Interview with Charles A. Thompson, Workingmen’s Party Candidate for Mayor of Cincinnati, March 3, 1877. Pre-election interview with 29-year old merchant Charles A. Thompson, the candidate of the Workingmen's Party of the United States for mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio. In contrast to the rough-edged German immigrants who were the founding core of the American socialist movement, Thompson is described by his interviewer as "a pleasant, affable gentleman, an entertaining conversationalist, and a most companionable person. He always dresses in good style, and may be considered a rather handsome person." Thompson declares that the use of strikes by the working class has proven "abortive" as a means for working class liberation and that instead the workingmen's party had been formed to make a "first political effort..., organized or directed in any way by the people themselves, and based on a clear-cut denial of the right of private title to the ownership of the means by which labor is performed." While not expectant of victory, Thompson indicated his expectation of a substantial vote, "sufficiently large to justify the belief in our ability to carry the county next fall, as well as to encourage the party at large to make a grand charge all along the line throughout the country." He anticipated an Illinois state campaign by the Workingmen's Party in 1878, adding that the name of the organization was insufficient as the party was actually a "socialistic" party including not only working class but members of the middle class. The name of the Workingmen's Party of the United States was changed to Socialist Labor Party of America at a convention held in December 1878.
