James "Jimmy" Weinstein (July 17, 1926,
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
– June 16, 2005,
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
historian and journalist best known as the founder and publisher of
In These TimesIn These Times is a politically progressive monthly magazine of news and opinion published by the Institute for Public Affairs in Chicago...
. Weinstein was a life-long
socialistSocialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
and early 20th-century American socialism was often the focus of his writings.
As a young man, Weinstein was an active supporter of
Henry Wallace'sHenry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
1948 presidential bid on the Progressive Party ticket, a campaign strongly backed by the Communist Party. However, Weinstein later became critical of the
"third party"The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...
strategy and would encourage the
American LeftThe American Left consists of individuals and groups, including socialists, communists and anarchists, that have sought fundamental change in the economic, political and cultural institutions of the United States. Although left-wing ideologies came to the United States in the 19th century, there...
to work within and influence the Democratic Party. Weinstein became a prominent figure among left-wing Democrats in his adopted home of Chicago, Illinois, where
In These Times is headquartered.
Weinstein served in the U.S. Navy and received a degree in
governmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
from
Cornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
in 1949. He later attended
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, obtaining an
M.A.A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in
historyHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
.
He was the author of numerous books, including
The Decline of Socialism in America, The Corporate Ideal in the Liberal State and
The Long Detour: The History and Future of the American Left. He also founded the journal
Socialist Revolution (later renamed
Socialist ReviewSocialist Review is a left-wing political and cultural magazine published in the United States since 1970...
) and was one of the founders of Modern Times Bookstore in
San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
.
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