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'''William Z. Foster''' (February 25, 1881 - September 1st, 1961) was a highly influential leader of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] (CPUSA) as well as a prolific author.  

'''William Z. Foster''' (February 25, 1881 - September 1, 1961) was a highly influential leader of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America]] (CPUSA) as well as a prolific author.  

==Early Life==

==Early life==

William Foster was born in Massachusetts in 1881 to poor European immigrants and began to work full time from the age of 10. As he entered his twenties he began to subscribe to socialist views, joining the Socialist Party in 1901 but was expelled in a faction war, and later the Industrial Workers of the World in 1909, leaving the latter organisation when his plan to infiltrate the American Federation of Labor was turned down. He went on to join the [[AFL]] in 1919 led the very large, but unsuccessful, Steel Strike.  

William Foster was born in Massachusetts in 1881 to poor European immigrants and began to work full time from the age of 10. As he entered his twenties he began to subscribe to socialist views, joining the Socialist Party in 1901 but was expelled in a faction war, and later the Industrial Workers of the World in 1909, leaving the latter organisation when his plan to infiltrate the American Federation of Labor was turned down. He went on to join the [[AFL]] in 1919 led the very large, but unsuccessful, Steel Strike.  

==Communist Years==

==Communist Years==

[[Image:Document54.GIF|thumb|400px|right|'''Document 54''' from Soviet Archives. Alexander and Earl [Browder] to [William] Foster, 11 July 1928, RTsKhIDNI 534–6–137. Original in English. At this time Browder was working for the Comintern and serving as the first general secretary of the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat. "Alexander" was the alias of a Profintern official named Keetagnian. <ref>''The Soviet World of American Communism'', Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, Kyrill M. Anderson, Yale University Press, 1996, p. 187, 190.</ref>]]

[[Image:Document54.GIF|thumb|400px|right|'''Document 54''' from Soviet Archives. Alexander and Earl [Browder] to [William] Foster, 11 July 1928, RTsKhIDNI 534–6–137. Original in English. At this time Browder was working for the Comintern and serving as the first general secretary of the Pan-Pacific Trade Union Secretariat. "Alexander" was the alias of a Profintern official named Keetagnian.<ref>''The Soviet World of American Communism'', Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, Kyrill M. Anderson, Yale University Press, 1996, p. 187, 190.</ref>]]

Foster joined the newly formed [[American Communist Party]] (CPUSA) in the 1919, and ran for the U.S. Presidency on the CPUSA ticket in 1924 and 1928 with Benjamin Gitlow for Vice President, and 1932 with James W. Ford.

Foster joined the newly formed [[American Communist Party]] (CPUSA) in the 1919, and ran for the U.S. Presidency on the CPUSA ticket in 1924 and 1928 with Benjamin Gitlow for Vice President, and 1932 with James W. Ford.

==Death==

==Death==

He died on September 1st, 1961, in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SZK5BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA245 American Economic History: A Dictionary and Chronology: A Dictionary and Chronology]</ref>

He died on September 1, 1961, in the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SZK5BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA245 American Economic History: A Dictionary and Chronology: A Dictionary and Chronology]</ref>

==Works==

==Works==

{{reflist|2}}

{{reflist|2}}

==External Links==

==External links==

* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAfosterW.htm Spartacus - William Z. Foster]

* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAfosterW.htm Spartacus - William Z. Foster]

* [http://www.wsws.org/history/1996/feb1996/foster.shtml WSWS - The Life of William Z. Foster]

* [http://www.wsws.org/history/1996/feb1996/foster.shtml WSWS - The Life of William Z. Foster]

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