Allan Louis Benson

Allan Louis Benson (November 6, 1871 – August 19, 1940) was an American newspaper editor and author who was the Socialist Party of America nominee for President of the United States in 1916. Known for his outspoken anti-war views, Benson and his running mate George Ross Kirkpatrick received 590,524 votes, 3.2% of the total vote in the election.

Early life and education Benson was born in Plainwell, Michigan, on November 6, 1871. His father, Adelbert L. Benson, was a factory worker during Allan's boyhood, later becoming a miller, while his mother, Rose Morris Benson, died when Allan was an infant. Allan lived with his grandfather until the age of 12. His grandfather was a farmer in Silver Creek, Michigan. He joined the staff of the Appeal to Reason, a mass circulation socialist weekly published in Girard, Kansas, and his editorials for that publication made him into a nationally recognized figure among radical American political activists.

Benson was particularly outspoken in his opposition to militarism, championing a proposal to ban American entry from World War I unless participation was first approved by a national referendum of the American people. This demand was criticized by many of the Socialist Party's faithful as impractical, including leading party voice Morris Hillquit, who dismissed Benson's demand as "positively wild". In this article Benson condemned as "anarchist" the idea that "the workers have no country," and accused "IWWs" with having conducted unceasing sabotage within the party against their opponents. In the open letter announcing his decision, Benson declared that "nothing worse could happen to the world than to be placed under the heel of German imperialism" and indicated his refusal to participate further in an organization which "places the belligerents upon a parity." Benson remained in this capacity through the end of the war.

From January 1919 through June 1921, Benson was the publisher of a new monthly magazine called Reconstruction, subtitled "A Herald of the New Time." The publication used a newsprint format similar to The Nation and The New Republic and advanced political line slightly to the right of those journals. Frequent contributors included former Socialists Charles Edward Russell and Max S. Hayes. A substantial run of the publication is present in the collection of the New York Public Library.

Benson's later years were spent housebound in Yonkers, New York. Several months before his death, Benson wrote a letter to cartoonist Art Young explaining his plight:

"I am suffering not from pernicious anemia but from the injury to my nervous system that this disease did when four dumbbell doctors (who were supposed to be good) did not recognize it for what it was and let it go until I collapsed, was in bed for six months and have scarcely been able to walk across the room ever since. I have been away from the house but seven times in nine years, for an hour's motor trip each time, and have not now been out in almost two years. I am in more or less distress all the time, but I read almost constantly and thus enjoy myself pretty well considering the circumstances."

Death Benson died in Yonkers, New York, on August 19, 1940.

Works Confessions of Capitalism. Milwaukee: Social Democratic Publishing Co., 1904. Socialism Made Plain: Why the Few are Rich and the Many Poor. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Social-Democratic Publishing Co., 1904. New Zealand's Reply to Pessimism. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Social-Democratic Publishing Co., 1906. What Help Can Any Workingman Expect from Taft or Bryan? Chicago: National Headquarters, Socialist Party, 1908. "A Socialist on the Aspects of the Presidential Campaign," The Arena, vol. 40 (1908), pp. 321–324. The Usurped Power of the Courts. New York: Pearson Publishing Co., 1911. The Growing Grocery Bill. Chicago: National Headquarters, Socialist Party, 1912. Issues and Candidates. United States: s.n., 1912. The Truth about Socialism. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1913. Our Dishonest Constitution. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1914. A reprint of articles originally in Pearson's Magazine. Socialism: The Lone Foe of War. Chicago: Socialist Party, 1914. The Bombshell that Henry Ford Fired. Chicago: Socialist Party, 1914. What Ford Wages Have Done. Girard, KS: Appeal to Reason 1915. "Patriotism," Plunder and "Preparedness": Here are Some Facts which You Might Turn Over in Your Mind before Doing Any More Talking or Thinking about Our Need for More "Preparedness" for War. United States: s.n., 1912. A Way to Prevent War. Girard, KS: Appeal to Reason, 1915. Common Sense about the Navy. Washington: American Union Against Militarism, 1916. Inviting War to America New York, B.W. Huebsch, 1916 "What's Wrong with the Socialist Party?" The New Appeal, whole no. 1,176 (June 15, 1918), pg. 1. "Why I Joined the Social Democratic League," The New Appeal, whole no. 1,183 (Aug. 3, 1918), pg. 1. The New Henry Ford. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Co., 1923. The Propaganda against Prohibition. Woman's National Committee for Law Enforcement, 1926. The Story of Geology. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1927. Daniel Webster. New York: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1929.

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