Leander Lycurgus Pickett, February 8, 1859 (Burnsville, Miss.) - May 9, 1928 (Wilmore, Ky.)
VP candidate for American Party (aka Ku Klux Party aka Ku Klux Klan Party) (1924)
Running mate with nominee: Gilbert O. Nations (1866-1950)
Popular vote: 24,325 (0.08%)
Electoral vote: 0/531
The campaign:
This short-lived political party was originated by a group of evangelical Protestants who harbored conspiracy theories regarding the Catholic Church. Ex-judge Gilbert O. Nations was nominated for President and Charles Hiram Randall, the only member of the Prohibition Party to have ever been elected to US Congress (Calif. 1915-1921) was selected as the running mate. Randall withdrew from the VP slot in August 1924 in order to concentrate on running for Congress again under the combined banner of the American and Prohibition parties (he lost). A substitute VP nominee was found in the person of Leander Lycurgus Pickett.
Previously a two-time Kentucky gubernatorial Prohibition Party candidate described as "an intense man" Pickett was a premillennialist who railed against the wealthy class. He also gained headlines by vigorously defending the Ku Klux Klan when it was denounced as a domestic terrorist organization by the Democrats, Republicans, and Progressives. Pickett also was present at a major Klan meeting in Pennsylvania two months before the election.
The American Party attempted to merge with the Prohibition Party in 1924, since both entities advocated stricter enforcement of prohibiting alcohol. But the offer was denied. Their platform was a xenophobic one, calling for immigration restrictions and clamping down on foreign-language schools and newspapers. W.M. Likins, American Party Secretary, also openly stated the Party was seeking support from the KKK because "our party depends upon those who desire to see the laws enforced."
On the ballot in seven states, their best showing by far was in Washington State (1.42%).
Election history:
1907 - Governor of Kentucky (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1915 - Governor of Kentucky (Prohibition Party) - defeated
Other occupations: Methodist minister, hymn composer, author, evangelical publisher, Trustee of Asbury College (Wilmore, Ky.) starting in 1904, anti-Catholic activist
Buried: Wilmore Cemetery (Wilmore, Ky.)
Notes:
Denied reappointment to the Methodist ministry in 1885 over his strong feelings involving the
method of baptism (he was a sprinkler, not an immerser) and then became involved with the
Holiness Movement.
Great-Great grandfather of actress Laura Harrier.
Some of his songs were later recorded by artists such as the Carter Family and George Jones.
If elected would have died in his first term.
