John Bell Williams, December 4, 1918 (Raymond, Miss.) – March 25, 1983 (Brandon, Miss.)
VP candidate for Independent (aka Mississippi States' Rights Party aka South Carolinians for Independent Electors) (1956)
Running mate with nominee: Harry Flood Byrd Sr. (1887-1966)
Popular vote: 131,475 (0.21%)
Electoral vote: 0/531
The campaign:
The independent "unpledged" electors of Mississippi and South Carolina felt the Independent States' Rights Party ticket of Andrews and Werdel lacked the kind of star power to attract pro-segregation votes, so they nominated Sen. Harry Flood Byrd Sr. for President and Congressman John Bell Williams of Mississippi as the running mate. Both were members of the Democratic Party and champions of American Apartheid.
Although their names did not appear on the ballot it was highly publicized in the media just who you would be voting for in those two states if you selected the "Independent" electors. In this same election year, Byrd had also been nominated for President by the States' Rights Party of Kentucky with William Jenner as his running mate.
Williams, who was running for re-election to Congress, said he was "greatly flattered" by the nomination. The ticket was endorsed by South Carolina Democratic Party heavyweight James F. Byrnes.
Williams was representative of the shift of the Southern Democrats to the Republicans. He had supported the Dixiecrats in 1948, but endorsed Stevenson in 1952. After 1952 he endorsed only Republicans or third parties in the general election for President clear to 1980 in spite of the fact he remained a member of the Democratic Party.
Not the most widespread or base-building of the 1956 Right-wing parties, but definitely the biggest vote-getters of that group in this election, even if they were in only two states. In South Carolina they placed second with 29.45%, beating the incumbent President Eisenhower and winning in 21 counties. In Mississippi they finished with a strong third place at 17.31%, winning in 7 counties.
Election history:
1947-1968 - US House of Representatives (Miss.) (Democratic)
1968-1972 - Governor of Mississippi (Democratic)
Other occupations: attorney, WWII pilot, prosecuting attorney of Hinds County, Miss. 1944-1946
Buried: Raymond Cemetery (Raymond, Miss.)
Notes:
Lost part of his left arm during WWII in an air crash.
Youngest person from Mississippi elected to Congress at age 27.
Although nominally a member of the Democratic Party, he was a Dixiecrat in 1948, supported Stevenson in 1952, independent electors 1956-1960, Goldwater in 1964 (for which he was stripped of his Congressional seniority by the Democrats), Wallace in 1968, Nixon in 1972, Wallace in the primaries and Ford in the general in 1976, Reagan in 1980.
