FIGHTING TOWARD RECOVERY

Reuben never quit. This wasn’t just a matter of historical record but a rule, a principle that had driven him throughout his life and leadership. It was the singular quality on which all those who knew him—friend and foe alike—could agree. Once Reuben Soderstrom set his mind to a thing, he would never stop until it was complete; no matter how long it took, how much it cost, or how many hits he took. It was what compelled him to transform Illinois from a predatory manufacturers’ haven into a state that cared for its workers, children, and aged. It sustained him when his revolutionary reforms, many of which preceded their national counterparts, seemed Sisyphean tasks impossible to others. It compelled him to refuse defeat, even when his opponents considered the fight long over. He never quit, never stopped, never surrendered, even amidst personal loss and political misfortunes. He was here to keep on, to fight, to win.

Despite his drastic surgery and uncomfortable convalescence in late 1969, Reuben began to give attention to new issues, particularly industrial pollution. He threw his vocal support behind the creation of a $750 million bond for the protection of the environment through the control of water pollution, and began to raise concerns over growing farm subsidies and agribusiness. “I’m a little bothered about the fact that our government is paying farmers 4 billion dollars annually to take millions of acres of Midwest land out of production with current reports indicating that 30 million people, most of them wage earners, are not getting enough to eat,” he wrote to his executive vice-president that spring. “That startling number, 30 million American citizens, are reported to be hungry. Ten percent of them will be found in Illinois. That’s shocking.”[1]

He also gave renewed attention to electoral politics. Eager to undo the damaging defeats of the 1970 election, Reuben chaired a meeting of the statewide Committee On Political Action (COPE) in Chicago. He encouraged those present to help rehabilitate the popular image of unions as a way to expand labor’s influence in politics. Too many Americans, he warned, viewed unionists as narrowly self-interested, concerned only with the wages and hours of their own. Nothing could be farther from the truth, he said, arguing:

Unions represent a broad cross section in Illinois. They come from all walks of life in all parts of the state. They want what any American wants, peace, prosperity and security, dignity of the individual. They want these for each and every Illinois citizen, every American.

A labor unionist is a most unusual and important person, a pioneer of the American spirit who believes in the fulfillment of democracy’s promise and its extension into the economic field. This belief arises out of his own deep conviction of his own dignity and the dignity of all other men and an understanding of the kind of world in which he lives.

The labor unionist knows full well that he cannot entrust his affairs to others. He knows that wage earners must unite in order to secure their humane and economic rights. Otherwise they would be totally dependent on the employer.

The gains which have been made by local unions are beneficial to every element in the country, including the employer and the government itself…To those who are not in touch with the situation, it may look as if the labor union is merely a movement to secure higher wages and shorter hours, and to accomplish these objectives it is merely a striking machine. Those who have this conception of the labor movement have much to learn from it. They should realize that the labor movement deals with the things that uplift humanity, and that every improvement, every step that has been taken to bring improvements and better standards for wage earners generally is a part of the labor movement. Thus the labor unionist has been a social force, I might say a financial force, through working out his own destiny through the labor union.[2]

He also continued to advocate for pro-labor candidates, especially his son Carl. Far from fading, the pugnacious Reub had to consciously tone down his rhetoric; as he wrote to Carl in a note attached to a draft of his support mailer:

Whatever changes you desire I’ll make them. The letter would be a lot stronger if I blasted both the Governor and his Putnam County candidate. That I know you don’t want—and maybe blasts are not desirable in a campaign where you look like an easy winner.[3]

In spite of everything that had befallen him, Soderstrom threw himself into the fight as the new decade dawned. He continued to push, to pull, to refuse to quit. By the opening months of 1970 the Illinois AFL-CIO president was chugging along.

REUBEN REFUSES TO QUIT

Soderstrom Rejects Retirement

Appearances proved deceiving, however. Reuben’s refusal to retire from his work put his body under incredible strain, and it was only a matter of time before his now-frail frame relented. Five days after celebrating his 82nd birthday, President Soderstrom suffered a heart attack soon complicated by a stroke. Although still able to speak, the stroke left Reuben paralyzed on his left side and confined to a rest home in his hometown of Streator.

Still, the incapacitated warrior refused to relinquish the reins. His executive vice president, Stanley Johnson, was technically next in line for the presidency, but even after 20 years together Reuben still held reservations about his second in command. He may have had a friendly relationship with Johnson, but many within the AFL-CIO did not. Stanley had engendered no small amount of ill-will during the Illinois AFL and CIO merger negotiations, angering the CIO negotiators so much that they outright refused to accept him as secretary-treasurer. Even after the merger, many in labor resented Johnson. According to Bob Gibson, then secretary-treasurer:

Stanley was an odd guy. He didn’t have two different personalities, but he acted different (it seemed to me) around different people, and sometimes it was just almost like bullying some people. Stanley never had a lot of what you would call close friends. People worked with him, and got along with him, but to me I just never seen that side of Stanley where he had a lot of friends.[4]

Even some of Reub’s closest and most powerful allies—men like Bill Lee, president of the Chicago AFL-CIO—went out of their way to avoid his executive vice president. “Bill and Stanley never got along very well at all,” Gibson recalled. “Bill always would come in and look at Stanley’s office, then later on he’d look in my office (mine was next door) and say, ‘Is he still here?’”[5]

For years, Reuben had denied the presidency to Johnson, bluntly telling him on at least one recent occasion that he “wasn’t ready yet.” The fact that Soderstrom was telling Johnson, at age 64, that he was still not prepared indicates that he likely believed Johnson unfit for the presidency. According to his grandson, Carl Soderstrom Jr., Reuben had stated on more than one occasion that he preferred Gibson, the energetic community organizer from the CIO who had become Reub’s protégé, as his successor. But to endorse anyone other than the executive vice president –especially a former CIO member—would invite chaos at an intensely vulnerable moment. Convinced that he was still the only man who could do the job, Soderstrom resolved to remain in command, even if it was from a hospital bed.

Apparently, not everyone received Reub’s memo. On Monday, July 13, the Chicago Sun-Times announced Soderstrom’s impending retirement, writing:

Reuben Soderstrom, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, plans to retire from the post in September after 40 years as a leader of the labor movement, his associates disclosed Sunday…Although his four-year term does not expire until April, 1972, his associates say Soderstrom will inform the 22-member executive board of the Illinois AFL-CIO of his decision to retire.[6]

The Chicago Tribune and Streator Times-Press quickly followed suit, noting that “the last two years of Soderstrom’s term is expected to be filled by Stanley Johnson.”[7]

Reuben was furious. He immediately wrote to both papers to refute any and all rumors of his retirement. As the Chicago Tribune’s Robert Wiedrich wrote in his column the “Tower Ticker:”

82-year-old Reuben G. Soderstrom took one look at reports he had retired as Illinois Federation of Labor Chief and decided they were grossly exaggerated. He hasn’t quit and reportedly won’t announce anything on the subject until the Executive Board meetings just before the state labor convention September 21 in Peoria. Reports of Soderstrom’s “retirement” were evidently leaked by overzealous associates waiting in the wings for a chance to pluck the federation presidency. Soderstrom is recovering from a heart attack in a Streator convalescent home, but remains top dog for now.[8]

Whether or not Johnson was the “overzealous associate waiting in the wings” is not known, but the writing was now on the wall. Although unable to admit it, Soderstrom was physically no longer able to lead the Illinois AFL-CIO.

A Convention in Tribute

On Monday, September 21, the Illinois AFL-CIO Convention was gaveled in for the first time in nearly two generations without the illustrious leader. Executive Vice President Johnson, speaking in front of a large mural of Soderstrom, did his best to calm the nerves of those present. He began his address by acknowledging the hole left by his illustrious predecessor, unable to attend the convention for the first time in decades:

This is the first time in 40 years of these great conventions you do not have your distinguished president to deliver one of his eloquent addresses, but I hope you will note he is here in spirit, and the best we can do this morning is to point to a typical pose immediately behind me, of Reub Soderstrom with his gavel. I would like to dedicate this thirteenth annual convention of the Illinois State Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations to the president of ours who for forty years served so well, Reuben G. Soderstrom…

As I indicated to you, our president is with us is spirit. I discussed this matter with our colleagues Bob Gibson and the Executive Board, and it seemed to me the most apropos thing we could do in connection with the presentation of the fortieth gavel would be, as long as Reub himself was not here to receive it, would be someone who was very close to his heart. And it so happens he has the same name, Reuben Soderstrom, the grandson of Reuben Soderstrom, our president.[9]

As the crowd rose to cheer the great leader’s youngest grandchild, William Reuben Soderstrom, who took to the stage to accept his grandfather’s final, fortieth gavel. He thanked all those present for the love and loyalty they had given to his namesake:

It is with a deep sense of pride and humbleness I accept these gavels for my grandfather, Reuben Soderstrom. I am going to take them back and give them to him, and I know what he is going to do. He has a large cabinet in his house, and in this cabinet there are mementoes from his more than sixty years’ service for the people of Illinois, and the great labor movement. For my grandfather I would like to thank you very much for presenting these gavels. They mean so much. He loved you all, and you are all God’s people.[10]

Vice President Johnson then introduced State Representative Carl Soderstrom. Reuben’s son barely managed to choke back the emotions that threatened to overtake him as he spoke to the delegates of the man they honored, the father he knew:

President Soderstrom is a man, believe me, who lived for organized labor. From the tip of his toes to the top of his head he always was for the union man and his cause…Because he understood economics and because he understood politics he was able to promote labor’s interest and cause very successfully through all the various legislative and legal channels. He has lived to be the dean of all labor leaders in the country at the age of eighty-two. He has dedicated his whole life of service to organized labor and would have died for labor and its causes.[11]

Hoisting the gavel high, he announced:

To many persons this gavel may appear as just a piece of wood fashioned into a gavel, but to my dad, your president, it will be one of his most cherished possessions. To him this gavel represents forty years of progress by the Illinois labor movement. To him it means presiding over 40 separate Illinois state conventions. To him it is a symbol of loyalty, affection, cooperation and respect that you have accorded to him and to his leadership the past forty years. To him it will bring back memories of countless men and women who have dedicated their lives along with him to advance labor’s great cause. To him it will recall conventions where such men of labor as Jack Walker, Victor Olander … and countless others were present.

To dad a gavel was not a symbol of authority. To him it was a symbol of trust and faith and confidence placed in him by the delegates so that he could preside, maintain order, conduct the meetings and see that all issues and every delegate was accorded a fair and impartial chance to be heard.[12]

After Reuben’s resignation was officially tendered, the delegates voted to honor him with the title of President Emeritus, an unprecedented sign of respect for the esteemed leader.[13] After forty years, the man who had seen the organization through the Great Depression, World War II, and the greatest economic expansion the world had ever seen was about step down, and labor in Illinois would never be the same.

A Life in Reflection

Reuben followed the events unfolding in Peoria from his hometown of Streator with a mix of ruefulness and awe. It undoubtedly pained him to not be there, to not be leading the organization to which he’d dedicated and sacrificed so much. Still, even the stoic Soderstrom could not have remained unmoved; anyone watching the convention would have been hard-pressed to remain dry-eyed as the unyielding parade of men and women whose lives Reuben had touched, great and humble alike, stood to give their own personal tribute. It was a celebration, not just of Reuben the man but of the movement he had shepherded from the darkest days of persecution and depression through to the modern days of unprecedented strength and universal legitimacy. This was the end of an era, not just for Soderstrom, or even Illinois, but for organized labor itself.

The day after Reuben was named President Emeritus, his hometown paper, the Streator-Press Times, presented a stirring tribute to its favorite son, writing:

Described by persons of all ages and in all walks of life as “one of the greatest of the greats,” Streatorite Reuben G. Soderstrom ended 40 memorable years as president of the AFL-CIO in Illinois when his letter of resignation was read at a state labor federation convention in Peoria.

Memories of a vital and ambitious labor leader, who waged his own personal war against unsafe or unfair practices in industry, must have lingered in the minds of the labor delegates as they were read the letter of resignation Soderstrom penned regrettably…Remembered as a stirring orator with a fantastic memory of the many legislative measures he successfully fought for, Soderstrom’s well-earned respect by laborers is evident in the fact that during his 40 years as president of the state labor federation he was never opposed.[14]

Reuben refused to linger on what was behind him, however, choosing instead to focus on what lay ahead. When asked about his plans for retirement, Reuben gave no indication that he intended to withdraw from public life. As the Streator-Times Press observed:

Now recuperating in a rest home, Reuben Soderstrom does not yet find himself, at the age of 82 years, ready to accept the complete rest he’s earned. He corresponds heavily with friends and labor associates.

Also on his immediate agenda is the possibility of writing a book and papers covering his lifelong work in labor…In the typical manner in which Reuben Soderstrom accomplished all he set out to do, his mind still “jumps ahead.” His title of the book at this moment would be “Forty Gavels.”[15]

The great man died on December 15, 1970. This is his book.

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