John Geraerdt Crommelin, Jr., October 2, 1902 (Montgomery, Ala.) – November 2, 1996 (Montgomery, Ala.)
VP candidate for National States' Rights Party (1960)
Running mate with nominee: Orval Faubus (1910-1994)
Popular vote: 44,984 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/537
The campaign:
The National States' Rights Party was easily the most vicious of all the third parties on the 1960 ballot, and anticipated the Right-wing domestic terrorism that would continue to grow to the present day. The NSRP with the number of unabashed Klansmen, Nazis, white supremacists, anti-Semites, and other assorted racists and fascists in their orbit made the Constitution, Conservative, and Tax Cut parties look downright liberal by comparison. Their Party flag was basically a mixture of the Confederate and Hitler's Schutzstaffel symbols.
The Party was created in 1958 and both of the founders, chiropractor Edward Reed Fields (born 1932 and reported to be still living as of this writing) and future third party VP nominee Jesse Benjamin Stoner Jr. (1924-2005), had early established their credentials as extreme Right-wingers with other groups. Stoner later served prison time for firebombing Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., and was a top suspect in other bombings. More on him in 1964.
The Party motto was "Honor—Pride—Fight! Save the White!"
As close as I can find for their platform:
1. Encourage voluntary resettlement of Negroes in their African homeland.
2. Restore segregation in the Armed Forces.
3. Permit only "White Folk to take part in affairs of government or serve in courts."
4. Demand that government should refrain from competing with private enterprise.
5. Demand that confiscatory taxation policies of the federal government be ended immediately.
6. Demand the removal of all federal control over National Guard units and law enforcement
agencies of the states.
7. Demand that all financial and moral support to the State of Israel cease as a basis for the
rebuilding of Arab American friendship.
8. Favor complete separation of all non-White and dissatisfied racial minorities from "our White
Folk Communities."
9. Preservation of Indian national life in America and unlimited development of reservation
facilities.
10. Demand that total segregation be maintained in the nation's schools and that only "members of
the White Folk Community be allowed to engage in the educational and cultural activities of
our White society."
At their convention in Ohio in March 1960 they nominated segregationist Democratic Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus for President, and ex-Rear Admiral John G. Crommelin Jr. as his running mate. There are conflicting accounts about the Governor's attitude regarding the nomination, but he took an action to remove his name, and thus the NSRP, from the Florida ballot. Faubus endorsed the JFK/LBJ ticket.
One source claims that at the last minute the Party selected Robert Bolivar DePugh (1923-2009) as their standard bearer once it was clear Faubus was not interested. He was a Missouri veterinary drug manufacturer, survivalist, and John Birch Society member who in June 1960 founded the Minutemen anti-communist militia movement. In later years he would be charged and convicted of firearms violations (for which he did some hard time), charged but acquitted of bank robbery, and pornography and morals accusations involving underage girls. DePugh eventually joined the Christian Identity Movement. For a spell he was a fugitive from justice, living underground. In some states it was too late to remove the name of Orval Faubus from the ballot, so if DePugh was indeed the substitute the NSRP in a way were running two candidates for President. In Alabama and Arkansas only the Electors were listed, not the actual candidates, so it is difficult to confirm if DePugh was actually a candidate. Faubus' name did appear on the Tennessee ballot.
VP nominee Crommelin, a WWII Naval hero, was an outspoken participant in the 1949 "Revolt of the Admirals," protesting President Truman's unification of the Armed Forces which in the view of the admirals favored air power at the price of the Navy. This activity probably involuntarily shortened Crommelin's military career, but once released into civilian life he started a new pursuit as a perennial candidate in Alabama. Crommelin was an anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, pro-segregation, anti-Federal Reserve, anti-UN, white supremacist and had exhibited some of these beliefs during his time as a Navy officer, which didn't exactly help his future professional prospects.
A staunch defender of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist activities, Crommelin was and would be an associate of Gerald L.K. Smith, Pedro Del Valle, David Duke, George Lincoln Rockwell, and John Kasper. Kasper introduced Crommelin to the poet Ezra Pound (incarcerated in a mental hospital at the time) in Jan. 1956, the same year as the "Ez for Prez" campaign took place and which for some that slogan was a fascist rallying cry. Kasper became an aide to the Admiral during his failed 1956 bid for the US Senate. In 1957 Kasper served 8 months in prison for conspiracy. Oddly, newspapers in 1960 reported that Kasper endorsed Nixon shortly before the election. In 1964 Kasper would be the NSRP Presidential nominee.
With votes recorded in 5 states, their strongest showing was in Faubus' Arkansas with 6.76%. In over half the counties their result ranged between 5.04% clear to 14.90%. Other results: Tenn. (1.07%), Ala. (0.77%), Del. (0.18%), Tex. (0.00%, i.e. 7 write-in votes).
Election history:
1950 - US Senate (Ala.) (Independent) - defeated
1954 - US Senate (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1956 - US Senate (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1958 - Governor of Alabama (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1959 - Mayor of Montgomery, Ala. - defeated
1960 - US Senate (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1962 - US Senate (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1964 - US House of Representatives (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1966 - US Senate (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1968 - US Senate (Ala.) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1968 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
1970 - Lt. Governor of Alabama (Independent) - defeated
Other occupations: US Navy Rear Admiral, farmer
Buried: Greenwood Cemetery (Montgomery, Ala.)
Notes:
Winner of the 1954, 1960, 1966 primaries was John Sparkman
Buried in the same cemetery as George and Lurleen Wallace.
Known as "Bomb-Run John"
