"ernest freeberg's book about eugene v. debs, his espionage campaign and his final years. i want to say thanks to both of you as we close out here to come being with us of terre haute, indiana, and telling us

would you like to take that ernest freeberg? >> you know what? i'm not sure i can remember what debs' father did for a living. they lived in terre haute. i know he was a great idealist. debs himself, his middle name is after victor hugo, and the name of french novelist is part of the upbringing. >> i was just remembering debs' father was a processor of pork in terre haute and he was ill. he could not do that work. there is remniscence of his wife being pregnant and they opened a small grocery in the front of the house. he went on to be a successful grocer in terre haute. one of the debs' first jobs was an accountant for the home and gra grocery line. so that was what his family's income came from having been a small business. >> why does he have to drop out of school at age 14? >> as i recall, i think it wasn't common for people to finish high school. he wanted to get a job on the railroads because the railroads were the new exciting thing for young men to become part of. his first job was a paint scraper for the local railroad that was running t

"ernest freeberg's book about eugene v. debs, his espionage campaign and his final years. i want to say thanks to both of you as we close out here to come being with us of terre haute, indiana, and telling us more about this third party, the white house and his effect on american history. as we close out, some thank yous to the foundation itself debsfoundation.org. charles king at indiana state university, the cunningham memorial library special collections here at the university. and our affiliate, time warner cable. thanks to all of you for helping us put this program together from terre haute, indiana, the eugene v. debs home and museum. ♪ >>> all summer on sundays, american history tv presents "the contenders." this 14-week series highlights key political figures who ran for president and lost but who nevertheless changed political history. our program with eugene debs airs again tonight on american history tv on c-span3. next sunday we continue our "contenders" series featuring former secretary of state and supreme court chief justice charles hughes who ran for presid

let me introduce you to one of our two guests, ernest freeberg, whose book is called "democracy's prisoner." it has been 85 years since debs died, why do we care about him? >> he was one of the most important labor leaders at a crucial time of conflict between labor and capital. more importantly, he was the central figure in a socialist movement at a time when it was a viable, growing, and important part of the american political culture. >> is he interesting as a snapshot in time or does he have a lasting legacy? >> like many third-party candidates, he and his fellow socialists managed to move the conversation in important directions that have affected the development of american democracy ever since. in that regard, he is of his time, but he's also had a long impact on us as well. >> we will have time to delve into some of the more elections later on. of the five bids he made for the white house, are any particularly significant? >> two for very different reasons. the 1912 bid represents the high water mark of socialism where he got about 6% of the vote. quite different election is 1920,