This biography is also a history of the labor movement in the United States. Harry Bridges was the leader of the International Longshoreman's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) for over 40 years and helped form the organization. Bridges started out as a sort of tactical commander of the longshoremen in the 1934 San Francisco General Strike. He was a hero among unionists and yet hated by those who feared Communism. He was prosecuted by the government but his conviction by a federal jury for having lied about his Communist Party membership was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1953.