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Tom Mooney (1892-1942), a member of the
Socialist Party, was a labor agitator and anti-war
activist living in San Francisco. In 1916, the Chamber of
Commerce held a large Preparedness Day Parade to rally
support for the European War. A bomb exploded at the
parade and ten people were killed. Mooney and three other
men, including Warren K. Billings, were arrested and
charged with the bombing, and Mooney was convicted of
first degree murder and sentenced to death. Billings was
convicted of second degree murder. After the trial,
evidence of perjury surfaced and the conservative
Wickersham Commission concluded that the sole purpose of
the trial was to convict Mooney and Billings. Thereafter,
Mooney's death sentence was commuted to life. A huge
international outpouring of public support followed in
the next two decades. A European survey taken in 1935
showed that Mooney was one of four best known Americans,
the others being Franklin D. Roosevelt, Charles
Lindbergh, and Henry Ford. Mooney was finally pardoned,
but not until 1939, after 23 years in prison during which
his health had suffered. He died a few years after.
Billings was released with Mooney, but not officially
pardoned until 1961; he died in 1972.
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Introduction
