Ralph Townsend

Ralph Townsend
Townsend in 1934
Born	27 November 1900 Raynham, North Carolina
Died	25 January 1976(1976-01-25) (aged 75) Fairfax, Virginia
Alma mater	Columbia School of Journalism
Known for	advocacy of non-interventionism, arrest and imprisonment as a Japanese agent
Notable work	Ways That Are Dark: The Truth About China
Spouse(s)	Janet (from 16 October 1926)

Ralph Townsend (27 November 1900 – 25 January 1976) was an American author, consul and political activist noted for his opposition to the entry of the United States into World War II. Townsend was born in North Carolina and educated in New York. He served in the foreign service as a consul stationed in Canada and China from 1931 to 1933. Shortly after returning to the United States he came to prominence through his book Ways That Are Dark: The Truth About China, a harsh critique of Chinese culture which became a widely controversial bestseller. Townsend became a prominent advocate of non-interventionism, and in the 1930s and 1940s was well known for his vocal opposition to the Roosevelt administration's foreign policy from a pro-Japanese and pro-neutrality point of view.

Following the US entry into World War II Townsend was arrested for acting as a Japanese agent without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He pleaded guilty, admitting that he had accepted payments before the war from a propaganda organization funded by the Japanese government, but denying that he was a Japanese agent. He received a prison sentence and while serving was involved in the Great Sedition Trial. After the war Townsend moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where he died on 25 January 1976. His writings continue to be influential in far-right circles.

Ralph Townsend was born on 27 November 1900 in Raynham, North Carolina to "one of Robeson county's oldest and most prominent families." After graduating from Mount Hermon Preparatory School in Massachusetts, he attended Columbia University in New York City and in 1924 received his degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He worked as a journalist in San Francisco for several years before returning to New York where he taught English at Columbia University from 1927 to 1930. On 11 November 1930 he passed the foreign service test and was posted to Montreal, Canada, as vice-consul on 20 December 1930.