After participating briefly in Marcus Garvey's movement, which he decided was unworkable, Lightfoot became a member of the Democratic Party.

[1] After enlisting in 1941 and serving three and a half years in World War II, he rose to the top leadership of the Illinois Communist Party, succeeding Gilbert Green as chairman in 1957 when the latter was arrested.

[2] On June 26, 1954, during the McCarthy era, Lightfoot was arrested based on the Smith Act of 1940 and put on trial.

Soon after his birth his parents left him to be cared for by his grandmother, Frances Henderson Lightfoot, A former slave who managed to acquire a large cotton farm in Lake Village.

His parents struggled to put food on the table and this was a major factor contributing to his family deciding to move north.

Lightfoot's formal education came to an end when he was forced to drop out of high school in order to help make money for his family.

In 1935, Lightfoot traveled to the Soviet Union to participate as a delegate in the seventh World Congress of Communists International.

His candidacy was faced with intense opposition from the local democratic party who feared that his popular support in the black community would split the liberal vote and lead to a republican winning the election.

[4] After his loss in 1946, Lightfoot shifted his focus towards promoting other African American candidates for office to fight against racism and oppression.

Instead they opted to put their support behind Franklin Roosevelt's first vice president Henry Wallace who was running on the progressive party ticket.

Wallace opposed Jim Crow laws and refused to speak in front of segregated audiences in the south.

Much like in 1947, Lightfoot's efforts did not translate to votes and Harry Truman won the presidential election in a tight race over Republican Thomas Dewey.

[4] While embroiled in the appeal process for his Smith Act conviction, Claude Lightfoot continued to be an active participant in the Communist Party USA.

After this incident, the Bill's sponsor, Senator Paul Broyles demanded to governor Adlai Stevenson and Attorney General Ivan Elliot to have Lightfoot arrested, but they did not comply at this point in time.

This means that Lightfoot was being charged simply for being a member of a political party which for the rest of its existence was completely legal.

Arguments against Lightfoot posited that the purpose of the communist party is to conduct an overthrow of the United States government and that they teach that violence is the means by which this would be accomplished.

The defense refuted these claims and argued that the goal of the Communist Party was to establish "American socialism thru gradual and peaceful processes".

However they did admit that at some points in history such as our own civil war, the majority has been forced to resort to violent means in order to accomplish the changes that they deem necessary.

On January 26, the jury found Lightfoot guilty of violating the membership clause of the Smith Act and he was sentenced to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

He argues that if this precedent is upheld in the higher courts, it would allow the justice department to expand its "powerful machinery of oppression" over a much greater proportion of the population.

In October 1957 the seventh circuit court of appeals reversed the ruling on the technicality that the defense did not have access to the FBI reports which were used as evidence against Lightfoot in the trial.

They conceded that their evidence was insufficient to prove that Lightfoot had either "knowledge of the party’s advocacy of the violent overthrow of the Government, or personally advocated it".