George Breitman
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

George Breitman (February 28, 1916 – April 19, 1986) was an American political activist, author, and publisher affiliated with the
Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
movement. He was a founding member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and a long-time editor of its weekly newspaper '' The Militant''. He ran unsuccessfully four times as the SWP candidate for the
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...
from
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. In addition to managing the SWP publishing house in the 1960s and '70s, Breitman edited and wrote over a dozen books, and became known as an authority on the life and speeches of
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...
.


Biography


Early years

George Breitman was born February 28, 1916, into a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in a
working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
neighborhood of
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...
. His father Benjamin Breitman was an iceman, and his mother Pauline Trattler Breitman worked as a maid. George attended public school in Newark. When his father died at age 40, George's older sister Celia quit school to help support the family. She was in the Young Communist League and was a key influence on her brother's political education. When he was 11, she brought him to a protest against the executions of
Sacco and Vanzetti Nicola Sacco (; April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (; June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were Italian immigrants and anarchists who were controversially convicted of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parm ...
. He graduated from Newark Central High School during the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, and found work initially in the New Deal's
Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...
, and then in the
Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...
.


Political activist

Breitman returned to Newark in 1935 and joined the
Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
movement as a member of the Spartacus Youth League section within the
Workers Party of the United States The Workers Party of the United States (WPUS) was established in December 1934 by a merger of the American Workers Party (AWP) led by A.J. Muste and the Trotskyist Communist League of America (CLA) led by James P. Cannon. The party was disso ...
(WPUS). Later that year he joined the adult WPUS. As an activist in the
Workers Alliance of America The Workers Alliance of America (WAA) was a Popular Front era political organization established in March 1935 in the United States of America, United States which united several efforts to mobilize unemployed workers under a single banner. Founded ...
, an organization of the unemployed, he was elected state secretary of the New Jersey chapter. In 1936, Breitman followed the WPUS when it merged into 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 America ...
(SPA). He then left the SPA in December 1937 to become a founding member of the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). He was elected to the SWP's governing National Committee for the first time in 1939 and served continuously in that position until 1981. He was frequently a member of the SWP's Political Committee, which oversaw the organization's day-to-day operations. Breitman was a political candidate ten times on the SWP ticket. He ran for offices ranging from New Jersey State Assembly to the
United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...
to presidential elector for Michigan. His four unsuccessful bids to be U.S. Senator from New Jersey occurred in
1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...
,
1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...
,
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, and
1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...
. Following the departure of Max Shachtman and his political associates to form a new Workers Party, Breitman was named editor of the SWP's weekly paper, '' The Militant.'' He held that post from 1941 until 1943 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. In 1945, the French government recognized Breitman's wartime contributions, awarding him the '' Croix de Guerre avec Etoile de Bronze'' (War Cross with Bronze Star) for exceptional service rendered during the liberation of France. After the war, Breitman was once again named editor of ''The Militant'', handling those duties from 1946 to 1954. In March 1946, he participated in the first post-war conference of the
Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) was a political international established in France in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union and the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third Inte ...
, held in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. He was arrested at the meeting along with other participants but was quickly released, owing to his American citizenship. He wrote prolifically during his tenure as editor of ''The Militant'', supplying over 500 articles for the paper from 1947 to 1955. In 1954, Breitman and his wife Dorothea moved to
Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
, where for the next 13 years they served as SWP District Organizers. They helped set up the "Friday Night Socialist Forum" (later called the "Militant Labor Forum"), a weekly lecture series that attracted activists from labor, radical, and black liberation groups. To pay the bills, Breitman worked as a printer and proofreader for the ''
Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...
''. As such, he was a member of the International Typographical Union. Although he came of age politically in the 1930s, Breitman was enthusiastic about the
New Left The New Left was a broad political movement that emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s and continued through the 1970s. It consisted of activists in the Western world who, in reaction to the era's liberal establishment, campaigned for freer ...
ferment of the 1960s, which he saw as a harbinger of a coming social upheaval. He predicted it would have a "combined character" (a term coined by SWP member Jack Barnes), that merged a socialist revolution of the working class with the equality struggles of "specially oppressed" groups such as Blacks, Latinos, women, and gays. Breitman characterized the political movements of the 1960s as constituting a "New Radicalization"—the title of a pamphlet he wrote in 1971—that was deeper and broader than America's previous radical movements such as
Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
-era
Abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. ...
and the industrial worker militancy of the 1930s. Beginning in 1981, Breitman became embroiled in a factional dispute within the SWP. In his view, there was an unhealthy trend in the SWP toward "a politics focused on Castro's leadership of the Cuban Communist Party." This dispute ultimately led in 1984 to Breitman's expulsion from the SWP on charges of "disloyalty". While battling illness in the mid-1980s, he played a leading role in founding the Fourth Internationalist Tendency, which sought to unify U.S. supporters of the Fourth International. He was a contributing editor of the group's journal, ''Bulletin in Defense of Marxism''.


Author and publisher

Breitman wrote and edited over a dozen books and pamphlets. He often used pseudonyms, choosing names such as "Albert Parker", "Philip Blake", "Chester Hofla", "Anthony Massini", and "John F. Petrone".Jeffrey B. Perry, "Pseudonyms: A Reference Aid for Studying American Communist History," ''American Communist History,'' vol. 3, no. 1 (June 2004), p. 110. Despite the various names used, there were repeating themes in Breitman's writing, one of which was advocacy for African-American equality. He was particularly interested in
Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...
and the "revolutionary implications of
Black nationalism Black nationalism is a nationalist movement which seeks representation for Black people as a distinct national identity, especially in racialized, colonial and postcolonial societies. Its earliest proponents saw it as a way to advocate for ...
in the U.S." Breitman was instrumental in bringing the slain leader's ideas to the reading public and in shaping his legacy. Shortly after the February 1965
assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
, Breitman edited a selection of speeches delivered in the last eight months of Malcolm's life. The book, ''Malcolm X Speaks'' (1965), was an attempt, as Breitman stated in his Foreword: Breitman continued his focus on Malcolm's late political development in a follow-up 1967 book, ''The Last Year of Malcolm X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary''. Eric Cummins writes in his history of California's radical prison movement that ''The Last Year of Malcolm X'' was smuggled into
San Quentin State Prison San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated area, unincorporated place ...
, where it influenced men such as George Jackson and Eldridge Cleaver: In the late 1960s, Breitman relocated from Detroit to New York to take the helm of the SWP's publishing arm,
Pathfinder Press Pathfinder, Path Finder or Pathfinders may refer to: Aerospace * ''Mars Pathfinder'', a NASA Mars Lander * NASA Pathfinder, a high-altitude, solar-powered uncrewed aircraft * Space Shuttle ''Pathfinder'', a Space Shuttle test simulator Arts and ...
. In that capacity, he edited a 14-volume collection entitled '' Writings of Leon Trotsky, 1929–1940'', which was published in installments from 1969 to 1979. Breitman was also involved in publishing the writings of SWP leader James P. Cannon.


Personal life

In 1940, Breitman married Dorothea Katz (1914–2004). In his later decades, he suffered from numerous ailments, including rheumatoid arthritis, ulcers, and cancer. While in his sixties, he had stomach surgery as well as treatment for a life-threatening abscess. To maintain his active correspondence, he would sometimes dictate letters from a hospital bed.


Death and legacy

George Breitman died of a heart attack on April 19, 1986, at Beekman Downtown Hospital in New York City. He was 70. The
Tamiment Library The Tamiment Library is a research library at New York University that documents Far left, radical and Left-wing politics, left history, with strengths in the histories of History of communism, communism, History of socialism, socialism, History o ...
at
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
holds the Breitman papers. They consist of 30 linear feet of material collected in 63 archival boxes, and are open for use by scholars without restriction.


Footnotes


Selected works

* ''The Trenton Siege by the Army of Unoccupation''. Introduction by John Spain, Jr. Trenton, NJ: Workers Alliance of America, n.d. 936 * ''The Fight Against Hagueism: A Program of Action''. (Unsigned.) Newark, NJ: Socialist Workers Party, New Jersey District, 1938. * ''Defend the Negro Sailors on the U.S.S. Philadelphia''. As "Albert Parker." New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1940. * ''New Jersey in the 1940 Elections''. (Unsigned.) Newark, NJ: Socialist Workers Party, 1940. * ''The March on Washington One Year After.'' As "Albert Parker." New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1942. * ''The Struggle for Negro Equality''. As "Albert Parker," with John Saunders. New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1943. * ''Wartime Crimes of Big Business''. New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1943. * ''The Jim Crow Murder of Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Moore''. New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1952. * ''Anti-Negro Prejudice: When It Began, When It Will End''. New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1960. * ''How a Minority Can Change Society: The Real Potential of the Afro-American Struggle''. New York: Young Socialist Forum, 1964. —''Reissued 1971 by Pathfinder Press.'' * ''Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements''. New York: Merit Publishers, 1965. * ''Malcolm X: The Man and His Ideas''. New York: Pioneer Publishers, 1965. * ''Marxism and the Negro Struggle: Articles by Harold Cruse, George Breitman, Clifton DeBerry''. With Harold Cruse and Clifton DeBerry. New York: Monad Press, 1965. * ''The Last Year of Malcolm X: The Evolution of a Revolutionary''. New York: Merit Publishers, 1967. * ''Black Nationalism and Socialism''. New York: Merit Publishers, 1968. * ''Myths About Malcolm X: Two Views''. With Albert Cleage. New York: Merit Publishers, 1968. * ''The New Radicalization: compared with those of the past''. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1971. * ''The Rocky Road to the Fourth International, 1933-38''. New York: Pathfinder Press, 1979. * ''Malcolm X and the Third American Revolution: The Writings of George Breitman''. Anthony Marcus, ed. New York: Humanity Books, 2005.


External links

* Wolfgang and Petra Lubitz
"George Breitman"
Lubitz TrotskyanaNet, 2009. —''Biographical sketch and a select bibliography''.

Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved March 18, 2010.

Marxists Internet Archive: ** "Lecture on the Negro Movement". ** "The Marxist Theory on the Negro Struggle". In 9 parts. ** "What a Minority Can Do". Speech to 1964 Conference of the Midwest Young Socialist Alliance. In 5 parts.
Guide to the George Breitman Papers 1928-1986
Tamiment Library, New York University.


Further reading

*
''New Jersey in the 1940 Elections''
Newark, NJ: Socialist Workers Party, 1940. — Rare penny pamphlet by Breitman for his Senate campaign. {{DEFAULTSORT:Breitman, George 1916 births 1986 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American newspaper editors American Marxists American Trotskyists United States Army personnel of World War II American socialists Malcolm X Members of the Socialist Party of America Members of the Workers Party of the United States New Jersey socialists Socialist Workers Party (United States) politicians from New Jersey Works Progress Administration workers Writers from Newark, New Jersey 20th-century New Jersey politicians