Obama File 37 Obama's Mentor, Frank Marshall Davis- Was He Still a Communist?

Obama File 36 here

Since New Zeal first publicised the connection, the late communist poet Frank Marshall Davis's relationship to Barack Obama has been the subject of thousands of articles, blog posts and talk back calls.


Obama's apologists first attempted to minimise the Obama/Davis relationship. As evidence mounted however, it became apparent that Davis was indeed a mentor to Obama. The relationship lasted from 1970 when Obama was ten until he left Hawaii for college on the mainland at age 18.

Next the Obamaphiles tried to minimise Davis's communism, portraying him as a benevolent civil rights activist and therefore, if anything, a positive influence on the young Obama.

Some have acknowledged that Davis did indeed briefly join the Communist Party in Chicago in the 1940s, but all that was well behind him by the time he met the young Obama.

As is common with Obama, the truth is distinct from the appearance.

Information from Davis's 601 page FBI file reveals that Davis (born 1905) became interested in the Communist Party as far back as 1931.

Certainly from the mid/late '30s to the early '40s Davis was involved in several Communist Party fronts including the the National Negro Congress, the League of American Writers, the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties and the Civil Rights Congress

The FBI first began tracking Davis in 1944 when they identified him as member of the Communist Party's Dorie Miller Club in Chicago-card number 47544.

Davis taught courses at the party controlled Abraham Lincoln School in Chicago and attended meetings of the party's Cultural Club until he left for Hawaii in 1948.

In Hawaii Davis became a columnist for a union financed, communist controlled newspaper, the Honolulu Record.

Despite going underground in 1950, the Hawaiian CP was one of the most dynamic in the US at the time. The mainland put huge resources into the Hawaiian party because the Soviets wanted the US military presence on the islands shut down. The Hawaiian CP was charged with agitating against the US military bases at every opportunity. Several times the FBI observed Davis photographing obscure Hawaiian beaches-possibly for espionage purposes.

Through its control of the Internatonal Longshore Workers Union (ILWU) the Hawaiian CP had huge influence on the local Democratic Party. In the mid '50s, while still a confirmed communist, Davis like many of his comrades, became an official in the local Democratic Party. The communist influence is still felt in the Hawaiian democratic party today.

At the time the underground CP was divided into two or three person independent cells. Davis led one such cell "Group 10" with his wife and one other comrade.

An extensive Senate Security Investigation in 1956 shattered the Hawaiian CP, driving the remnants completely underground where it remains to this day.

The FBI continued to monitor Davis into the '60s and though they found little if any party activity on the islands, he was still regarded as a "believer".

The FBI monitored Davis for at least 19 years. They marked him down for immediate arrest should war break out between the US and the Soviet Union-an honour reserved only for the most dangerous subversives.

One of the longest lived communist fronts was the American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born. Active from 1935 until 1980, the ACFPFB was charged with preventing foreign communists such Davis's friend ILWU leader Harry Bridges from deportation.

Davis was a long time supporter of the ACFPFB, apparently at least until 1973, three years after meeting the young Obama.

ACFPFB letterhead April 12th 1973


Arrow denotes Frank Marshall Davis




Interestingly, Hawaiian lawyer, party member and long time Davis comrade Harriet Bouslog also appears on the list.

Others of the several known party members listed above include civil rights activists Carl and Anne Braden, Dirk J Struik, a mathematician and accused Soviet spy, whose daughter peace activist daughter Gwen lives in New Zealand, Hugh DeLacy a secret party member who became a Democratic Congressman for Washington State and three prominent Chicago activists, Richard Criley, Frank Wilkinson and Abe Feinglass.

When Obama decided to go to Chicago in 1983 to become a "community organiser" he was inspired by that year's election of Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington.

A long time friend of the Chicago Communist Party, Washington would have almost certainly known Frank Marshall Davis from his post-War student days.

It would be interesting to know if Frank Marshall Davis ever told the young Obama about Harold Washington and his leftist connections.

What connection did Obama have to Chicago other than his boyhood mentor Frank Marshall Davis?

Obama file 38 here