Voting Station

John Reed

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Commentator

The Resume

    (October 22, 1887-October 17, 1920)
    Born in Portland, Oregon
    Journalist/poet/Communist activist
    Correspondent for 'The Masses'
    Wrote 'Ten Days That Shook the World' (1919) about the October Revolution in Russia
    Founding member of the Communist Party of America (1919)
    Portrayed by Warren Beatty in the movie 'Reds' (1981)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was allowed into Harvard despite getting D's in history and French and F's in Latin and geometry at prep school.
    While touring Germany as journalist during WWI, he visited the front and took a couple of shots at the French.
    After running out of money in Russia, he got a job writing a newspaper for the American Red Cross, but in the first issue he included the warning 'This paper is devoted to promoting the interests of American capital.'
    When Emma Goldman complained about the Russian secret police, he replied that the enemies of the revolution deserved their fates.
    He died in exile in the Soviet Union and was buried at the Kremlin wall.
    'Ten Days That Shook the World' was chosen as one of the '50 Worst Books of the Century' by the conservative Intercollegiate Review.

Why he might not be annoying:

    At Harvard, he was an editor of the Harvard Lampoon, president of the Glee Club and a member of the water polo team.
    His first ever arrest was for speaking out on behalf of striking silk mill workers (1913).
    He had an open marriage with feminist/anarchist journalist Louise Bryant.
    'Ten Days That Shook the World' would be banned in Stalinist Russia because it mentioned Josef Stalin only twice.
    'Ten Days That Shook the World' was #7 on New York University's list of the Top 100 Works of American Journalism in the 20th Century.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 141 Votes: 67.38% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 22 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 113 Votes: 64.60% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 18 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 73 Votes: 80.82% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 87 Votes: 75.86% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 28 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 23 Votes: 52.17% Annoying