Paul Kengor, the author of The Communist, is interested in the people who have influenced some of America's most prominent politicians. In The Communist, he takes a hard look at Frank Marshall Davis, mentor to President Barack Obama.  Davis was introduced to Obama in 1970 in Hawaii by his maternal grandfather, Stanley Dunham.  In his memoir, Dreams From my Father, originally published in 1995, Obama mentions "Frank" twenty-two times but "Frank" is never fully identified. The reason, the author tells us, is that Frank Marshall Davis was a pro-Soviet member of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). 

The author acknowledges that many would attribute Frank's association with the Communist Party to slanderous trumped up charges akin to McCarthyism.  When called to Capitol Hill in 1956 to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Internal Security Subcommittee investigating the "scope of Soviet activity in the United States," Frank invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify. As to the charge of McCarthyism, it is interesting that the Senator who directly questioned Frank in 1956 was Senator Arthur Watkins who "spearheaded the very committee that pursued Senator Joe McCarthy." In any event, the Senate, in 1957, publically declared Frank "as an identified member of the Communist Party."  Senator Joe McCarthy was dead by then. Specifically, the 1957 report of the Senate Judiciary Committee (Part 41-A, Appendix III) (pages 2,698 and 2,801) identifies Frank Marshall Davis "as an identified member of the Communist Party."    

 It is impossible to look at the decisions and choices made by President Obama without weighing Frank Marshall Davis in the balance.  The author presents a captivating case supported by a dramatic narrative about the history of the American communist movement.  While the material is fascinating, ultimately, the reader will rule on the admissibility of the evidence.