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A. Mitchell Palmer

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U.S. Attorney General

The Resume

    (May 4, 1872-May 11, 1936)
    Born in White Haven, Pennsylvania
    Birth name was Alexander Mitchell Palmer
    Congressman from Pennsylvania (1909-15)
    US Attorney General (1919-21)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was offered the post of Secretary of War, but declined because of his Quaker beliefs.
    He launched America's first 'Red Scare' four decades before Joseph McCarthy.
    He had 10,000 suspected Communists, socialists and anarchists swept up in mass arrests.
    He ordered people detained without charges.
    His influence waned after he predicted Communists would try to overthrow the government on May Day of 1920, only for the day to pass without incident.
    He unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination (1920).

Why he might not be annoying:

    As a congressman, he fought for legislation to protect workers in dangerous jobs.
    A mail bomb sent by anarchists to his house was intercepted and defused (April, 1919).
    Two months later, his home was damaged when an anarchist bomb went off prematurely, killing the would-be assassin.
    Despite his anti-radical stance, he petitioned President Wilson to pardon socialist leader Eugene V. Debs.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 34 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 44 Votes: 50.0% Annoying