Changes

==Communist years==

==Communist years==

[[File:Document54.GIF|thumb|400px|right|'''Document 54''' from Soviet Archives. Alexander and [[Earl Browder|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>]]

[[File:Document54.GIF|thumb|400px|right|'''Document 54''' from Soviet Archives. Alexander and [[Earl Browder|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 played a lead organizing role in the Steel Strike of 1919,<ref>October 26, 1919. [https://www.nytimes.com/1919/10/26/archives/sees-steel-strike-as-unions-crisis-william-z-foster-tells-workers.html SEES STEEL STRIKE AS UNIONS' CRISIS; William Z. Foster Tells Workers That Autocracy Will Reign if Strike Fails. SAYS 300,000 MEN ARE OUT Overflow Crowds at Cooper Union Addressed by Abraham Lefkowitz.] ''The New York Times''. (archived version available [https://archive.is/k6u28 here])</ref> following which he blamed blacks, who dismantled it, as "a race of strikebreakers."<ref>Moreno, Paul D. (2006). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Americans_and_Organized_Labor/5fp-qTduAr0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+foster+blacks+race+of+strikebreakers&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History], p. 1. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 22, 2023.</ref> (see: [[Labor unions and racism]]) Foster described black attitudes towards labor unionism as "indifference, often verging into open hostility."<ref>Reyes, G. Mitchell (2010). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Public_Memory_Race_and_Ethnicity/3FgaBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+foster+blacks+race+of+strikebreakers&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover Public Memory, Race, and Ethnicity], p. 55. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 22, 2023.</ref>

Foster played a lead organizing role in the Steel Strike of 1919,<ref>October 26, 1919. [https://www.nytimes.com/1919/10/26/archives/sees-steel-strike-as-unions-crisis-william-z-foster-tells-workers.html SEES STEEL STRIKE AS UNIONS' CRISIS; William Z. Foster Tells Workers That Autocracy Will Reign if Strike Fails. SAYS 300,000 MEN ARE OUT Overflow Crowds at Cooper Union Addressed by Abraham Lefkowitz.] ''The New York Times''. (archived version available [https://archive.is/k6u28 here])</ref> following which he blamed blacks, who dismantled it, as "a race of strikebreakers."<ref>Moreno, Paul D. (2006). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Black_Americans_and_Organized_Labor/5fp-qTduAr0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+foster+blacks+race+of+strikebreakers&pg=PA1&printsec=frontcover Black Americans and Organized Labor: A New History], p. 1. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 22, 2023.</ref> (see: [[Labor unions and racism]]) Foster described black attitudes towards labor unionism as "indifference, often verging into open hostility."<ref>1923. [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Opportunity/fHsRAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+foster+blacks+race+of+strikebreakers&pg=RA1-PA272&printsec=frontcover Opportunity: Journal of Negro Life: Volumes 8–9], p. 272. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 22, 2023.</ref><ref>Reyes, G. Mitchell (2010). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Public_Memory_Race_and_Ethnicity/3FgaBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=william+foster+blacks+race+of+strikebreakers&pg=PA55&printsec=frontcover Public Memory, Race, and Ethnicity], p. 55. ''Google Books''. Retrieved May 22, 2023.</ref>

After the steel strike, Foster joined the newly formed [[American Communist Party]] (CPUSA).  An aspiring politician, he 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.

After the steel strike, Foster joined the newly formed [[American Communist Party]] (CPUSA).  An aspiring politician, he 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.