Before Mamdani... There was John Reed

John Reed was one of the foremost left-wing leaders during America’s early 20th-century Progressive Era and had much in common with today’s Democratic Socialists.

Mike Tsichlis | August 1, 2026

John Reed was one of the foremost left-wing leaders during America’s early 20th-century Progressive Era and had much in common with today’s Democratic Socialists.

John Silas “Jack” Reed was a Zohran Mamdani of his era. Both rose in left-wing American politics in their late twenties and early thirties, embraced socialism, and framed politics through class struggle and oppressor/oppressed themes. Both believed America’s political and capitalist systems had to be radically transformed -- or dismantled -- for working-class liberation. Were he alive today, Reed would likely see eye to eye with the NYC mayor.

Reed and his contemporary comrades might view today’s street demonstrators and DSA as their progeny -- the great, great-grandchildren of their own cadre of anarcho-socialist rabblerousers. They would be impressed with the “black bloc” street takeover approach Antifa and aligned groups have used, fomenting revolutionary change through performative street demonstrations, defacing monuments, and clashing with police. They would have been pleasantly stunned by the reach and effectiveness of social media to organize and spread revolutionary propaganda. They would have viewed ICE with the same contempt they held for the Secret Service, who jailed and deported many of them for espousing the overthrow of the U.S. government.

Jack Reed’s life was greatly romanticized even during his own time. In an introduction to a collection of his writings, he is characterized as “[an] adventurer, playboy, Bohemian, lover, radical, anti-war activist, revolutionary agitator.” Indeed, Reed can be looked upon as a godfather of modern American radical socialism, whose views and fervent activism would be embraced by today’s DSA. Class........

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