Maynard C. Krueger (January 16, 1906 – December 20, 1991) was an

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and an

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at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. He is best remembered as the

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vice presidential nominee 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 America ...

Biography

Early years

Maynard Krueger was born January 16, 1906, on a farm near

Alexandria, Missouri Alexandria is a city in eastern Clark County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 105. Alexandria is part of the Fort Madison-Keokuk micropolitan area. History Alexandria was founded in the 1830s. The community w ...

, in 1906. A gifted student, Krueger completed his high school work at the age of 15.Maynard C. Krueger, ''End Hunger in the Midst of Plenty! Jobs and Security for All the People!'' New York: Socialist Party National Campaign Committee, n.d. (1940), pg. 2. He entered the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, from which he received a

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in 1926 and a

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in 1927.

Career

An instructor at the University of Pennsylvania from 1928 to 1932, Krueger also spent time at the universities of Berlin, Paris, and Geneva.U. of Chicago Round Table on B-N Forum
, ''The Illinois Wesleyan Argus'', 6 October 1948 (accessed 31 October 2008). His leftist associates in Paris included

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

. In 1932, Krueger accepted a position at the

as an assistant professor, initially lecturing in Sociology under

Edward Shils Edward Albert Shils (1 July 1910 – 23 January 1995) was a Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and in Sociology at the University of Chicago and an influential sociologist. He was known for his research on the r ...

. Soon moving to the Economics Department, Krueger became an associate professor in 1947, a full professor in 1965, and emeritus in 1977. He gained a measure of public recognition during the 1930s as a frequent participant in the University of Chicago's regular Round Table radio broadcasts. Krueger-maynard-1940

Krueger was involved with many left-wing organizations such as the

and the Chicago Workers Committee on Unemployment. During the election campaign of 1932, Krueger served as the national director of research for the Socialist Party. Krueger was also active in the

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

movement, serving three times as a vice president of the

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during the decade of the 1930s. He was also active in the

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during 1936 and 1937. During the Socialist Party's faction fight of the 1930s, Krueger was an active member of the so-called "Militant" faction of young

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s who sought to turn the SP to the left. In August 1933, he was a delegate at the Socialist International Congress at

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, where he advocated arming the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...

. In

, Krueger was the Socialist Party's candidate for

Vice President of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

, running with

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian religious minister, minister, political activist, and perennial candidate for president. He achieved fame as a socialism, socialist and pacifism, pacifis ...

. Although Krueger was 34 at the time of the November 1940 election, younger than the constitutional age of 35 for someone seeking to be in line for the U.S. presidency, he was able to point out that by

Inauguration Day Between seventy-three and seventy-nine days after the presidential election, the president-elect of the United States is inaugurated as president by taking the presidential oath of office. The inauguration takes place for each new president ...

on January 20, 1941, he would be 35 years and 4 days old. In November 1940, the Thomas-Krueger ticket received 116,599 votes (0.2% of the total). Krueger was on the executive committee of the Socialist Party for many years, serving as the SP's National Chairman from 1942 to 1946. In 1948, Krueger ran as an

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candidate for

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from

Illinois's 2nd congressional district Illinois's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Illinois. It stretches south from Chicago's Kenwood community area through portions of the city's South Side and southern suburbs, extending into several m ...

, receiving 4,566 votes (2.52%). In 1958, Krueger won the University of Chicago's Quantrell Award, believed to be the nation's oldest prize for undergraduate teaching.Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
, The University of Chicago (accessed 31 October 2008).

Death and legacy

Krueger died on December 20, 1991. He was 85 years old at the time of his death.

Footnotes

Works

* ''Inflation: Who Wins and Who Loses?'' Chicago: Socialist Party of America, 1934. * "Economic and Political Radicalism," ''American Journal of Sociology,'' v. 40, no. 6 (May 1935), pp. 764–771. * ''End Hunger in the Midst of Plenty! Jobs and Security for All the People!'' New York: Socialist Party National Campaign Committee, n.d. (1940). {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreuger, Maynard C. 1906 births 1991 deaths American Marxists Marxian economists People from Clark County, Missouri Socialist Party of America politicians from Illinois 1940 United States vice-presidential candidates Writers from Chicago Writers from Missouri 20th-century American economists Socialist Party of America vice presidential nominees University of Missouri alumni