Secretariat of the 12th Congress of the Continentalist Party

  

Secretariat of the 12th Congress
Emblem of the CPUC
28 May 1922 – 5 May 1923
Members	12
Officers
General Secretary	Aeneas Warren (–1922) Seamus Callahan (1922–)

The Secretariat of the 12th Congress of the Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth was in session from 28 May 1922 to 5 May 1923. Elected by the 12th Central Committee, its members served as the highest policy-making authority within the Continentalist Party. The Secretariat was chaired by the General Secretary Aeneas Warren until his death on 14 September 1922, at which point he was succeeded by Seamus Callahan, and included in 12 members at any given time.

The 12th Secretariat is considered one of the most dynamic in Continental history, coinciding with the beginning of Callahan's rise to power, and his replacement of many Old Continentals with his allies. This secretariat was the last overseen by the United Commonwealth's inaugural leader Aeneas Warren, who had served as General Secretary since the 8th Secretariat elected in 1917. His death began a succession crisis in which several people attempted to gain control over the Secretariat. The first was William Z. Foster, who made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency. When he was unable to gain majority support in the Central Committee he ceded control to a collective body, nicknamed the First Triumvirate, which was dominated by Jim H. Maurer, Morris Hillquit, and Meyer London. Conversely, Seamus Callahan achieved election as General Secretary, allotting him significant influence in choosing successors to the Secretariat to fill vacancies. Ten days after the death of Warren, his vacancy in the Secretariat was filled by Samuel Gompers, who was elected Premier of the Council of People's Commissars by the Triumvirate. In November 1922 the Waldmann Plot was launched by Callahan, which resulted in the assassination of his primary rival, Zhou Xinyue, and led to the resignation of Foster and Hillquit. Callahan replaced these three with his close allies Coleman Mueller, Joseph McDonald, and Winston Ashtabula. In early 1923 Gompers and Ulysses Clark also departed from the Secretariat, and they were replaced by Bill Haywood and John L. Lewis. As a result of this maneuvering, Callahan dominated the Secretariat from 1923 until his death in 1947, allowing for his rise to supreme leadership.

Members

The following is a list of members of the Secretariat, and their respective state and party positions held only during the duration of the Secretariat.

No.	Name (Lifespan)	Portrait	Party position(s)	State position(s)	Tenure
1	Aeneas Warren (1871–1922)		General Secretary of the Continentalist Party	President of the United Commonwealth Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Chairman of the Central Military Commission	28 May 1922 – 14 September 1922 (Died in office)
2	Seamus Callahan (1885–1947)		General Secretary of the Continentalist Party	President of the United Commonwealth People's Commissar for Education	28 May 1922 – 5 May 1923
3	William Z. Foster (1881–1955)		Chairman of the Central Committee of the Continentalist Party	Acting President of the United Commonwealth Vice President of the United Commonwealth	28 May 1922 – 18 November 1922 (Resigned)
4	Zhou Xinyue (1872–1922)		–	Vice Premier of the Council of People's Commissars People's Commissar for Defense Marshal of the United Commonwealth	28 May 1922 – 13 November 1922 (Died in office)
5	Coleman Mueller (1870–1948)		–	Acting President of the United Commonwealth Vice Premier of the Council of People's Commissars	20 November 1922 – 5 May 1923
6	Samuel Gompers (1869–1933)		–	Premier of the United Commonwealth People's Commissar for Foreign Relations	24 September 1922 – 20 March 1923 (Resigned)
7	Bill Haywood (1885–1952)		–	–	2 February 1923 – 5 May 1923
8	Morris Hillquit (1869–1933)		Vice Chairman of the Central Committee	Deputy secretary of the Presidium	28 May 1922 – 20 November 1922 (Resigned)
9	Nikita Neosha (1890–1959)		–	Deputy secretary of the Presidium Chairwoman of the Landonist International	28 May 1922 – 5 May 1923
10	Ulysses Clark (1875–)		Vice Chairman of the Central Committee	Deputy secretary of the Presidium Deputy People's Commissar of Defense Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission	28 May 1922 – 2 February 1923 (Retired)
11	Meyer London (1860–1926)		–	Deputy secretary of the Presidium President pro tempore of the Senate of the Union	28 May 1922 – 5 May 1923
12	Samson Zima (1880–)		President of the Central Party School of the Continentalist Party	Deputy secretary of the Presidium Deputy People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission
13	Dorian Conesus (1878–1927)			People's Commissar for Internal Affairs
13	Orion Marshall (1880–1943)			People's Commissar for Agriculture
14	Elliot Fowler (1870–1945)		–	People's Commissar for Housing and Development Deputy Secretary of the Central Military Commission
15	Joseph McDonald (1885–1952)		–	–	20 November 1922 – 5 May 1923
16	Winston Ashtabula (1886–1983)		–	People's Commissar for Transportation	20 November 1922 – 5 May 1923
17	John L. Lewis (1880–1950)		–	–	20 March 1923 – 5 May 1923