Victor Berger

Victor Berger (born February 28, 1860, Nieder-Rehbach, Austria-Hungary—died August 7, 1929, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.) was a founder of the U.S. Socialist Party, the first Socialist elected to Congress.

Berger immigrated to the United States in 1878. He taught public school in Milwaukee for a time and from 1892 was editor successively of Vorwarts, a German-language newspaper that he founded, and the Social Democratic Herald, later known as the Milwaukee Leader. With Eugene V. Debs, he founded the Social Democratic Party, which in 1901 became the Socialist Party. Elected from Milwaukee to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1910, Berger served one term.

During World War I, he joined other socialists in actively opposing U.S. participation; as a result, he was prosecuted under the Espionage Act, found guilty, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Meanwhile, in 1918, he had again been elected to Congress. This time, however, members voted to deny him his seat. A special election was held in 1919, and Berger was again sent to Congress and was again refused admission. On an appeal to the Supreme Court, Berger had his espionage conviction overturned in 1921 and the following year was elected yet again to the House. Thus vindicated, he was permitted to take his seat; he served until 1929. In 1927 he succeeded Debs as chairman of the Socialist Party executive committee, a post he held until his death.