Attorney General

Palmer
By: Rebekah Jimenez

 Best known as A. Mitchell Palmer, was Attorney

General of the United States from 1919 to 1921. He
is best known for overseeing the Palmer Raids
during the Red Scare of 19191920.

Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were conducted by the United States
Department of Justice to capture, arrest and deport radical
leftists, especially anarchists. The raids and arrests occurred in
November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer. Though more than 500
foreign citizens were deported, including a number of prominent
leftist leaders, Palmer's efforts were largely frustrated by
officials at the U.S. Department of Labor, which had authority for
deportations and objected to Palmer's methods.

Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids occurred in the larger context of the
Red Scare, the term given to fear of and reaction against
communist radicals in the U.S. in the years immediately
following World War I. There were strikes that garnered
national attention, race riots in more than 30 cities, and
two sets of bombings in April and June 1919, including
one bomb mailed to Palmer's home.

RAIDS AND BOMBINGS

The Palmer Raids occurred in the larger context of the Red Scare, the term given
to fear of and reaction against communist radicals in the U.S. in the years
immediately following World War I. Strikes garnered national attention, race riots
occurred in over 30 US cities, and two sets of bombings took place in April and
June 1919, including attacks on Palmer's home.

A first booby-trap bomb directed at assassinating Palmer was mailed by

anarchists linked to Luigi Galleani. This first bomb was intercepted and defused,
but two months later, Palmer and his family narrowly escaped death when an
anarchist exploded a bomb on their porch. The home of a Department of Justice
Bureau of Investigation (BOI) field agent Rayme Weston Finch was also attacked.

WHAT DID PALMER DO?

Palmer launched his campaign against radicalism in November 1919
and January 1920 with a series of police actions known as the
Palmer Raids. Federal agents supported by local police rounded up
large groups of suspected radicals, often based on membership in a
political group rather than any action taken. Only the dismissal of
most of the cases by Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis Freeland
Post limited the number of deportations to 556. At a Cabinet meeting
in April 1920, Palmer called on Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson
to fire Post, but Wilson defended him. He ended the meeting by
telling Palmer that he should "not let this country see red."

Strikes
The railroad and coal strike scheduled for November 1,
1919 roused him. The Senate, on October 17, had already
challenged him to demonstrate what action he was taking
against foreign radicals. Now these two industries faced
disruption as prices continued to rise and shortages
threatened, even as the presidential election year of 1920
approached. The railroad brotherhoods postponed their
strike in the face of political and public opposition, but the
United Mine Workers under John L. Lewis went forward.