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The Socialist party was a left-wing party founded in 1901. The party was led for many years by Eugene Debs, an orator and journalist who ran for the presidency five times, earning 6 percent of the vote in 1912. The socialist party only elected two members of Congress. Socialist congressman Victor Berger served four full terms in congress, elected in 1910, 1922, 1924, and 1926. Berger also won his election in 1918. Because of his opposition to US involvement in WWI (the socialist party was opposed to US involvement in WWI), he was convicted to prison under the espionage act in 1919. Due to his conviction, Berger was expelled from Congress though the Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 1921. The Socialist Party suffered a split in 1917, when Vladimir Lenin invited the party to join Communist International. Those in the party who supported him formed the American Communist Party. The Socialist Party dissolved in 1972.