DeBerry in upper left, NYC Mayor candidate debate 1965
Clifton DeBerry, September 18, 1923 (Holly Springs, Miss.) - March 24, 2006 (Union City, Calif.)
VP candidate for Socialist Workers Party (1972)
Running mate with nominee: Evelyn Reed (1905–1979)
Popular vote: 13,878 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Clifton DeBerry's Vice-Presidential run in 1972 is hardly ever included in his resume of campaigns, but the Socialist Workers Party veteran did indeed serve as a running mate in that year. Notice I said "a" running mate rather than "the" running mate. The official SWP VP nominee was Cleve Andrew Pulley, who along with the official SWP Presidential nominee Linda Jenness, was too young to meet the Constitutionally mandated age of 35 to be sworn into office.
In most states this age problem was regarded as academic, but in Indiana, New York, and Wisconsin the Jenness/Pulley ticket was not allowed on the ballot. So in those states the Party substituted Evelyn Reed for President (she had actually met Trotsky in 1940) and Clifton DeBerry.
DeBerry had been the Party's Presidential nominee in 1964. Although there were other African-American nominees for President in the past, DeBerry was the first where his name appeared on a ballot. His role in the 1972 campaign as a substitute VP did not seem to loom large in his roster of accomplishments.
Their showings: Indiana 0.26%, New York 0.11%, Wisconsin 0.03%.
Election history:
1963 - New York City Council (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1964 - US President (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1965 - New York City Mayor (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1970 - Governor of New York (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
1975 - Berkeley, Calif. City Council (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1980 - US President (Socialist Workers Party) - defeated
Other occupations: house painter, farm equipment factory worker, author
Buried: ?
Notes:
Born in the same town where Absolom Madden West, 1884 VP nominee of the Greenback Party, died
in 1894.
Opponents in 1965 race included John Lindsay (winner), Abraham Beame, William F. Buckley, and
Eric Hass
Opponents in 1970 race included Nelson Rockefeller (winner), Arthur Goldberg, and Stephen Emery
Left the Communist Party USA and joined the SWP in 1953
Moved to New York from Chicago in 1960
Ceased being politically active in the 1990s but remained loyal to SWP.
