A. Mitchell Palmer served as U.S. Attorney General from March 5, 1919, to May 28, 1921, under President Woodrow Wilson.
Palmer was no-nonsense. He was targeted twice during a wave of anarchist bombings in 1919 amid the First Red Scare. April 1919 Mail Bomb Plot and a June 1919 bombing at his home. An anarchist attempted to bomb Palmer’s Washington, D.C., townhouse. The bomb exploded prematurely, killing the anarchist Valdinoci on the front steps.
These attacks, part of a broader series of bombings targeting officials in eight U.S. cities, fueled public panic and Palmer’s belief in a coordinated Bolshevik or anarchist conspiracy to overthrow the government. No perpetrators were convicted due to lack of evidence, but the incidents justified Palmer’s aggressive response.
The Palmer Raids were a series of mass arrests and deportations conducted by DOJ under Palmer’s leadership November 1919 to January 1920. The raids targeted suspected radicals, particularly anarchists, communists, and leftist immigrants. They were a response to the Red Scare, labor unrest, and the 1919 bombings, with Palmer aiming to suppress perceived threats to national security and bolster his political ambitions for the 1920 Democratic presidential nomination.
We were a lot more serious about stopping communist radicals and preserving the Republic 100 years ago.
Love him.