Again, as in previous years, events in Russia determined communist policy in America. The death of Stalin in 1953 and the advent of Malenkov brought the “Big Smile” policy from the Soviet bear, which was continued by Bulganin and Khrushchev. The Communist Party, USA, weakened and largely immobilized in its underground haunts, welcomed the new line. Then, in the summer of 1955, came the Geneva Conference. The Party, sensing a new “political climate,” began to come above ground. Quietly communist leaders reappeared in public, many courier systems were discontinued, and most underground hideaways abolished. By the spring of 1956 most of the Party’s underground had been curtailed and even the communist leaders who had become fugitives from justice began to surrender. This experiment in underground strategy had cost the Party severely. Now, however, the Party was faced with severe problems of internal disorganization and factionalism. Many Party members had left the movement. Administrative affairs were in a state of chaos. Invaluable records had been destroyed. Party leaders, returning from underground assignments, found that they were often ignored by the ruling hierarchy. Money was scarce. Footholds in noncommunist organizations, such as labor unions, had largely been lost. Then came Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin and charges of anti-Semitism in Russia. In the fall of 1956 came the bloody Soviet intervention in Hungary. No events since the German-Russian nonaggression pact of 1939 had so gravely shaken the Party. Stalin, the man the comrades had revered so long, was proved to be a murderer, thief, and liar. Communist leaders in the United States were stunned and aghast. Immediately, different opinions developed as to the Party’s future policy—opinions that gave rise to severe leadership differences. One group, headed by William Z. Foster, although accepting Khrushchev’s denunciations, emphasized what “good” Stalin had done for the communist movement. These were the so-called Stalinists, who wanted as few changes as possible in the Party organization. Opposing Foster was a faction headed by John Gates, editor of the _Daily Worker_, who openly advocated disbandment of the Party and establishment of a political association. This action, he argued, would make the Party more palatable to the general public in light of the severe criticisms. In between, many middle-of-the-roaders, led by Eugene Dennis, were not sure just what the Party should do in this, one of its most severe crises.