Pete: The Story of Peter V. Caccione New York's First Communist Councilman By Simon W. Gerson

Peter james

Simon Si Gerson 1909 2004 was a leader of the Communist Party of the United States and the CP s leading expert on political campaigns and elections He was arguably most famous for being the party s choice to fill the New York City Council opening left by the death of Peter Cacchione even though the council refused to approve the appointment In the 1950s he became an editor of The Daily Worker and later to The Daily World. Peter bookman A small town boy brought up on the wrong side of the railroad tracks Pete knew back breaking toil and the agonies of the jobless Hunger and homelessness were no strangers to him He spent his first night in New York in a municipal flophouse but when he died he was a Communist member of the New York City Council mourned by hundreds of thousands who came to know him in the tumultuous 30s and 40s There may be no laws bearing his name but many of the demands for which Pete fought be it unemployment insurance social security or the prohibition of racist advertisements have today become commonplace realities It can fairly be said that Pete s career illustrates the old saw that yesterday s soapbox speech often becomes today s solid statute Pete The Story of Peter V Caccione New York s First Communist Councilman