From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eugene Victor
"
Gene
"
Debs
(November 5, 1855 ? October 20, 1926) was an
American
union
leader, one of the founding members of the
Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW or the Wobblies), and a
five times candidate
of the
Socialist Party of America
for
President of the United States
.
[1]
Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known
socialists
living in the United States. He earned about a million votes in one election while being in prison.
[2]
Debs was born on November 5, 1885 in
Terre Haute, Indiana
. He left school when he was 14 in order to work on scraping paint and grease off cars in the Vandalia Railroad on a 50 cent a day wage.
[3]