Hall, Gus

Hall, Gus (b. Arvo Kusta Halberg) (1910–  ) Communist Party leader; born in Iron, Minn. His parents were Finnish immigrants and charter members of the Communist Party, U.S.A. He worked as a lumberjack and steelworker, then went to Russia and studied at the Lenin Institute (1931–33). He joined the Communist Party, U.S.A. (1934). He served in the U.S. Navy (1942–46). He went to federal prison (1951–57) for conspiring to teach and advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. He was national secretary (1950–59) and general secretary (1959) of the Communist Party, U.S.A. He was the Communist Party candidate for president of the United States (1972, 1976) and wrote numerous pamphlets and books, including For a Radical Change: The Communist View (1966) and Fighting Racism (1985).