John Toussaint Bernard

Farmer Laborite Representative of Minnesota's 8th district

Congresses Served

House Terms

March 6, 1893 (90 years old)

Birthday

August 6, 1983

Death

Born in Bastia, Corsica, France, and immigrated to the United States in 1907.
Worked as an iron-ore miner and served in the Army during World War I and on the Mexican border.
Became a city fireman after being blacklisted for unionization efforts.
Served as a delegate to the Minnesota State Farmer-Labor Party conventions and was elected to the U.S. Congress.
Visited the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War to support the Soviet-backed Republican faction.
Engaged in labor organizing, legislative directing, and civil rights activism, working with the Steel Workers Organizing Committee of the CIO and the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America.
Married Josephine Dinois and had at least one child.
Cast the sole vote against an arms embargo against Spain during the Spanish Civil War, showing support for the Communist-backed Popular Front.
Employed staff members with connections to the Communist Party and was named in testimony to HUAC.
Testified under subpoena before HUAC in 1952, asserting his Fifth Amendment privilege while declaring loyalty to America.
Accepted membership in the Communist Party USA in 1977.
Died in Long Beach, California.