Liberal intellectual leader James I. Loeb, Jr., was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 18, 1908. He graduated cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1929 and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1931 he received an M.A. in Romance Languages from Northwestern University. As part of his graduate work he studied in France and Spain, completing his Ph.D. in 1936. Unable to find a teaching position at that time, Loeb and his wife moved to New York City where he eventually secured employment teaching at Townsend Harris High School.
Although he had been largely apolitical up to this point, Loeb joined the Socialist Party shortly after the move to New York. Greatly concerned by the Spanish Civil War, Loeb edited the SP's mimeographed publication Spanish Labor News and, in behalf of Norman Thomas, worked with the North American Committee to Aid Spanish Democracy. Through his work on the American Friends of German Freedom Committee he met Reinhold Niebuhr at this time, and as a result of involvement in the local teachers' union he also became associated with George Counts.
About 1939 Loeb left the Socialist Party and with Niebuhr and Counts founded in 1941 the Union for Democratic Action. Loeb was elected executive secretary. This organization was formed to support anti-Nazi and anti-Communist foreign policy, while also furthering liberal domestic policies. Because this coincided with the Left's “United Front” period, the UDA and Loeb were often severely criticized by many liberals for the strong anti-communist policies which they took.
On January 4, 1946, a conference of liberals met to form a larger anti-Communist political organization. This new group, Americans for Democratic Action, replaced the UDA. From 1947 to 1951 Loeb served as its executive secretary. Loeb resigned from ADA in 1951 to become consultant to Charles S. Murphy, special counsel to President Truman. In the following year he served as executive director to the Averell Harriman presidential campaign.
With Roger Tubby in 1953, Loeb purchased the Adirondack Daily Enterprise through which he addressed his liberal political concerns ranging from civil rights to foreign policy. In 1958 he briefly served as special assistant to Governor Harriman. During the 1960 presidential campaign Loeb actively supported Hubert Humphrey during the primaries. Nevertheless, after the election he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Peru by President Kennedy. Loeb's appointment there was brief, however, because in 1962 a military coup led to the suspension of U.S. diplomatic relations. From 1963 through 1965 he served as ambassador to Guinea.
After the end of his ambassadorship Loeb returned to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. From this vantage point, he continued to comment on and to be actively involved in national politics.
