948, Dennis and eleven other party leaders, including Party Chairman William Z. Foster were arrested and charged under the Alien Registration Act. Foster was not prosecuted due to ill health. As Dennis and his co-accused had never openly called for the violent overthrow of the United States government, the prosecution depended on passages from the works of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

and

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

that advocated revolutionary violence and on the testimony of former members of the party who claimed Dennis and others had privately advocated the use of violence. After a nine-month-long trial and the imprisonment of the defense lawyers for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

, Dennis and his co-defendants were found guilty and sentenced to five years imprisonment. They appealed to the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

, which ruled 6–2 against the defendants on June 4, 1951, in '' Dennis v. United States'', . The Court later scaled back its Dennis opinion in '' Yates v. United States'' and rendered the broad conspiracy provisions of the Smith Act unenforceable. Eugene Dennis was imprisoned in the years 1951–1955, according to the verdict in his case.Деннис Юджин

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Dennis remained General Secretary until 1959 when he succeeded Foster as party chairman and held that position until his death in 1961.

Espionage connections

Though never charged with any act of

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

, Dennis was identified in the Venona project as being a source for Soviet intelligence in the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In the transcripts, Dennis is referenced as a contact for a group of concealed Communists in the

Office of Strategic Services The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...

and the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

. Dennis is referenced in the following Venona transcripts: * 708 KGB Moscow to Mexico City, 8 December 1944 * 1714 KGB New York to Moscow, 5 December 1944 * 55 KGB New York to Moscow, 15 January 1945

Death

Dennis died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on January 31, 1961. He was buried at the Waldheim Cemetery (now Forest Home Cemetery) in Forest Park, Illinois.

Writings

* ''The elections and the outlook for national unity.'', New York, Workers Library Publishers, 1944. * ''America at the crossroads: postwar problems and communist policy.'', New York, New century publishers, 1945. * ''Marxism-Leninism vs. revisionism.'', New York, New Century Publishers, 1946 (with William Z. Foster, Jacques Duclos, and John Williamson; foreword by Max Weiss). * ''The people against the trusts; build a democratic front to defeat reaction now and win a people’s victory in 1948.'', New York, New Century Publishers, 1946. * ''What America faces: the new war danger and the struggle for peace, democracy, and economic security.'', New York, New century publishers, 1946. * ''Let the people know the truth about the Communists which the un-American committee tried to suppress.'', New York, New century publishers, 1947.
''Eugene Dennis indicts the Wall Street conspirators.''
New York : National Office, Communist Party, 1948. * ''Ideas they cannot jail.'', New York, International Publishers, 1950. * ''Letters from prison. Selected by Peggy Dennis.'', New York, International Publishers, 1956. * ''The Communists take a new look.'', New York, New Century, 1956.