Henry A. Wallace on the Danger of American Fascism: As Pertinent Today as It was 80 Years Ago

In 1944, at the height of the war against Germany and Japan, Henry A. Wallace, Vice President to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was asked by the New York Times to write on what fascism was and the danger it posed. Worth a read, a few excerpts here from his essay offer relevant insights into today’s political climate.

“A fascist is one whose lust for money or power is combined with such an intensity of intolerance toward those of other races, parties, classes, religions, cultures, regions or nations as to make him ruthless in his use of deceit or violence to attain his ends.”

“The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity…They use every opportunity to impugn democracy. They use isolationism as a slogan to conceal their own selfish imperialism… They claim to be superpatriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution.”

“…many people whose patriotism is their proudest boast play Hitler’s game by retailing distrust of our Allies ….”

“Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that…they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.”

“Democracy to crush fascism internally must … put human beings first and dollars second. It must appeal to reason and decency and not to violence and deceit. We must not tolerate oppressive government or industrial oligarchy in the form of monopolies and cartels. …we must all be on our guard against intolerance, [and] bigotry… .”

Donald Trump’s post-insurrection resurgence to Republican nominee for President has opened the floodgates of fascism talk. Whether America entirely succumbs to Wallace’s criteria of fascism remains unclear. However, it is clear one presidential candidate is moored in decency and democratic values while the other is not.

Vice President Kamala Harris strongly advocates for women’s, voting, LGBTQ+, and worker’s rights; is pro-union and pro-climate action; believes in a multi-faith America; has legislated for broader access to healthcare and gender-affirming care; is pro-immigration reform; has served as a city and state attorney general in our justice system; wants to bolster the solvency of Social Security and Medicare by increasing taxes on the wealthy and corporations; supports a free and democratic Ukraine and our NATO allies; and will fight for paid family leave, federal subsidies for child-care, and universal preschool access for American households if elected President.

In contrast, Trump lied over 30,000 times when in office; has 34 felony counts; is an adjudicated sexual assaulter and tax fraudster; wants an “imperial presidency”; speaks to curtailing civil liberties and media freedom; encourages intolerance and violence through demagoguery; embraces Christian nationalist rhetoric; wants to build migrant detention camps and initiate mass deportations using the US military; adulates authoritarians V. Putin and V. Orban; has the authoritarian blueprint of the far-right’s Project 2025 in his Agenda 47; has threatened to abandon NATO allies; wants himself and police to be immune from criminal prosecution; demands 100% loyalty from his party and America’s CEOs; and wants to further cut taxes for corporations and the ultrawealthy, further shrinking the middle class.

On 26 July 2024 in a rally in West Palm Beach where Trump was asking for votes from supporters, he said “In four years, you won’t have to vote again.”

It’s hard not to read fascism into a Trump second term.