Enemy by Johnson Severance, Signed (1 results)

JOHNSON, Severance. THE ENEMY WITHIN. Hitherto Unpublished Details of the Great Conspiracy to Corrupt and Destroy France. NY: The William A. McCann Company, 1919. 8vo., brown cloth stamped in gilt; 297 pages. First Edition. Signed presentation from Johnson on the verso of the frontispiece: "Jan. 17, 1920. To A. Mitchell Palmer, Attorney General of the United States. From the author, Severance Johnson." Johnson was a special investigator and correspondent at the Paris Peace Conference that ended World War I. Alexander Mitchell Palmer [1872-1936] was U.S. Attorney General under Woodrow Wilson from 1919 to 1921. Known as "The Fighting Quaker," Palmer is most famous for his controversial raids, also known as the "Palmer Raids," under the Espionage Act passed by Congress in 1917. Raids on suspected radical leftists under his administration created much controversy and on June 2, 1919 anarchists bombed Palmer's house in Washington, DC. He was also twice the intended victim of assassins. Palmer's raids, which were also suspected of using torture, rounded up as many as 10,000 radicals with many deported by ship to Russia. In 1920 the American Civil Liberties Union issued a report citing abuses under the raids and eventually they fell out of favor. A nice association copy from a very interesting and controversial period in U.S. history. Copies of "The Enemy Within" are scarce, perhaps bordering on rare- although there has been a recent reprint. With Johnson's personal Paris Conference News Service business card tipped to the front pastedown. Good condition (moderate wear with gilt on cover bright but dull on spine; lacks front endpaper). $750.00.