Seymour Stedman, July 4, 1871 (Hartford, Conn.) – July 9, 1948 (Chicago, Ill.)
VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1920)
Running mate with nominee: Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
Popular vote: 913,693 (3.41%)
Electoral vote: 0/531
The campaign:
The Socialist Party of America had not had a good four years since the 1916 election. WWI and the post-war Red hysteria had landed many members behind bars. The 1917 Russian Revolution had made communism a more attractive action-based solution for many of the Socialists, starting an exodus to the more Leftward parties. The creation of the Farmer-Labor Party was also drawing away a significant number of SPA members. The SPA itself was splitting as a result of irreconcilable differences between the Left and Right, with the latter camp gaining more control.
And to top it off, their presidential nominee was serving a prison sentence of 10 years, found guilty of "sedition" in Nov. 1918 for advocating resistance to military conscription. He was nominated anyway in what would be his final run for President.
His running mate Seymour Stedman was a founding member of the SPA and the actual job of barnstorming and electioneering fell on his shoulders. He represented the Right wing of the party and was something of a Machiavellian figure in the Socialist world. Strongly anti-Soviet, he was accused of cooperating with police to prosecute Communists, which is rather ironic considering he later became a card-carrying Communist himself ca. 1936-1942, although not politically active.
With votes recorded in 40 states, the Debs/Stedman ticket had their best results in Wisconsin (11.50%), Minnesota (7.62%), New York (7.01%), Nevada (6.85%), California (6.79%), and Oklahoma (5.29%). These were states where the Farmer-Labor Party was basically not in the equation. Landslide winner Warren Harding commuted Debs' sentence effective Christmas Day, 1921.
Election history:
1902 - Illinois State House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1904 - States Attorney (Cook County, Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1906 - Supreme Court Justice (Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1908 - Socialist Party of America nomination for US Vice-President - defeated
1908 - States Attorney (Cook County, Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1913-1915 - Illinois State House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America)
1915 - Mayor of Chicago, Ill. (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1916 - Governor of Illinois (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1923 - US House of Representatives (Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
Other occupations: shepherd, foundry worker, messenger, janitor, writer, attorney
Buried: Oak Woods Cemetery (Chicago, Ill.)
Notes:
Buried in the same cemetery as James "Big Jim" Colosimo, Enrico Fermi, Jesse Owens, William H.
"Big Bill" Thompson (his 1915 opponent), June Travis, and Harold Washington.
Began his political life as a Georgist.
Was a Democrat, then a Populist before joining the Socialists in 1897. Had worked to make Eugene
Debs the Populist nominee in 1896.
Was an officer of the City State Bank in the 1920s-1930s. After it went bust in 1929 he was accused of accepting deposits when he knew the bank was going to fail but the charges were dropped.
