David T. Dellinger (1915–2004)

The “Chicago Seven” (originally the Chicago Eight) were defendants charged by the United States federal government with conspiracy, incitement of a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War protests in Chicago, during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The trial was a farce, in part due to the antics of the defendants and the professional incompetence of the presiding judge, Julius Hoffman. Defendant Bobby Seale was forced to go on trial with the others despite his protests over having no attorney (his lawyer was ill). The judge denied his request to defend himself, and when he refused to remain silent, Hoffman had him bound and gagged, to the horror of the jurors and the general public. (His case was eventually separated from those of the other defendants). It’s easy to see why the convictions were all reversed on appeal. A fine account of the trial and aftermath is available at Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Seven

With no cameras having been allowed in the courtroom, the general public had to learn of the trial through daily newspaper and television reportage. Thus, when this paperback book came out in 1970, containing excerpted transcripts of the trial, it played a useful role in acquainting the public with what transpired. In reading it, back in the day, I was alternately amused and appalled, and convinced that it was an important document of the time period. My copy is full of dog-eared pages and highlighted passages.

This book has been out of print for decades. Interested readers can find accounts in Jon Wiener’s (2006) “Conspiracy in the Streets" and Mark Levine’s (recently republished) “The Trial of the Chicago 7: The Official Transcript.” Such works are far more trustworthy than Aaron Sorkin's unreliable, highly- fictionalized stage version available now on video.… (más)

My notebooks are rich with quotations from this book. Dellinger had unorthodox views on many issues, including World War II, Korea, Vietnam, electoral politics, capitalism, militarism, Cuba, prisons. Whether or not you agree with his views, they are worth considering, if only because they are so different from the standard versions.

He contends that before Pearl Harbor the Japanese were deliberately provoked by the U.S. Navy, on orders from Washington; that "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were atomized at a time when the Japanese were suing desperately for peace." On Hitler, Dellinger agrees that international fascism is an evil that needs to be resisted, but not "under the leadership and by the methods of big business, big government, and the military." He recommends instead tactical nonviolence such as strikes, sabotage, slowdowns, free presses, and noncooperation, as practiced by countries like Norway, Holland, and Belgium.

These essays were written for Liberation Magazine, which Dellinger published. Those which are a bit dated are of historical interest. They debunk some of the things you learned in school, and that is reason enough to read this book.… (más)

Born with a golden spoon in his mouth, David Dellinger could have had it all. A talented athlete from an affluent background, educated at Yale and Oxford, he had every advantage. But he gave them up for justice and principle, enduring financial insecurity, long prison terms, hunger strikes, death threats, for what he believed in: Christian pacifism, later secular anarchism and humanism.

While at Yale, he went tramping, briefly living like a homeless derelict to see how the "other half" lived. Chapters 8 and 9 of this book are reminiscent of the down-and-out books of George Orwell or Jack London. After graduation from Yale—magna cum laude—and a year at Oxford, Dellinger went to live in hobo camps in New Jersey. In 1940 he was invited by Eleanor Roosevelt to have tea at the White House. He went, had tea with her, then hopped a freight train back home!

Imprisoned during World War II for refusing to register for the draft, he refused to co-operate in any way with warmaking. As a divinity student he was eligible for a deferment, but rejected preferential treatment not available to others. In prison he was abused to the point of torture, force-fed, then released early because the prison authorities couldn't handle him.

Later he published Liberation Magazine and other influential journals of progressive thought. In 1965 his print shop was trashed by vandals. During the Vietnam war he joined Bertrand Russell's war crimes tribunal in Sweden and went to North Vietnam and got American soldiers released from Vietnamese prisons. He had a cordial relationship with Ho Chi Minh, who liked and trusted him as a man of peace. After the death of A. J. Muste in 1967, Dellinger became the leader of the American peace movement. As one of the Chicago Eight defendants, he tried to put the U.S. government on trial for its crimes. Dellinger was a gentle man of great courage and rare integrity. Sometimes likened to Francis of Assisi or Mohandas K. Gandhi, he treated everyone with respect, including his adversaries. But during the Chicago trial he refused to stand when the judge entered the room because he said he believed in equality. This book is action packed and rich in historical and philosophical insights. Also good insights into other prominent peace activists. Must reading for anyone interested in sixties America, or in the home front during the Vietnam war.… (más)

This 1970 book is a fascinatingly readable account, drawn entirely from the the transcript of the Chicago 7 trial before Judge Julius Hoffman in 1969-1970. I confess I laughed aloud many times while reading it. (I picked the book up at a used book sale and thought it was the book on whtch the opera The Tales of Hoffmann was based! Only when I decided to read it did I learn what it was about!) Even though the editors are sympathetic to the defendants the book shows much objectionable behavior by the defendants and their lawyers--but also shows why Judge Hoffman's handling of the case was overturned on appeal. I have never been so surprised by a book as I was when I read this book. It is very enjoyable reading for anyone interested in trials and courts.… (más)