Socialist Workers Party (USA)

The Socialist Workers Party is a small political party in the United States. It was founded by Trotskyists in 1938 who had been expelled from the Communist Party. During World War II, many members were imprisoned under the Smith Act of 1941. The party has run candidates for President since 1948; it received its greatest number of votes in 1976, when its candidate, Peter Camejo, received 90,310 votes. The party publishes a newspaper, The Militant. In 1976, the party won a lawsuit against the FBI as a result of years of spying by the FBI. During the 1970s and 1980s, the party abandoned Trotskyism in favor of a pro-Castro ideology. The party now has few members.

Since the 1970s, the National Secretary of the Socialist Workers Party has been Jack Barnes.

See also: COINTELPRO, Socialist Workers Party (UK)