I. Introduction

• •individual rights and conformity in times of national crisis



• •the first "red scare"

II. Palmer's career

• •Youth



• •Political
• •House of Representatives (1908-1914)
• •Defeated in Senate race (1914)
• •Alien Property Custodian (1917-1919)
• •Attorney General (1919-1921)



• •the Red Scare
• •Bolshevik Revolution (Oct. 1917)
• •U.S. strikes (1919)
• •Palmer, J. Edgar Hoover, and Red Scare (1919-1920)

III. Conclusion

• •an hysterical reaction to a nonexistent threat



• •how could it happen?
• •wartime emotions
• •postwar conditions
• •lack of presidential leadership
• •immigration
• •economic conservatism
• •Palmer's personal role



• •fear and conformity in a democracy