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Lovestone Once Told Off Stalin, Now Directs Vast Anti-Red Activi

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Lovestone Once Told Off Stalin, Now Directs Vast Anti-Red Activi l'Arbor's Cold Warrior-I views the world, they argue, as being divided into Commu-1 nist and anti-Communist sec-1 tors that must inevitably Lovestone Once Told Off Stalin, clash in a great final battle. His supporters, principally. old AFL calleagues, say that his relentless effort to push a. Now Directs Vast Anti-Red Activi hard Cold War line is realistic First of a Series and based on an intimate •P iti;' knowledge of the workings of By Dan Kurzman 11.1317t103 the Communist mind. Love- Washington Post Staff Writer stone, they maintain, is help- One spring day in 1929, Jo- self or with the ghost of the ing to save the Free World e Stalin, at a Kremlin meet- man who was once his hero. from communism through ing, glared at an insubordi- peaceful means. nate American Communist As Director of the AFL- Whether critic or advocate, leader and rasped: CIO's Department of Inter- those who know Lovestone are "There is plenty of room in national Affairs since 1963, reluctant to speak about him. the cemeteries of the Soviet Lovestone, a founder a n d Lovestone himself, while gra- Union for people like you." former Secretary General of ciously offering his views over The American, shaking with the American Communist athree-hour breakfast, would suppressed anger, stormed Party, is a barely known fig- , t speak on the record. back: ure, even in diplomatic circles. is critics are afraid to talk "Such remarks show you are et, few men in Washington fear of losing their jobs unfit to be the leader of the ho are as little publicized being branded as "soft on Russian working class, much field as much power and in- munism." less of the international work- uence. iHn ing class!" "If Jay finds out I've spoken Lovestone, a white-haired to you my career is dead," Stalin is dead, but his de- man with a 'large nose and said one-such source. parture has not pacified the easy smile; is the "gray emi- Often in Headlines anger of the American — Jay nence" behind AFL-CIO Pres- United Press Interhational Lovestone — either with him- See LOVESTONE, A4, Col. 2 JAY LOVESTONE Lovestone's Communist past has occasionally plunged his name into the headlines. In 1954, former Rep. Kit Clardy (R-Midh.) charged that he headed "a gigantic world-wide network of Communists" in Government—an error in fact that stemmed, ironically, from the very anonymity. Lovestone eat intended for Russia. • craves. In 1965; he used 'the AFL- The mystery surrounding , ent George Meany on all O's influence to get Latin Lovestone reaches back to his atters concerning foreign erican labor backing for Communist days, when even fairs. e U.S. military intervention in the conspiratorial atmos- t the Dominican Republic. phere of Bolshevik politics he was regarded as an enigma. meslAV the ov e stone is, in fact, Benjamin Gitlow, a fellow labor tiers: Meany's secretary of state, di- disillusioned Party comrade IVIar-eliaix,,S- • eit• recting a worldwide operation (who, it Should be noted, was csitatita.tota.1, 'that parallels, and often-. con- personally : hostile to Love-1 -2- 'verges with, the U.S. diplomat- I '"is deyntatiaa.averseierepera- vast stone), writes in his book, "I tiOits,„._,. network. And h ' Confess," that Lovestone "was' ketWegge,,,4 aP- —fiiiiiiiy's interest in these ■ unmarried he still is), as far 6 erations is enormous. His elicis- to :12e,,,W0741441,11it as anyone knew, but beyond wer in conducting them is that not a man in the Party virtually sovereign within the OM.14AA4e.001#44121-' — knew anything more etyma hor movement. And he al- Ae gene 4ency. him." ost invariably listens to Frirtr""v Dispassionate Lovestone has carried with ovestone in determining how him from his Communist days use this power. Few who know him can look other notable characteristics. Lovestone's advice — and at Lovestone.. dispassionately. For one, his tremendous en- is methods of implementing ens ergy. Though 67, he arises — are crucial in shaping the from the old twin each morning at 6 and works ivate foreign policy of the 1r,.1*7-Volalitag414 Men- often until after midnight, L-CIO. been maintaining an apartment in In the late 1940s, he unified 'carrie ,..11Y,,er,„,,,t001,„Kke„ world New York but spending much the international free labor tothAsAer,.... of his time here. movement and strongarmed They see him as a man who, He devotes about 20 hours the Communists away from disillusioned with the god he a day to the study of interna- sabotaging the Marshall Plan. had once worshiped, evokes tional affairs, particularly iIn 1964, he supported the its image everywhere so that news from behind the Iron r fusel of longshoremen to he might continue to curse' Curtain, and prepares an end- I ad ships with American and flog it in an endless psy-' less number of letters, articles, chological rite of expiation. He and AFL-CIO resolutions. Gitlow writes that Love- cuted, wanted, unlike Stalin, stone "was able to attach him- to give Communist parties out- self to a group or a leader in side of Russia a ' relatively such a way as to make his large degree of "panty democ- services indispensable, his racy," and to pursue within reward being inclusion in the Russia a gradual approach to top leadership of the move- communization of the econ- ment." omy. He tells of one incident in Lovestone felt that Stalin which Lovestone, as an assist- was wrong in his analysis that ant to Party leader Charles American capitalism was about Ruthenberg, was peeved when to diaintegrate, and he wanted he had to move his desk from, to be free to gear American the partition of his boss's of- Communist policy to long- fice so that Ruthenberg could range struggle rather than to enjoy privacy when his girl immediate revolution. friend visited the office. On In early 1929, Lovestone the death of the young lady, went to Moscow to argue his writes Gitlow, "Ruthenberg case, but the Soviet leader wept at the funeral . and angrily charged Lovestone Lovestone had his desk moved with promoting factionalism. back to the strategic spot" Expulsion Ordered Born in Lithuania- Detained in Moscow, Love- Lovestone was born in stone managed to 'sneak out Lithuania and came to the without the Oornintern's t - United States with his parents knowledge. The American at the age of 10, living in New party, under Stalin's orders, this department was to pre- closely with Meany, a staunch York where his father became immediately expelled him. ent the Communists from anti-Communist who appreci- Lovestone then established ated Lovestone's intimate a sexton in a synagogue. He, 'fibbing control of the world knowledge of communist and graduated from the College! a Communist opposition party trade union movement. his ability to express his anti- of the City.of New York, then in the United States. The feW tAt about the same time, studied law and accountancy hundred of his followers who comunist in Daily Worker and worked as an envelope- comprised it became known Ubinsky, AFL President Wil- semantics. as Lovestonites. Their mis- ham Green, AFL Secretary In domestic labor affairs, sion: To reform the Comin- reasurer Meany, and other Meany had little chance to tern and the Communist Party labor leaders set up a Free exert much influence in view from without In this effort, of Green's powerful position. maker, druggist, statistician, Trade Union Committee, he sought, and failed again, to largely with Dubinsky funds, But as Green cared little about and social worker. win over Stalin. to fight communism in and international affairs, Meany Joining the Socialist Party In 1936, he converted his out of the labor sphere. found that he could build a while in college, he helped to group into the Independent On Dubinsky's recommenda- kingdom of his own in that Labor League of America, tion, Lovestone was appointed sphere. organize the Communist calling for (a dictatorship of And Jay Lovestone was just Party at a leftwing Socialist ,Executive Secretary, a position the proletariat, but one "free he held concurrently with his the man to help him. convention in 1919.. and be- from the errors and terrors came a member of its execu- garment union pob. NEXT: Lovestone's interna- of Stalin," in the words of a In this position, he worked tional empire. tive committee. He then pamphlet Lovestone published. served as editor of the offi- At this stage in his gradual cial Party newspaper "the political conversion, Love- Communist," and eventually stone entered the battle again- became Secretary General of against Stalinism in the Amer- the Party. ican trade union movement— "Lovestone," writes Gitlow, specifically the United Auto was "a veritable Tammany Workers Union (ILGWU). chieftain among us Commu- In 1940, while the Nazis, nists. One of his most success- helped by an alliance with ful methods was to call a Russia, wer e overrunning comrade into his office, tell Western Europe, Lovestone him extremely confidential angrily disbanded his organi- information, obtaining in re- zation, gave up Marxism, and turn a solemn promise that went to work mobilizing sup- the matter would not be dis- port for the Allies in coor- closed to a soul. In that way dination with underground he won the support of numer- groups, in occupied Europe. ous Party members, who be- A parallel effort was being lieved they were particularly made by ILGWU President favored by him . Lovestone David Dubinsky, who got to was a high,pressure super- know Lovestone well enough salesman of communism." to peg him as the man to direct As a leader of the Comin- the postwar international re- tern, Lovesbone, at its congress lations department of his in Moscow in 1928, supported union.
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