This session of our Praxis Series will examine how socialism has been a fundamental idea that has run through the history of American political thought. We will take a brief look at the reforms advocated by Thomas Paine, Karl Marx’s influence on Abraham Lincoln, the success of the “sewer socialists” in the first half of the 20th century, and other key moments of socialist thought throughout American history, and we will discuss how this vital thread of history can be recovered in our contemporary political discourse.