Leon Jouhaux Quotes
The working classes were becoming more and more sharply aware of the complex causes of international malaise.
Jouhaux, Léon. "Fifty Years of Trade-Union Activity in Behalf of Peace." Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, edited by Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, 1972.
After Roosevelt, most eras of American politics more or less followed the pattern Roosevelt described herein as a “calamity”, with the anger becoming more or less intense. Jefferson thought that these were natural divisions of politics in all societies--{604810}. The thing that masked this for years was race and slavery. In Lincoln’s time there were liberals and conservatives in both parties if race were ignored. In Theodore Roosevelt’s era, he, Taft and others were generally liberal reformers, while a large number of Republicans were conservative supporters of the status quo. Some democrats were radical reformers like William Jennings Bryan while others were arch conservatives. Until 1964 and the Civil Rights Act there were many conservatives in the Democratic Party, but almost all switched to the Republican Party in anger. The Republican conservatives tended to drive the Republican liberals out of the party and for the last part of the 20th century Roosevelt’s “calamity” well described the American political scene, and the anger increased carrying partisan bitterness into the 21st century.
This was his most famous speech.
Commenting on the 1886 Knights of Labor strike.
Léon Jouhaux was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951.
