Troubled by the repression unleashed by World War I, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. insisted that the functioning of the democratic system depended on the right of all Americans to be heard, regardless of how obnoxious their views, provided their words posed no "clear and present danger." This ideal, which became a defining aspect of the nation's political culture in the generation following the war, was put to the test during World War II by the "un-American" rhetoric of Communists, Bundists, Christian fundamentalists, Black nationalists, and others. Idealism faltered as private citizens and government officials, including erstwhile civil libertarians, demanded a new, "realistic" definition of free speech. This book tells how FDR’s three attorneys general and their staffs struggled to adjust and apply the Holmesian ideal in the face of demands from the president and the public for ideological conformity and total security. It examines how the ideal postulated by Holmes and generally accepted by liberals and intellectuals in the interwar period fared during its first real test in the conflict widely known as the "good war."

Tells how FDR's three attorneys general and their staffs struggled to adjust and apply the free speech ideals of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. in the face of demands from the president and the public for philosophical conformity and total security during WWII. Examines how the ideal postulated by Holmes and generally accepted by liberals and intellectuals during the interwar period fared during its first real test in the conflict widely known as the "good war."
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [239]-301) and index.

Richard W. Steele is Professor Emeritus at San Diego State University, and has worked as an Archivist for the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and as a historian for the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Introduction: A Legacy of Restraint * Part I: Frank Murphy--1939 * Champion of Civil Liberties * "Not a Soft, Pudgy Democracy" * Part II: Robert H. Jackson--January 1940--June 1941 * A "Lawyerly Way" * The Fifth Column Scare * "Ruthless--Limitless Searches, Stealing--Tappings--etc." * Harry Bridges and the War on Communism * Part III: Francis Biddle--June 1941--June 1945 * Attorney General by Default * The "Minneapolis Reds"--A "Clear and Present Danger"? * Free Speech for Fascists? * Nazi Themes and "Dirty Little Sheets": Postal Censorship * "Where Sedition Begins and Ends Among Negroes" * The Denaturalization Strategy * "Crackpots and Cranks from All Parts of the Nation" * The Great Sedition Trial: The End of the Anti-Sedition Campaign * BibliographyIntroduction: A Legacy of Restraint * Part I: Frank Murphy--1939 * Champion of Civil Liberties * "Not a Soft, Pudgy Democracy" * Part II: Robert H. Jackson--January 1940--June 1941 * A "Lawyerly Way" * The Fifth Column Scare * "Ruthless--Limitless Searches, Stealing--Tappings--etc." * Harry Bridges and the War on Communism * Part III: Francis Biddle--June 1941--June 1945 * Attorney General by Default * The "Minneapolis Reds"--A "Clear and Present Danger"? * Free Speech for Fascists? * Nazi Themes and "Dirty Little Sheets": Postal Censorship * "Where Sedition Begins and Ends Among Negroes" * The Denaturalization Strategy * "Crackpots and Cranks from All Parts of the Nation" * The Great Sedition Trial: The End of the Anti-Sedition Campaign * Bibliography