1. The New Republic is quoted in William E. Leuchtenburg, The Perils of Prosperity, 1914-1932 (1958; reprint ed., Chicago, 1969), p. 49; SG Address, AFL Building Trades Department, Proceedings, 1918, p. 72.

2. "Labor's Golden Age after War Ends," New York Times, Sept. 29, 1918.

3. SG, "Freedom and Justice Essential to a Stable Government," American Federationist 26 (Feb. 1919): 159 (SG delivered this address at a meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations on Dec. 10, 1918); Joseph A. McCartin, Labor's Great War: The Struggle for Industrial Democracy and the Origins of Modern American Labor Relations, 1912-1921 (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1997), pp. 174, 200.

4. "Labor Will Fight Wage Reduction," New York Times, Nov. 17, 1918; "Gompers Outlines Program of Labor," New York Times, Dec. 2, 1918.

5. "Labor Will Fight Wage Reduction"; "Barr Replies to Gompers," Washington Post, Nov. 18, 1918.

6. SG, "Freedom and Justice Essential to a Stable Government," pp. 158, 161.

7. David Montgomery, The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865-1925 (New York, 1987), p. 388; "Labor after the War," New York Times, Nov. 18, 1918; "Market Rallies on Wilson's Talk," Washington Post, Dec. 3, 1918; "Wage Agitation Stirs Washington," New York Times, Nov. 18, 1918.

8. "Industrial News," Cleveland Citizen, Nov. 30, 1918.

9. Leuchtenburg, Perils of Prosperity, pp. 70-71; Brief History of the American Labor Movement, U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Bulletin 1000 (1950).

10. R. H. Atterbury to W. Jett Lauck, Jan. 16, 1919, reel 240, vol. 253, p. 249, SG Letterbooks, DLC.

11. Melvyn Dubofsky, The State and Labor in Modern America (Chapel Hill, N.C., 1994), pp. 76-77.

12. For the 1919 strike-wave see Foster Rhea Dulles and Melvyn Dubofsky, Labor in America: A History, 4th ed. (Arlington Heights, Ill., 1984), pp. 223-29; Francis Russell, A City in Terror: 1919, the Boston Police Strike (New York, 1975); Dana Frank, Purchasing Power: Consumer Organizing, Gender, and the Seattle Labor Movement, 1919-1929 (New York, 1994), pp. 34-39, 45-46, 99; David Jay Bercuson, Confrontation at Winnipeg: Labour, Industrial Relations, and the General Strike, rev. ed. (Montreal, 1990). For the steel strike, David Brody, Steelworkers in America: The Nonunion Era (Cambridge, Mass., 1960), pp. 231-62; for the textile strike, McCartin, Labor's Great War, pp. 182-83; for the coal strike, Philip Taft, The A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers (New York, 1957), pp. 406-11; for the telephone strike, Stephen H. Norwood, Labor's Flaming Youth: Telephone Operators and Worker Militancy, 1878-1923 (Urbana, Ill., 1990), pp. 169-206; "Telephone Strike Ties Up 5 States," New York Times, Apr. 16, 1919.

13. Brody, Steelworkers in America, pp. 244-45. See also, "Strike Leader Foster, as Late as 1915, Advocated Overthrow of All Government and Law Courts," New York Times, Sept. 29, 1919; "Mr. Gompers's Dangerous Ward," New York Times, Sept. 30, 1919; "Foster, Steel Labor Leader, Formerly I.W.W. Worker," Wall Street Journal, Sept. 13, 1919; "Whitewashing Red," Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29, 1919; "What's Wrong with Labor," New York Times, Oct. 26, 1919.

14. Arthur S. Link et al., eds., The Papers of Woodrow Wilson, 69 vols. (Princeton, N.J., 1966-94), 62: 218; Leuchtenburg, Perils of Prosperity, pp. 72-73; "Blanton Attacks Labor Unions When He Condemns Bomb Plots in Congress," Washington Post, June 5, 1919.

15. For outcome of the police strike, see Leuchtenburg, Perils of Prosperity, pp. 73-74; for Judge Gary's response, see Taft, A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers, p. 388.

16. Taft, A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers, pp. 398-400.

17. For the Lever Act, see Frank L. Grubbs, Samuel Gompers and the Great War: Protecting Labor's Standards (Wake Forest, N.C., 1982), pp. 73-74; also Melvyn Dubofsky and Warren Van Tine, John L. Lewis: A Biography (New York, 1977), p. 55; SG is quoted in Grubbs, p. 136. For shop committees see David Brody, "World War I and Industrial Democracy; or, Why We Have No Works Councils in America," in Brody, Labor Embattled: History, Power, Rights (Urbana, Ill., 2005), pp. 62-81, and Howard M. Gitelman, Legacy of the Ludlow Massacre: A Chapter in American Industrial Relations (Philadelphia, 1988).

18. Rubin Fink, "Samuel Gompers the Man, the Labor Leader, and the Jew," transcribed from "The Day," Nov. 10-11, 1918, Files of the Office of the President, Reference Material, reel 131, frame 15, AFL Records.

19. See, for example, R. Lee Guard to SG, Jan. 11, 1919, Files of the Office of the President, General Correspondence, reel 100, frame 121, AFL Records; SG to A. Blakie Dick, Feb. 7, 1920, reel 103, frame 601, and Lewis Allen Browne to SG, Feb. 5, 1920, reel 103, frame 573, ibid.

20. Alice Louise Thompson to Editor, Baltimore Sun, Apr. 22, 1919, Files of the Office of the President, General Correspondence, reel 101, frame 191, AFL Records.

21. "Impeach Van Siclen, Threat of Gompers," New York Times, May 19, 1921; "The Later Mr. Gompers," New York Times, May 20, 1921. For "industrial autocracy," see also "An Address in New York City," Dec. 9, 1918, n. 17, "Excerpts from an Article in the Washington Post," Oct. 29, 1919, and Labor, Its Grievances, Protests, and Demands, Dec. 13, 1919, below.

22. See "To John Weeks," Sept. 7, 1921, below, and ibid., n. 2. Pershing's characterization of SG is quoted in McCartin, Labor's Great War, p. 222.

23. For his accident and subsequent blindness, Lucy Robins Lang, Tomorrow Is Beautiful (New York, 1948), pp. 144-46. The quotation is on p. 146. SG refers to his blindness in a letter to his great granddaughter Shirley MacKay, July 17, 1921, below. See also "Gompers Virtually Blind Last 6 Years, Aid Avers," Washington Post, Apr. 19, 1925.

24. SG to James Duncan, Sept. 7, 1919, Files of the Office of the President, General Correspondence, reel 102, frame 80, AFL Records.

25. Grubbs, Samuel Gompers and the Great War, p. 150.

26. "Gompers Turned 70, Says He Feels 40," New York Times, Jan. 28, 1920; Daniel Tobin to John Frey, Nov. 9, 1926, John P. Frey Papers, DLC.

27. SG to Perriton Maxwell, Nov. 13, 1920, reel 259, vol. 272, p. 289, SG Letterbooks. Maxwell was the editorial director of Leslie's Weekly.

28. AFL, Proceedings, 1920, p. 101.
29. SG to Maxwell, Nov. 13, 1920; see also, for example, "To William Freeman," Mar. 17, 1920, and "To James Stevic," May 6, 1920, below; SG to John C. Anderson, Oct. 9, 1919, reel 245, vol. 258, p. 683, SG Letterbooks.

30. Report of SG's remarks to the 1921 AFL convention on a resolution calling for federal unemployment benefits and local public works programs, George Meany Memorial Archives, Silver Spring, Md.

31. "Excerpts from an Interview with Samuel Gompers," Oct. 28, 1921, below.

32. See for example, SG to A. Mitchell Palmer, July 23, 1920, reel 255, vol. 268, p. 815, SG Letterbooks, requesting a meeting on amnesty for political prisoners; minutes of a meeting with Palmer to discuss amnesty, Sept. 14, 1920, Files of the Office of the President, Conferences, reel 121, frame 170, AFL Records; "To Woodrow Wilson," Dec. 15, 1920, below; Robins, Tomorrow Is Beautiful, pp. 184-91; Bernard Mandel, Samuel Gompers: A Biography (Yellow Springs, Ohio, 1963), pp. 482-85.

33. "To Woodrow Wilson," Oct. 20, 1919, below; SG to Frank Nettleton, Jan. 7, 1920, reel 248, vol. 261, p. 280, SG Letterbooks.

34. "The Executive Council of the AFL to Jan Oudegeest," Mar. 5, 1921, below; Taft, A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers, p. 436.

35. Taft, A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers, pp. 436-37.

36. "'Look Here, upon This Picture, and on This.' For President: Cox--or--Harding. Read! Think! Choose!" American Federationist 27 (Nov. 1920): 999. This article was excerpted as "Gompers Assails Harding's Record," New York Times, Oct. 18, 1920.

37. William Short to SG, Nov. 10, 1920, AFL Microfilm National and International Union File, Longshoremen's Records, reel 39, frame 1636, AFL Records.

38. Mary Beth Norton et al., A People and a Nation: A History of the United States, 3d ed., 2 vols. (Boston, 1990), 2: 696.

39. SG to Maxwell, Nov. 13, 1920.

40. Quoted in Sidney Fine, Without Blare of Trumpets: Walter Drew, the National Erectors' Association, and the Open Shop Movement, 1903-1957 (Ann Arbor, 1995), p. 201.

41. Ibid., p. 203.

42. Ibid., pp. 210-13.

43. SG to Cynthia Parmelee, Sept. 28, 1922, reel 283, vol. 296, p. 850, SG Letterbooks.

44. AFL, Proceedings, 1921, p. 28: 1918 membership, 2,726,478; 1919, 3,260,068; 1920, 4,078,740; 1921, 3,906,528.

45. Dubofsky, State and Labor in Modern America, p. 79
.
46. SG to the AFL Executive Council, Feb. 8, 1922, Executive Council Records, Vote Books, reel 17, frame 199, AFL Records.

47. Taft, A.F. of L. in the Time of Gompers, p. 403; "Gompers Assails Boycott Decision," New York Times, Jan. 5, 1921.

48. "Excerpts from the Minutes of a Meeting of the Executive Board of the Central Trades and Labor Council of Greater New York and Vicinity," Apr. 9, 1921, below.

49. "Gompers Is Bitter; Sees a Break Later," New York Times, Oct. 29, 1921.

50. For black workers denied membership in whites-only unions, see "From James Roach," Jan. 27, 1919, "From John Oakes," June 29, 1919, "To Lewis Fairchild," Dec. 11, 1920, "Excerpts from the Minutes of a Meeting of the Executive Council of the AFL," Mar. 1-4, 1921, "Roscoe Ennis to Frank Morrison," July 14, 1921, "Thomas Manly to the AFL," Nov. 25, 1921, and "From Arthur Clay," Dec. 29, 1921, below. For AFL convention consideration of black workers, see "Labor Votes to Organize All Negroes," June 13, 1919, in "Excerpts from News Accounts of the 1919 Convention of the AFL in Atlantic City," June 11-23, 1919, "Colored Problem Gently Treated by Convention," June 11, 1920, in "Excerpts from News Accounts of the 1920 Convention of the AFL in Montreal," June 11-21, 1920, and "Federation of Labor Passes Color Questions to Unions," June 25, 1921, in "Excerpts from News Accounts of the 1921 Convention of the AFL in Denver," June 23-26, 1921, below. For the organizing of black railroad workers and freight handlers, see "An Agreement between the AFL, Black AFL Freight Handlers' Unions, and the Brotherhood of Railway and Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employes," July 18, 1921, "To Wade Shurtleff," Dec. 3, 1921, "From Wade Shurtleff," Dec. 7, 1921, and "To James Worthey," Dec. 9, 1921, below.

51. Irving Bernstein, The Lean Years: A History of the American Worker, 1920-1933 (Boston 1960), pp. 136-39; James R. Barrett, William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism (Urbana, Ill., 1999), pp. 118-47.

52. Dubofsky and Van Tine, John L. Lewis: A Biography, pp. 73-74.

53. "John L. Lewis in Race against Gompers for President of Federation of Labor," Denver Post, June 20, 1921; "Lewis Will Fight for Gompers's Post," New York Times, June 21, 1921.

54. See David J. Saposs, "Out of the Beaten Path: The Denver Convention of the American Federation of Labor," Survey 46 (July 16, 1921): 514, and Montgomery, The Fall of the House of Labor, p. 404.

55. Daniel J. Tobin, "Remembrance of Sam Gompers," International Teamster 47 (Jan. 1950): 12.

56. "Irish Question as Lever to Oust Gompers from Job Is Frowned on by Leaders," Denver Post, June 11, 1921.

57. "Move Starts to Re-Elect Gompers as A.F. of L. Head," Denver Post, June 17, 1921.

58. "John L. Lewis in Race against Gompers."

59. Ibid. See also Dubofsky and Van Tine, John L. Lewis.

60. "Factions Lined up for Labor Election," Rocky Mountain News, June 25, 1921; "Labor Presidency Fight to Bring Reprisals No Matter Who Is Chosen," Denver Post, June 22, 1921. There was only one contested election for a seat on the Executive Council: For sixth vice-president, SG nominated the incumbent, Thomas Rickert of the United Garment Workers, who ran against James Noonan of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Rickert retained the seat (AFL, Proceedings, 1921, pp. 460-61).

61. See "Gompers and His Entire Slate Are Re-elected," June 26, 1921, in "Excerpts from News Accounts of the 1921 Convention of the AFL in Denver," June 23-26, 1921, below.

62. Dubofsky and Van Tine, John L. Lewis, pp. 73-74; "Gompers Elected Federation Head for 40th Time," New York Times, June 26, 1921.

63. "Gompers Elected Federation Head for 40th Time"; "Entire Gompers Ticket Chosen by Labor as Veteran Leader Doubles Vote Cast for Lewis," Denver Post, June 26, 1921.

64. "Gompers Elected Federation Head for 40th Time."

65. Ibid.; SG to Z. S. Hemenway, Nov. 10, 1921, reel 272, vol. 285, p. 717, SG Letterbooks.