William Z. Foster
William Z. Foster was a highly influential figure within the American communist movement. He was born in Massachusetts in 1881 to poor European immigrants and was forced 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 the 1910's and soon gained much influence within its ranks.
Foster joined the newly formed American Communist Party in the 1919, and ran for presidency on its ticket in 1924, 1928 and 1932. After the third attempt he suffered a serious heart attack and was relieved of his post, however was again elected the chairman of the party in 1945. He was indicted under the Smith Act in 1948 for subversion, however was not trialled due to his health. He later lost his post in the Communist Party for refusing to condemn the Soviet suppression of the [[]Hungarian Revolution]]. He died in 1961.