Upton Sinclair, the Forgotten Socialist

In a long career, Upton Sinclair made himself one of the principal spokesmen of American socialism. With the decline of socialism in the United States as a viable social and political force, Sinclair's reputation as a reformer declined also, although his literary reputation remained constant. His lasting influence was to effect the transfer of socialist ideas from the moribund socialist party to a rejuvenated Democratic Party, which after 1932 adopted many of them. Today he is remembered as a socialist by very few.