In the period between the prosperity of the World War I years and the reforms of the New Deal, the' American labor movement experienced a diminution in its status. Full' employment during the war and the domination of the Democratic Party in Washington generally strengthened the bargaining power of labor during the presidency of Woodrow Wilson, but the antiradical and anti-immigrant sentiments that emerged during the war and continued through the Red Scare of 1920 silenced many-radical spokemen for labor. Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), had always been outspokenly anti radical, but Gompers's profession of "pure and simple unionism" was not enough to shield his union and others from the socialist label. The fear of labor radicalism weakened union bargaining power during the period of increased unemployment that accompanied the recession of 1920- 1921. Moreover, the return of Republican...