US Elections: When A Convict Ran An Entire Presidential Campaign From Jail

Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump was indicted on 34 felony charges last April. These charges ranged from falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influencing the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn actor. Despite the serious nature of these allegations, Trump has not been imprisoned – at least not yet. Now, with the US elections just hours away, this scenario brings to mind another figure in American political history. A man who ran his whole campaign trial from prison. 

In the 1920 US election, Eugene V. Debs, the Socialist Party presidential candidate, managed to secure nearly a million votes without ever stepping on the campaign trail. Debs conducted his entire campaign from the confines of a federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. He was serving a ten-year sentence for sedition.

His indictment came from his opposition to US involvement in World War I and his defiance of the Sedition Act of 1918, a law that suppressed free speech and criticism of the government. Despite his imprisonment, Debs was nominated for the presidency by his party, and his campaign was conducted under extraordinary circumstances.

Debs had a long history of labour activism and political engagement, having run for president four times between 1900 and 1912, during which he garnered around a million votes in 1912. His anti-war stance and commitment to social justice resonated with many Americans. When the Socialist Party nominated him again in 1920, it was as “Convict 9653” – a designation that did not take away his supporters.

During the campaign, Debs conducted what was termed a “front cell” campaign, responding to the “front porch” campaign style of his opponents. On May 29, 1920, newsreel cameras filmed a delegation from the Socialist Party arriving at the prison to officially inform him of his nomination. The footage, shared in motion picture theatres across the country, showed Debs accepting his nomination.

Though he faced formidable opponents – Warren G. Harding and James M. Cox – Debs still managed to capture 913,693 votes, about 3.4 per cent of the popular vote, despite his confinement. His campaign brought attention to the issues of social justice and the anti-war movement.

After the election, public opinion began to shift in favour of Debs. Although he did not receive a pardon from President Wilson, President Harding eventually commuted his sentence on Christmas Day in 1921.