Alexender Mitchell Palmer Biography

Alexander Mitchell Palmer served as U.S. attorney general from 1919 to 1921 under President Woodrow Wilson. Palmer is regarded as one of the most controversial attorneys general in U.S. history, as he was responsible for a series of mass arrests of left-wing radicals after World War I that shocked many Americans. Palmer's aggressive tactics toward allegedly subversives destroyed his political future and triggered a new movement for the protection of civil liberties.

Palmer was born on May 4, 1872 in Moosehood, Pennsylvania. After graduating form Swarthmore College in 1891, he attended three laws schools but did not graduate. Nevertheless, he passed the Pennsylvania bar exam in 1893 and joined a small law firm. Despite just starting out in his profession, Palmer became deeply involved in Democratic Party politics. However, it would take him many years to earn his chance at elective office, during which time he left his law firm and started a solo practice.

Palmer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1908. He served in the minority as the Republican Party continued their dominance of Congress. His political fortunes improved dramatically in 1912, when he helped New Jersey governor Woodrow Wilson win the Democratic presidential nomination. After Wilson won the general election, Palmer declined to serve as secretary of war. He based his decision on his Quaker religion, which promotes pacifism. Wilson did hold this against Palmer and named him to the U.S. Court of Claims in 1914, but Palmer did not like the post and resigned quickly.

Palmer spent the next two years out of politics and public office. However, in 1917 Wilson named him the custodian of alien property. With the United States now at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Palmer was charged with seizing and selling properties belonging to aliens from these belligerent nations. When attorney general Thomas Gregory resigned in 1919, Wilson named Palmer his successor. Gregory had been forced out due to his aggressive prosecution of war opponents and political radicals during World War I. Though Wilson might have hoped for a more tolerant attorney general, Palmer proved to be even more aggressive in his actions. The new enemies were the Soviet Union and Communism. With Soviet leaders proclaiming a coming world revolution that would sweep away capitalism, European nations and the United States reacted vigorously to subversive activities. Palmer targeted left-wing aliens as the carriers of anti-American beliefs.

Using the wartime Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 as his authority, Palmer began to arrest and deport aliens based on their political beliefs. This piecemeal approach to the problem was superseded in January of 1920 with a series of coordinated operations by federal agents. In just a few days agents in 33 cities arrested over 6000 individuals suspected of subversive activities. These actions, which the press quickly labeled as "Palmer Raids," ignored basic constitutional rights agents entered homes and arrested persons without warrants or probable cause. Those arrested were held for lengthy periods without any charges being filed against them. Moreover, they were denied the right to consult with their attorneys.

The aftermath of the raids was more profound and long lasting than Palmer could have imagined. Although he succeeded in deporting some political radicals, his anti-Communist crusade aroused concerns about the need to protect civil rights and civil liberties. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which serves as an important watchdog group, was formed in response to the Palmer Raids.

The protests that followed the raids tarnished Palmer's image and contributed to his unsuccessful quest for the 1920 Democratic Party presidential nomination. After leaving office in 1921, Palmer resumed his private law practice. Palmer died on May 11, 1936 in Washington, D.C.