[4][5][6] The WWP had its origins in the Global Class War Tendency, led by Sam Marcy and Vincent Copeland, within the SWP.

This group crystallized during the 1948 presidential election when they urged the SWP to back Henry Wallace's Progressive Party campaign, rather than field their own candidates.

[11] During the late 1960s and 1970s, the party was involved in protests over causes including "defen[se] of the heroic black uprisings in Watts, Newark, Detroit, Harlem" and women's liberation.

[12] In 1980, the WWP began to participate in electoral politics, naming a presidential ticket as well as candidates for New York Senate, congressional and state legislature seats.

The NYRC's newspaper provided rare details about the internal functioning of the group that have subsequently been used by scholars as a primary source.

[14] In 2004, the WWP suffered its most serious split when the San Francisco branch and some other members left to form the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

The International Action Center, which counts many WWP members as leading activists, founded the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) coalition shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and has run the All People's Congress (APC).

[citation needed] The group's Web site was live as of 2024[update], but the latest newsletter available at that time was dated October 4, 2010,[18] and the home page advertised a "forthcoming" event on 3 December 2011.

Through its Vietnam-era front organization, the American Servicemen's Union (ASU), the party endorsed a 1971 statement of support for that government.

The statement was read on North Korea's international radio station by visiting ASU delegate Andy Stapp.

However, the party's best result was in the 1992 Ohio Senate election, when the WWP candidate received 6.7% of the vote, running against a Democrat and a Republican.