Eugene Victor Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), as well as candidate for President of the United States as a member of the Social Democratic Party in 1900, and later as a member of the Socialist Party of America in 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920. Through his presidential candidacies as well as his work with labor movements, Debs would eventually become one of the best-known Socialists in the United States. However, he remained the leader of a marginalized party which - unlike its European counterparts - never managed to gain a mass support or break into a political scene completely dominated by the Democratic and Republican parties. Debs' presidenti