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{{Short description|American lawyer and politician (1902–1954)}}
{{Use American English|date=November 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| birthname           = Vito Anthony Marcantonio
| image               = Benjamin Davis and Vito Marcantonio Cast Their Votes. Photos by Peter. Nov 5, 1946 Slide 1 Crop.png
| caption             = Marcantonio in 1946
| office1             = Member of the<br>[[U.S. House of Representatives]]<br>from New York
| term_start1         = January 3, 1939
| term_end1           = January 3, 1951
| constituency1       = {{ushr|NY|20|c}} (1939–1945)<br>{{ushr|NY|18|c}} (1945–1951)
| preceded1           = [[James J. Lanzetta]]
| succeeded1          = [[James G. Donovan]]
| constituency2       = {{ushr|NY|20|c}}
| term_start2         = January 3, 1935
| term_end2           = January 3, 1937
| preceded2           = James J. Lanzetta
| succeeded2          = James J. Lanzetta
| office3             = [[New York (state)|New York]] State Chairman of the<br />[[American Labor Party]]
| term_start3         = January 8, 1948
| term_end3           = November 6, 1953
| predecessor3        = Hyman Blumberg
| successor3          = Peter K. Hawley
| birth_date          = December 10, 1902
| birth_place         = [[New York City]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1954|8|9|1902|12|10}}
| death_place         = New York City, U.S.
| party               = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] (before 1937)<br />[[American Labor Party|American Labor]] (after 1937)
| otherparty          = [[Farmer–Labor Party|Farmer–Labor]] (1920)<br />[[Progressive Party (United States, 1924–1934)|Progressive]] (1924)<br />[[Progressive Party (United States, 1948–1955)|Progressive]] (1948–1954)
| spouse              = {{marriage|Miriam A. Sanders|May 20, 1925}}
| alma_mater          = [[New York University School of Law]]
}}
'''Vito Anthony Marcantonio''' (December 10, 1902&nbsp;– August 9, 1954) was an American lawyer and politician who represented [[East Harlem]] in [[New York City]] for seven terms in the [[United States House of Representatives]].<ref name=Minton>{{cite journal| first = Bruce| last = Minton| title = That Man Marcantonio| journal = New Masses| url = https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-masses/1936/v21n06-nov-03-1936-NM.pdf| pages = 3–5| date = November 1936| access-date = May 13, 2020| archive-date = August 17, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210817120652/https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/new-masses/1936/v21n06-nov-03-1936-NM.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref>

For most of his political career, he was a member of the [[American Labor Party]], believing that neither major American political party supported the interests of the [[Working class in the United States|working class]]. For two years prior to his [[party switching]] to Labor, he had been a [[New Deal coalition]] member of the [[Progressivism in the United States|progressive]] branch of the [[History of the Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], like his mentor and ally [[Fiorello La Guardia]]. Marcantonio was ideologically a [[Socialism in the United States|socialist]], and a supporter of political causes and positions which he deemed in the interests of the working class, poor, immigrants, labor unions, and [[Civil rights movement|civil rights]].<ref>{{cite news |title=New York's Last Socialist Congressperson |first1=Benjamin |last1=Serby |date=December 20, 2018 |publisher=[[Jacobin]] |url=https://jacobin.com/2018/12/vito-marcantonio-socialist-congress-puerto-rico-civil-rights |url-status=live |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706061817/https://jacobin.com/2018/12/vito-marcantonio-socialist-congress-puerto-rico-civil-rights}}</ref>

Marcantonio's constituency in Congress included the smaller neighborhoods of [[Italian Harlem]] and [[Spanish Harlem]] and was home to many ethnic [[Italian Americans in New York City|Italians]], Jews, African Americans, and [[Puerto Ricans in New York City|Puerto Ricans]]. He spoke Spanish, Italian, and English. Marcantonio advocated fiercely for the rights of African Americans, Italian American immigrants, and Puerto Rican immigrants in Harlem, as well as for unions and workers in general.

==Early life and education==
Marcantonio was the son of an American-born father and Italian-born mother, both with origins in [[Picerno]], in the [[Basilicata]] region of [[Southern Italy]].<ref>{{Cite book| last = Meyer| first = Gerald| title = Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician, 1902–1954| publisher = SUNY Press| location = Albany| year = 1989| page = [https://archive.org/details/vitomarcantonior0000meye/page/7 7]| isbn = 978-0791400838| url = https://archive.org/details/vitomarcantonior0000meye/page/7}}</ref> He was born on December 10, 1902, in the impoverished [[Italian Harlem]] ghetto of [[East Harlem]], New York City.<ref name=Minton/> He attended New York City public schools, becoming the only member of his class from East Harlem to graduate from [[De Witt Clinton High School]] in [[Hell's Kitchen]],{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} and eventually received his [[LL.B.]] from the [[New York University School of Law]] in 1925.

==Early career==
[[File:La Guardia Marcantonio 1920s Edit.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Congressman [[Fiorello La Guardia]] (left) and Marcantonio, his campaign manager, {{circa}} late 1920s]]
In the [[1920 United States presidential election]], Marcantonio campaigned for [[Parley P. Christensen]], the candidate of the [[Farmer-Labor Party]].<ref name=Minton/> [[1924 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|In 1924]], he became campaign manager for the congressional campaign of [[Fiorello La Guardia]], then a Progressive–Socialist.<ref name=Minton/> Together, LaGuardia and Marcantonio also campaigned for U.S. Senator [[Robert M. La Follette]] for president in [[1924 United States presidential election|that year's presidential election]].<ref name=Minton/><ref name=Murtagh /> Marcantonio also became secretary of the Tenants League, which fought high rents and evictions.<ref name=Minton/>

After passing the New York [[bar examination]] in 1925, Marcantonio began practicing law, first for Foster, La Guardia, and Cutler.<ref name=Minton/> He clerked at the law firm of [[Swinburne Hale]], [[Walter Nelles]], and [[Isaac Shorr]], known for its representation of [[politically radical]] individuals and organizations. There, he worked with labor lawyer [[Joseph R. Brodsky]], who "significantly contributed to his left orientation" toward [[Marxism]].<ref name=Murtagh>{{cite web| first = Matthew| last = Murtagh| title = Politician, Social Worker, and Lawyer. Vito Marcantonio and Constituent Legal Services| publisher = VitoMarcantonio.com| url = http://www.vitomarcantonio.com/oa_politician_social_worker_lawyer.html| date = May 18, 2010| access-date = September 27, 2017| archive-date = February 26, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180226024645/http://www.vitomarcantonio.com/oa_politician_social_worker_lawyer.html| url-status = live}}</ref> Marcantonio managed La Guardia's successful congressional re-election campaigns in [[1926 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1926]] to [[1932 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1932]].<ref name=Minton/> He worked as an [[assistant United States attorney]] from 1930 to 1931.<ref name=Minton/> He was an important figure in the La Guardia's successful campaign for [[mayor of New York City]] in  [[1933 New York City mayoral election|1933]], and was regarded to be La Guardia's political heir apparent.<ref name="Sparticus"/>

==U.S. House of Representatives==
[[File:Vito Marcantonio 1935.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Marcantonio {{circa}} 1935]]
Marcantonio was first elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] from New York [[1934 United States House of Representatives elections|in 1934]] as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]].<ref name="Minton" /> He received a warm write-up in the ''[[New Masses]]'' in the November 1936 issue.<ref name="Minton" /> He served in the House from 1935 until 1937 but was defeated in 1936 for re-election. Marcantonio's district was centered in his native [[East Harlem]], New York City, which had many residents and immigrants of [[Italian-Americans|Italian]] and [[Puerto Rico|Puerto Rican]] origin. Fluent in Spanish as well as Italian, he was considered an ally of the Puerto Rican and Italian-American communities, and an advocate for the rights of the workers, immigrants, and the poor.<ref name="Simon 2006">{{cite web | last=Simon | first=John J. | title=Rebel in the House: The Life and Times of Vito Marcantonio | website=Monthly Review | date=March 1, 2006 | url=https://monthlyreview.org/2006/03/01/rebel-in-the-house-the-life-and-times-of-vito-marcantonio/ | access-date=September 12, 2021 | archive-date=August 15, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815202905/https://monthlyreview.org/2006/03/01/rebel-in-the-house-the-life-and-times-of-vito-marcantonio/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Marcantonio was arguably one of the most [[left-wing]] members of Congress,<ref name="maxists.org"/><ref name="Sparticus"/> He was investigated by the [[FBI]] in the 1940s and 1950s because of his extensive affiliation with members of the [[Communist Party USA]] and known [[Communist front]] groups.<ref name="maxists.org"/><ref name="FBI"/> He strongly supported the [[New Deal]] of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]].<ref name="Sparticus"/>

[[File:Vito Marcantonio, member of the United States House of Representatives from New York, Los Angeles, 1930s Trim.jpg|thumb|right|Marcantonio on a visit to [[Los Angeles]] {{circa}} 1930s]]

[[1936 United States House of Representatives elections|In 1936]], Marcantonio lost re-election. However, he won his seat back in the [[1938 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1938 election]] while running under the [[American Labor Party]] nomination.<ref name="Sparticus"/> He was subsequently re-elected to six further terms, with his second stint in the House lasting from 1939 to 1951 (being reelected in the elections of [[1940 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1940]], [[1942 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1942]], [[1944 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1944]], [[1946 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1946]],<ref name="Archives 2001">{{cite web | title=Representative Vito Marcantonio of New York | website=US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives | date=September 11, 2001 | url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/Representative-Vito-Marcantonio-of-New-York/ | access-date=September 12, 2021 | archive-date=December 6, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201206033945/https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/Representative-Vito-Marcantonio-of-New-York/ | url-status=live }}</ref> and [[1948 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|1948]]). He was so popular in that district that he [[cross-filed]] in the [[cross-filing]] primaries between [[History of the Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and Republican primaries, and won the nominations of both parties. He also gained the [[Political endorsement|endorsement]] of the ALP, in an example of [[electoral fusion]].<ref name="Sammin 2019" /> Aside from Marcantonio, the only other ALP congressman was [[Leo Isacson]], who served in Congress from 1948 to 1949, after winning a special election, but was defeated in the next general election.

Marcantonio stood as an ally to causes important to Puerto Rican and Italian communities and common workers, and was also a strong advocate of Harlem's African-American communities{{Citation needed|date=June 2025}} and fought vehemently for [[Civil rights movement (1896–1954)|black civil rights]] decades before the [[civil rights movement]] of the 1950s–1960s. He perennially supported civil rights legislation.<ref name="Sparticus"/>

Marcantonio strongly opposed Congressman [[Martin Dies Jr.]] and his [[House Un-American Activities Committee]], which was created in 1937  to investigate activities considered un-American and subversive as part of the [[Red Scare]].<ref name="Sparticus"/>

[[Image:Make Marc Mayor Salvaged.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|[[Henry A. Wallace|Henry Wallace]] and [[Paul Robeson]] flank Marcantonio just before an [[American Labor Party]] rally at [[Madison Square Garden]], 1949]]

In the early years of [[World War II]], Marcantonio viewed the war as being fueled by competing [[imperialist]] desires by the [[Allies of World War II]] and [[Axis powers]], and opposed a United States entry into the conflict.<ref name="Sparticus"/> In 1940, he helped form the [[American Peace Mobilization]] (APM), a group whose aim was to keep the U.S. from participating in the war. Before the signing of the [[Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact]] in Moscow August 23, 1939, the APM's precursor organization, the [[Comintern]]-directed [[American League for Peace and Democracy]], had been [[anti-Nazi]]. Marcantonio served as the APM's vice-chair. He appeared in a [[newsreel]] in 1940 denouncing "the imperialist war", a line taken by [[Joseph Stalin]] and his supporters in the [[Soviet Union]] (USSR) until [[Operation Barbarossa]]. The Pact lasted until the Germans broke it by invading the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. In 1942, Marcantonio worked to expand the U.S. military commitment to a second front in Europe against the [[Nazi German]] expansion, which became [[Operation Torch]]. The USSR ordered [[Communist parties]] throughout the world to promote the idea to help it defeat [[Nazism]]. Marcantonio was also a vice president of the [[International Workers Order]], a fraternal benefit society unofficially affiliated with the Communist Party.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher = University of Pennsylvania| last = Sabin| first = Arthur J.| title = Red Scare in Court: New York Versus The International Workers Order| location = Philadelphia| year = 1993| pages = 310–311}}</ref>

There was a strong effort to unseat Marcantonio from Congress in 1946, including a smear campaign by media outlets. However, Marcantonio won re-election by a margin of 5,500.<ref name="Sparticus"/> On election day, a Republican election captain named Joseph Scottoriggio, who was supporting Marcantonio's opponent, was severely beaten and died days later.<ref name="FairEnough">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104861573/fair-enough-column/ |title=Fair Enough (column) |first=Westbrook |last=Pegler |newspaper=[[The Montana Standard]] |location=[[Butte, Montana]] |page=4 |date=November 21, 1946 |accessdate=July 3, 2022 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> New York City mobster [[Mike Coppola (mobster)|Mike Coppola]] is believed to have been responsible.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104859863/the-witness-doris-coppola-march-1948/ |title=The Witness: Doris Coppola, March 1948 |first=Jay |last=Maeder |newspaper=[[New York Daily News|Daily News]] |location=New York City |page=27 |date=October 1, 2000 |accessdate=July 3, 2022 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/104861121/mafia-is-male-chauvinist-stronghold/ |title=Mafia Is Male Chauvinist Stronghold |first=Nicholas |last=Gage |newspaper=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]] |page=B-5 |date=November 18, 1971 |accessdate=July 3, 2022 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

[[File:Vito Marcantonio (New York Congressman) 2.jpg|thumb|right|From 1949's ''Pictorial Directory of the 81st Congress'']]

In 1947, when the U.S. Congress passed legislation to provide financial aid to fight communism in Turkey and Greece, such as during the [[Greek Civil War]], Marcantonio was the only congressman to not applaud the action, symbolizing his disagreement with the [[Truman Doctrine]].<ref>Trussel, C.P. Congress is Soleman: Prepares to Consider Bills After Hearing the President Gravely Soviet Called Issue  Some Hold Truman Plan Is Blow to U.N. – All but Marcantonio Applaud. New York Times (1923–Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y.] March 13, 1947: 1</ref> In 1950, Marcantonio opposed American involvement in the [[Korean War]]. He argued that [[North Korea]] had been the victim of an unprovoked attack by [[South Korea]]. He cited articles by [[I. F. Stone]], a radical journalist.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Marcantonio opposed the 1947 creation of the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] in 1947, arguing that the agency would "under the guise of research and study" conduct espionage trade unions and businesses in order to assert the will of the military upon them.<ref name="Sparticus"/>

On November 25, 1947, the day after the House voted for indictment of the [[Hollywood Ten]] for [[contempt of Congress]], Representative [[Walter Judd (politician)|Walter Judd]] attacked Marcantonio by likening the ALP to the [[China Democratic League]] in China at that time. He said: "The history of the Democratic League is astonishingly like that of the American Labor Party to which the gentleman belongs. It was originally a coalition of labor groups, liberals and Communists. Then the genuine liberals discovered that it and they were being used as fronts or tools of the Communists, and, as the gentleman from New York is well aware, they broke off and established the [[Liberal Party of New York State|Liberal Party]]."<ref>{{cite book| title = Congressional Record| publisher = US GPO| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uYk5bM0MUIUC| page = 11762| date = November 25, 1947| access-date = May 12, 2020| archive-date = September 12, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210912013001/https://books.google.com/books?id=uYk5bM0MUIUC| url-status = live}}</ref>

[[File:United States American Labor Party undated Slide 9 Marcantonio Fights For You.png|thumb|left|[[American Labor Party]] campaign poster featuring Marcantonio as a candidate for reelection to Congress, 1948. Above him the faces of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Fiorello La Guardia]], and [[Henry A. Wallace]] look on.]]

In 1948, Marcantonio was an avid supporter of former Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace]], who ran for President on the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]] ticket.<ref>{{cite web|title=Marcantonio, Vito (Anthony)|url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/marcantonio_vito_anthony_1902_1954|website=Credo|publisher=The Columbia Encyclopedia|access-date=December 14, 2014|archive-date=December 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141214163137/http://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/marcantonio_vito_anthony_1902_1954|url-status=live}}</ref> A campaign film by [[Carl Marzani]] shows Marcantonio's district and his efforts on its behalf.<ref>{{Vimeo | 233307204 | People’s Congressman }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Musser |first1=Charles |title=Carl Marzani and Union Films: Making Left-Wing Documentaries during the Cold War, 1946–53 |journal=The Moving Image |date=2009 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=135–143 |url=http://www.charlesmusser.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Musser-MarzaniandUnionFilms.pdf |access-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-date=May 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526185558/http://www.charlesmusser.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Musser-MarzaniandUnionFilms.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Marcantonio became state chairman of the ALP in January,<ref>{{cite news |title=Vito Marcantonio Heads Labor Party |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/149676164/?match=1&terms=%22State%20Chairman%20of%20the%20American%20Labor%20Party%22%20Marcantonio%20Blumberg |access-date=27 February 2025 |work=[[The Pittsburgh Press]] |date=8 January 1948 |location=Pittsburgh}}</ref> and was re-elected in November. His re-election that year came despite an intense opposition (motivated by opposition to his anti-[[McCarthyism]]).<ref name="Sparticus"/>

[[1949 New York City mayoral election|In 1949]], Marcantonio ran for [[Mayor of New York City]] on the ALP ticket but was defeated.<ref name="Sammin 2019">{{cite web |last1=Sammin |first1=Kyle |title=A Socialist Predecessor of Ocasio-Cortez in Congress | website=[[National Review]] |date=August 13, 2019 |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/08/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-socialist-predecessor-vito-marcantonio/ }}</ref>

In his last term in Congress, Marcantonio opposed U.S. involvement in the [[Korean War]].<ref name="Sparticus"/>

In 1950, the Democratic, Republican, and [[Liberal Party of New York|Liberal]] parties (through [[Electoral fusion in New York|electoral fusion]]) backed a single candidate against Marcantonio, who was in turn endorsed by all of the city's major newspapers. Since Marcantonio had been able to win reelection in 1948 due to the Democrats and Republicans splitting the vote, Republican leader [[Thomas J. Curran]] and Democratic leader [[Ferdinand Pecora]] worked together to find a compromise candidate. [[Jonathan Brewster Bingham]], John Ellis, [[James J. Lanzetta]], [[Thomas Francis Murphy]], and [[Wendell Willkie]]'s wife Edith Willkie were considered, but [[James G. Donovan]] was ultimately selected.{{sfn|Soyer|2021|p=120-121}}

During the campaign, Marcantonio attacked Donovan as a "Sutton Place [[Dixiecrat]]". He was defeated by Donovan in [[1950 United States House of Representatives elections in New York|the 1950 election]], receiving only 40% of the vote.<ref name="Sparticus" /> The Liberals opposed Donovan in later elections.{{sfn|Soyer|2021|p=121-122}} The passage of the Wilson Pakula Act in 1947 also played some part in Marcantonio's defeat.<ref name="Kanellos">{{cite book |author1=Nicolás Kanellos |author2=Francisco A. Lomelí |author3=Claudio Esteva Fabregat |author4=Felix M. Padilla |title=Handbook of Hispanic Cultures in the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-iZai2uv_sC&q=%2B%22wilson+pakula%22+%2B1947&pg=PA114 |publisher=Arte Publico Press |page=114 |year=1994 |isbn=978-1558851016 |access-date=April 23, 2009 |archive-date=September 12, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912013006/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-iZai2uv_sC&q=%2B%22wilson+pakula%22+%2B1947&pg=PA114 |url-status=live }}</ref> The law prevented candidates from running in the primaries of parties with which they were not affiliated. It was widely perceived as being directed against Marcantonio.<ref name="Kanellos" /> As the sole representative of his party for most of his years in Congress, Marcantonio never held a committee chairmanship. After his defeat in 1950 and the withdrawal of the Communist Party support for the ALP, the party soon fell apart.<ref name="affairs" />

==Later life and death==
[[File:Vito Marcantonio memorial program, December 7, 1954 Trim.png|thumb|right|Memorial program, December 7, 1954]]
After his defeat in mayoral and congressional elections, Marcantonio continued to practice law. It was his law practice, maintained while in Congress, that had generated the money by which he substantially self-financed his political campaigns. {{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} At first, he practiced in Washington, D.C., but he soon returned to New York City.

In the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]], Marcantonio supported the [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948–1955)|Progressive Party]] ticket of [[Vincent Hallinan]] for president and [[Charlotta Bass]] for vice president.<ref name="Sparticus">{{cite web |last1=Simkin |first=John |title=Vito Marcantonio |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/USAvito.htm |website=Spartacus Educational |access-date=1 June 2025 |date=September 1997 |language=en}}</ref> Bass (an [[African-American]] woman) was the first woman [[Person of color|of color]] to be nominated for vice president.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Meares |first1=Hadley |title=The Fabulous Life Of Charlotta Bass, The First Woman Of Color To Run For US Vice President |url=https://laist.com/news/la-history/charlotta-bass-first-woman-of-color-to-run-for-us-vice-president |website=LAist |access-date=4 November 2024 |language=en |date=2 September 2020}}</ref> Marcantonio attended the party's [[1952 Progressive National Convention|1952 nominating convention]] in Chicago.<ref name="LiberalJournalist">{{cite web |title=A Liberal Journalist On the Air and On the Waterfront: Labor and Political Issues, 1932-1990 |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt1000013q;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=d0e18828&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e17357&brand=calisphere |website=oac.cdlib.org |publisher=University of California |access-date=1 June 2025 |pages=534–537}}</ref> Soon afterward, in personal correspondence, he hailed W.E.B. Du Bois's keynote address to the convention, writing that he fully concurred with assertions made in the speech about black political representation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Letter from Vito Marcantonio to Katherine Van Orden, July 27, 1952 |url=https://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums312-b138-i047 |website=credo.library.umass.edu |publisher=Letter from Vito Marcantonio to Katherine Van Orden |access-date=1 June 2025 |language=en}}</ref> In supporting the party's 1952 nominees, he characterized a vote for the third-party ticket as highly valuable, remarking, {{blockquote|A vote for the Progressive Party in 1952... is a vote as valuable as that cast for the [[Liberty Party (United States, 1840)|Liberty Party]] in [[1840 United States presidential election|1840]] against [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], and for the [[Free Soil Party]] in [[1848 United States presidential election|1848]] and [[1852 United States presidential election|1852]] against extension of slavery. It is a vote similar to the one that made up the one million votes for [[Eugene V. Debs]] in [[1920 United States presidential election|1920]], which in turn led to the four million votes for LaFollette in 1924 and for victory for [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|<nowiki>[Franklin]</nowiki> Roosevelt]] in [[1932 United States presidential election|1932]]. Great causes were never won by sacrificing a real fight and substituting for it the seeming [[lesser evil]].<ref name="Sparticus"/>}}

In his address to the party's 1952 presidential nominating convention, Marcantonio remarked {{blockquote|With belief in our fathers, and faith in our people, we here at this Convention constitute the people's opposition to the juggernaut of war, oppression and reaction, and we today, the political lineal descendants of the [[Free Soilers]] of over 100 years ago, raise our banner on which are inscribed the words: "free speech and free and equal men living in a world of peace." I say we are not wasting time; we are not fighting in vain. For as we battle in 1952, to that extent will we earn the right to be the hard core of the great political party that will follow in the realignment which will inexorably ensue from the disintegration of the Democratic Party.<ref>{{cite news |title=The People Launch Their Campaign For Peace, Freedom, Security |url=https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/national-guardian/1952-07-31-4-41-nat-guardian.pdf |access-date=26 June 2025 |work=National Guardian |volume=4 |issue=41 |date=July 31, 1952 |via=Marxists.org}}</ref> }}

Marcantonio resigned as state chairman of the ALP soon after the [[1953 New York City mayoral election|1953 mayoral election]], citing an "inherent division" that prevented it from acting as an independent political force.<ref>{{cite news |title=American Labor Party Is Split |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/731555072/?match=1&terms=%22State%20Chairman%20of%20the%20American%20Labor%20Party%22 |access-date=27 February 2025 |work=[[Brantford Expositor]] |date=6 November 1953 |location=Brantford}}</ref> He left the party altogether, and launched a campaign for his former congressional seat, initially as an independent,<ref name="Sparticus"/> pledging as a candidate, {{blockquote|I shall continue to strive as an independent for the things for which I have striven so hard. I shall continue to do so as an independent endeavoring for the political realignment which is inevitable. It is as inevitable as the failure of the Republican and Democrat foreign policy and the economy that is based upon it.<ref name="Sparticus"/>}} He ultimately became the candidate of a newly formed third party, the Good Neighbor Party. However, he died before the general election was held,<ref name="affairs">[http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/8859/ Vito Marcantonio, Radical Congressman from New York] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090817102126/http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/8859/ |date=August 17, 2009 }}, ''PoliticalAffairs''. Retrieved 8-11-09</ref> suffering a fatal [[heart attack]] on August 9, 1954 while traveling up subway stairs on Broadway by City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan. As a devout [[Catholic Church|Catholic]], he was given conditional [[absolution]] and [[Anointing of the Sick in the Catholic Church|extreme unction]], the last sacrament of the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vitomarcantonio.org/|title=Vito Marcantonio Online|date= August 14, 2015|publisher=Vito Marcantonio Organization|access-date= March 26, 2022|quote=a priest who administered the last rites of the Catholic Church.-->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://centropr-archive.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/chronicles/remembering-vito-marcantonio|title=Remembering Vito Marcantonio|date= August 14, 2015|publisher=Center For Puerto Rican Studies|access-date= March 26, 2022|quote=Marcantonio had been a devout Catholic.-->}}</ref> He was nevertheless refused a [[Catholic funeral]], with the [[Archdiocese of New York]] claiming he was not practicing and had not been reconciled to the Church at the time of his death.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1954-08-11 |title=THRONGS AT BIER OF MARCANTONIO; Catholic Church Refuses Him Religious Service -- Funeral Is Set for Tomorrow (Published 1954) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/08/11/archives/throngs-at-bier-of-marcantonio-catholic-church-refuses-him.html#:~:text=The%20former%20Representative%20from%20the,conducted%20or%20who%20would%20officiate. |access-date=2025-09-21 |language=en}}</ref> His service at a funeral home was attended by more than 20,000 people.<ref name="Sparticus"/>

==Political ideology==
Marcantonio was inspired politically by his [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] faith.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=August 14, 2015 |title=Vito Marcantonio Online |url=http://www.vitomarcantonio.org/ |access-date=March 26, 2022 |publisher=Vito Marcantonio Organization |quote=he had always identified himself as a Catholic. For example, in 1939, while speaking before the National Conference of the ILD, ... with a description of himself 'As a Roman Catholic who has not deserted the faith of his fathers.'-->}}</ref>

===Views on communism and criticism of the Red Scare===
[[File:Vito Paul Leo Salvaged Crop.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Marcantonio (left) with [[Paul Robeson]] and [[Leo Isacson]] at an event in [[Washington, D.C.]] protesting the [[Mundt Bill]], June 1, 1948]]
Marcantonio, who was arguably one of the most left-wing members of Congress,<ref name="maxists.org"/><ref name="Sparticus"/> said that party loyalty was less important than voting with his conscience. He was sympathetic to the [[Socialist Party of America|Socialist]] and [[Communist Party USA|Communist]] parties, and to [[Labor unions in the United States|labor unions]]. He was investigated by the FBI in the 1940s and 1950s because of his extensive affiliation with members of the Communist Party and known Communist front groups.<ref name="maxists.org">{{cite web|url=https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/3002.html|title=Vito Marcantonio, Ethnic Populist|publisher=State University of New York Press|access-date= March 26, 2022|quote=further to the left with a domestic political agenda roughly parallel to that the Communist Party (CP).}}</ref><ref name="FBI">{{cite web|url=http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/vitomarc.htm|title=Vito Marcantonio|publisher=Federal Bureau of Investigation|access-date=March 8, 2022|quote=Congressman Marcantonio was the subject of an FBI security matter investigation during the 1940s and 1950s in view of his extensive affiliation with members of the Communist Party and known communist front groups.-->|archive-date=October 15, 2004|archive-url=https://www.webharvest.gov/peth04/20041015154543/http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/vitomarc.htm|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>

When accused in his early congressional tenure of secretly supporting the United States Communist Party he remarked, {{Blockquote|I disagree with the Communists. I emphatically do not agree with them, but they have a perfect right to speak out and to advocate communism. I maintain that the moment we deprive those with whom we extremely disagree of their right to [[freedom of speech]], the next thing that will happen is that our own right of freedom of speech will be taken away from us.<ref name="Sparticus"/>}}

An opponent of the House Un-American Activities Committee, in  1940 Marcantonio accused its participants of using anti-communism to distract public attention away from an anti-worker agenda, remarking, {{blockquote|If communism is destroyed, I do not know what some of you will do. It has become the most convenient method by which you wrap yourselves in the American flag in order to cover up some of the greasy stains on the legislative toga. You can vote against the unemployed, you can vote against the [[W.P.A.]] workers, and you can emasculate the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States; you can try to destroy the National Labor Relations Law, the Magna Carta of American labor; you can vote against the farmer; and you can do all that with a great deal of impunity, because after you have done so you do not have to explain your vote.<ref name="Sparticus"/>}}

===Civil rights===
[[File:DuBois Marcantonio 1952.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Marcantonio with [[W. E. B. Du Bois]] at the [[1952 Progressive National Convention]]]]
In 2010, historian [[Thaddeus Russell]] described Marcantonio as "one of the greatest champions of [[Civil rights movement|black civil rights]] during the 1930s and 1940s."<ref name="russell">Thaddeus Russell, ''A Renegade History of the United States,'' 2010, p. 188 (section – "Italian Americans: Out of Africa"</ref> He sponsored bills to prohibit the [[Poll tax (United States)|poll tax]], used by the Southern United States to [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchise]] poor voters, and to make [[Lynching in the United States|lynching]] a federal crime.<ref name="russell"/>

Historian [[G. J. Meyer]] noted, {{blockquote|In the House, Marcantonio distinguished himself as the major leader for civil rights legislation by sponsoring anti-[[lynching]] and anti-[[poll tax]] bills as well as the annual fight for the [[Fair Employment Practices Commission]]'s appropriation.<ref name="Sparticus"/>}}

Marcantonio partnered with Congressman [[Leo Isacson]] to champion the cause of equality in the [[United States Armed Forces]].<ref name="Sparticus"/>

===Economic policy===
[[File:Marcantonio Powell Roosevelt FEPC 1950.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|From left to right: Marcantonio, [[Adam Clayton Powell Jr.]], and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr.]], three [[congressmen]] unsuccessful in their attempt to save the [[Fair Employment Practice Committee]], February 23, 1950]]
Marcantonio supported the New Deal. While speaking on the subject of [[unemployment]], Marcantonio remarked in Congress, "the unemployed are victims of an unjust economic and social system which has failed."<ref name="Sparticus"/>

===Military policy===
In the early stages of World War II, Marcantonio opposed American entry, arguing that the war was actually an imperialist effort fueled by a desire by the conflicting powers to expand their economic exploitation of other peoples, remarking:

{{blockquote|a war between two axes, the [[Wall Street]]-[[Downing Street]] Axis versus the Rome-Tokyo-Berlin Axis, contending for empire and for exploitation of more and more people.<ref name="Sparticus"/>}}

In 1940, he was involved in forming the [[American Peace Mobilization]] to oppose American entry into the war.<ref>{{cite news |title=Officers of the American Peace Mobilization |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/1143782615/?terms=%22vito%20marcantonio%22&match=1 |access-date=31 July 2025 |work=[[Daily Worker]] |date=3 September 1940 |location=New York}}</ref> He also opposed U.S. involvement in the Korean War.<ref name="Sparticus"/>

===Freedom of expression===
In 1941, as an attorney Marcantonio represented Dale Zysman, a high school coach and board member of the New York City [[Teachers Union]] also known as [[Jack Hardy (labor leader)|Jack Hardy]], a [[communist]] writer for [[International Publishers]], in a New York [[Board of Education]] hearing. Marcantonio asked for a ten-day stay because the Board had failed to present "an itemized bill of particulars", which stay the Board denied. Zysman walked out.<ref name=nysun>{{cite news| title = Zysman Identified as Red: Teachers Union Leader Tried in Absence After He Walks Out on Hearing| publisher = New York Sun| date = September 17, 1941| url = http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2018/New%20York%20NY%20Sun/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201941/New%20York%20NY%20Sun%201941%20-%207163.pdf#xml=http://fultonhistory.com/dtSearch/dtisapi6.dll?cmd=getpdfhits&u=ffffffffe03b5344&DocId=2838704&Index=Z%3a%5cIndex%20I%2dE&HitCount=4&hits=19+1a+19d+19e+&SearchForm=C%3a%5cinetpub%5cwwwroot%5cFulton%5fNew%5fform%2ehtml&.pdf| access-date = April 7, 2013}}</ref>

===Puerto Rico===
[[File:Marcantonio Puerto Ricans.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Marcantonio with [[Strike action|striking]] [[Puerto Ricans|Puerto Rican]] workers, undated]]
Marcantonio served as a strong voice in Congress for concerns relating to the territory of [[Puerto Rico]], which lacked congressional representation.<ref name="Sparticus"/> Historian G. J. Meyer noted, {{blockquote|He served as ''[[de facto]]'' congressperson for Puerto Rico, insuring that it was not excluded from appropriations bills. He also submitted five bills calling for the [[Independence movement in Puerto Rico|independence of Puerto Rico]] (which he called "the greatest victim of United States imperialism") with an indemnity for the damage done to the island by the United States business interests which had replaced tens of thousands of small farms with sugar plantations.<ref name="Sparticus"/>}}

In 1939, Marcantonio criticized the prosecution and conviction of [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party]] president [[Pedro Albizu Campos]] on charges of [[sedition]] and other crimes against the United States.{{citation needed|date=June 2025}}

In 1946, Marcantonio introduced legislation to restore Spanish as the <!--See also [[English language in Puerto Rico#Education]]-->language of instruction in Puerto Rico's schools, asking President [[Harry S. Truman]] to sign the bill "in the name of the children of Puerto Rico who are being tortured by the prevailing system…to fight cultural chauvinism and to correct past errors." President Truman signed the bill.<ref name="Simon 2006" /> In 1948, schools were able to return to teaching in the Spanish language, but English was required in schools as a second language.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

== Personal life ==
Marcantonio was a lifelong Catholic, who, in 1939 at the National Conference of the ILD, described himself as "a Roman Catholic who has not deserted the faith of his fathers."<ref name=":0" /> He married Miriam A. Sanders in 1925.

==Legacy==
[[File:PS 50 Vito Marcantonio jeh.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Public School 50 Vito Marcantonio in [[East Harlem]], 2010]]
Marcantonio's collection of speeches, ''I Vote My Conscience'' (1956), edited by [[Annette Rubinstein]], influenced the next generation of young radicals.<ref name="vote"/> His defense of workers rights, his mastery of parliamentary procedure, his ability to relate to the workers in his district while also engaging in worldwide issues, made him a hero to a certain section of the left. Rubinstein's book was reprinted in a new edition in 2002.<ref name="vote">{{Cite web |url=http://www.vitomarcantonio.org/ |title=''I Vote My Conscience,'' 2002 edition, hosted at Vito Marcantonio official website |access-date=2013-11-01 |archive-date=2013-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207094848/http://www.vitomarcantonio.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Tony Kushner]]'s play ''[[The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures]]'' has a main character who is a fictional "cousin" of Vito Marcantonio.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==Works==
Pamphlets written by Marcantonio include:
* ''We Accuse!'' (1938)<ref>
{{cite book
| first = Vito
| last = Marcantonio
| author-link = Vito Marcantonio
| title = We Accuse!
| publisher = [[International Labor Defense]]
| url = https://oakland.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_ead82828-2824-4c12-a389-5f2f8d9e15eb/
| pages = 1–31
| date = 1938
| access-date = 10 February 2025}}</ref>
* ''Labor's Martyrs': Haymarket 1887, Sacco and Vanzetti 1927'' (1941)<ref>{{cite journal
| first1 = Vito
| last1 = Marcantonio
| author-link1 = Vito Marcantonio
| others = Introduction by [[William Z. Foster]]
| title = Labor's Martyrs': Haymarket 1887, Sacco and Vanzetti 1927
| journal = Prism: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements
| publisher = Workers Library Publishers
| url = https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/8/
| pages = 1–15
| date = 1937
| access-date = June 14, 2021
| archive-date = June 14, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210614125739/https://stars.library.ucf.edu/prism/8/
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
* ''Should America Go to War?'' (1941)<ref>
{{cite book
| first = Vito
| last = Marcantonio
| author-link = Vito Marcantonio
| title = Should America Go to War?
| publisher = American People's Mobilization
| url = https://archive.org/details/MarcantonioPro
| pages = 1–13
| date = 1941
| access-date = June 14, 2021}}</ref>
* ''Marcantonio Answers F.D.R.!'' (1941)<ref>{{cite book
| first = Vito
| last = Marcantonio
| author-link = Vito Marcantonio
| title = Marcantonio Answers F.D.R.!: Congressman Vito Marcantonio's Complete Radio Address Exposing the President's Drive to War
| publisher = American People's Mobilization
| url = https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/show/3167
| pages = 1–8
| date = 1941
| access-date = June 14, 2021
| archive-date = June 14, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210614125739/https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/items/show/3167
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
* ''Security with FDR'' (1944)<ref>{{cite book
| first = Vito
| last = Marcantonio
| author-link = Vito Marcantonio
| title = Security with FDR
| publisher = National Fraternal Committee for the Re-election of President Roosevelt
| url = https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19043106
| pages = 1–31
| date = 1944
| access-date = June 14, 2021
| archive-date = June 14, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210614125739/https://digital.library.cornell.edu/catalog/ss:19043106
| url-status = live
}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Works cited==
* {{cite book|last=Soyer |first=Daniel |title=Left in the Center: The Liberal Party of New York and the Rise and Fall of American Social Democracy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2 |publisher=[[Cornell University Press]] |date=2021 |jstor=10.7591/j.ctv1hw3x50.2 |isbn=9781501759888}}

==Further reading==
* Luconi, Stefano, "When East Harlem's Politics Was an Italian-American Matter: The Lanzetta–Marcantonio Congressional Races, 1934–1940," in ''Italian Signs, American Politics: Current Affairs, Historical Perspectives, Empirical Analyses,'' ed. Ottorino Cappelli, 113–66. (New York: John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, 2012. 236 pp.)
* {{cite book | title=American Demagogues: Twentieth Century| url=https://archive.org/details/americandemagogu0000luth| url-access=registration| publisher=Beacon Press | author=Luthin, Reinhard H. | author-link=Reinhard H. Luthin | year=1954 | chapter= Vito Marcantonio: New York's Leftist Laborite|oclc=1098334|asin=B0007DN37C|lccn=54-8428}}
* Meyer, Gerald J. ''Vito Marcantonio: Radical Politician, 1902–1954'' (1989)
* Schaffer, Alan. ''[https://archive.org/details/marcantonioschaffer Vito Marcantonio, Radical in Congress]''. New York: Syracuse University Press. 1966.
* Simon, John J. "Rebel in the House," ''Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine'' (2006) 57#11 pp.&nbsp;24–46.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{CongBio|M000122}}
* [http://www.monthlyreview.org/0406jjsimon.htm John J. Simon, "Rebel in the House: The Life and Times of Vito Marcantonio"], ''Monthly Review'', 2006, Volume 57, Issue 11 (April)
* {{Gutenberg author|id=3790}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Vito Anthony Marcantonio}}
* [http://www.vitomarcantonio.org ''I Vote My Conscience: Speeches Writings Debates of Vito Marcantonio'', edited by Annette T. Rubenstein], 1956/reprinted in new edition, 2002
* [https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/chronicles/remembering-vito-marcantonio ''CENTRO: Remembering Vito Marcantonio.''] [https://web.archive.org/web/20211110032355/https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/centrovoices/chronicles/remembering-vito-marcantonio Archived.]
* {{NYPL Archives & Manuscripts|1871|mss|Vito Marcantonio papers}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20000925134801/http://njind.org/njia/library.htm Vito Marcantonio Library]}}
* {{Find a Grave|8503}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcantonio, Vito}}
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