In 1961, while Drinnon was a professor at the
University of California, Berkeley, he was discovered by police to be the next person on the target list of
John Harrison Farmer, who felt that he was on a mission from God to kill people who he believed were associated with communism. While there he taught two popular courses on "A Critical View of American History" which emphasized the negatives during American history from 1776 to the present. He ultimately was denied tenure because of his political activism. He protested the execution of
Caryl Chessman, was the first faculty advisor for SLATE, the activist student union, and was about to be called up to the
House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) because they suspected him of being a communist. At the time he was denied tenure he had already published his first book,
Rebel in Paradise: A Biography of Emma Goldman. During the
Columbia University protests of 1968, Drinnon participated in a student walkout of a speech at Bucknell University by Vice President
Hubert H. Humphrey, when Humphrey blamed protesters for disorder on the campus. Drinnon shouted "This is a disgrace," and walked out along with about 30 students. ==Works==