FBI Intelligence Summary Reports on Communist Party Leadership, Political Activity, and Internal Security Concerns (1956)

Date: February 8, 1956

Created By: J. Edgar Hoover

Original or Replica: Original

Era: The Presidency, McCarthyism and the Red Scare

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: White House Office of the Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, FBI Series, Box 6, 1956 FBI Current Intelligence Estimates (3); NAID #12209238

This February 8, 1956 FBI Current Intelligence Summary reports on the leadership and activities of the Communist Party, USA (CPUSA). The document identifies Eugene Dennis, the party’s general secretary, as its emerging dominant national leader as longtime chairman William Z. Foster became less involved in daily operations. The FBI reports that Dennis and other senior Communist officials were attempting to consolidate control over the organization and place supporters in important positions throughout the party. The summary also discusses the CPUSA’s preparations for a possible Supreme Court ruling on the Internal Security Act of 1950, or McCarran Act, including plans for how the organization might respond if required to register with the federal government.

The report also examines Communist political activity during the 1956 election year. According to the FBI, the party sought to influence major political parties in cities including Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to nominate more Black candidates for Congress. The report specifically claims that Communists planned a Philadelphia rally ostensibly connected to the Emmett Till case while also seeking to build support for a Black congressional candidate. It additionally discusses the declining Progressive Party and plans by the National Lawyers Guild to challenge possible government action against the organization.

The document provides insight into how the FBI monitored domestic Communist organizations and interpreted their political and civil rights activities during the height of Cold War anticommunism.