Edward Johanningsmeier specializes in twentieth-century US political history, with particular interests in the Cold War, the history of the American left, and labor history. He received his A.B. from Earlham College in 1978 and his Ph.D. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988. His publications include Forging American Communism: the Life of William Z. Foster (Princeton University Press). His current research is on the influences of the Profintern (Red International of Labor Unions) and syndicalism on the American Communist movement.​