National headquarters is located in a three-story, twenty-foot-wide, brownstone building at 23 West 26th Street, New York City, just off Broadway. A pygmy amid Manhattan’s towering skyscrapers, with iron bars shielding the bottom-floor windows, this American Kremlin is the symbol of communist power in our country. Here meetings are held and important decisions made. The national office occupies the third floor and penthouse; the New York State Communist Party is on the first and second floors. However, the 1957 Party convention authorized shifting national offices to Chicago. Level 1: The High Command The real power of the Party rests in the _National Committee_. This committee, “elected” by the national and state conventions, is responsible for running the Party between conventions as provided by the constitution: Between National Conventions, the National Committee is the highest authority of the Party, representing the Party as a whole, and as such has the authority to make decisions and take actions necessary and incidental to the good and welfare of the entire Party, and to act upon all problems and developments occurring between Conventions. (Article V, Section 9) This provision covers a multitude of possibilities and forms the basis for the dictatorship of a few leaders, in typical communist style. The National Committee is America’s Politburo, a small group of some sixty individuals directing war against noncommunist institutions. Minority control is strengthened still more by clever manipulation. The current National Committee elected a twenty-member National Executive Committee, which in turn selected administrative officials. In actual practice, the latter group is the dominant power, making day-to-day decisions. There is no free election of the membership. With members of the National Committee spread throughout the country, “on-the-spot” New York comrades tend to monopolize control of Party affairs. This atmosphere of almost unlimited authority often produces a repugnant type of person. Many of the top leaders are haughty, swaggering, overbearing. They feel that they are better than “little” comrades. They are the “experts” in Marxism-Leninism. Their job is to teach the “less informed.” William Z. Foster went to Seattle, Washington, a few years ago to make a speech. “We’re glad you’ve come,” the welcoming local official commented. “Many of our comrades are looking forward to meeting you.” “Not so fast,” warned Foster. “I’m not going to see any of them. I’m too busy. These little Party people just sit down and pour out their personal problems. It wears me out and you can’t get rid of them.” “But,” protested the local organizer, “they’ve been busy for weeks, working to make the meeting a success. They want....” “Nonsense,” snapped Foster. “You decide which ones are worth my time and I’ll see them. Make appointments. I can’t solve everybody’s problems.”