James Joseph Brown, May 3, 1933 (Barnwell, SC) – December 25, 2006 (Atlanta, Ga.)
VP candidate for Independent (1972)
Running mate with nominee: Mary Levinson (1914-1995)
Popular vote: "30-odd votes" (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
In late October, 1972 Mary Levinson of Buffalo, NY announced she was running for President as an independent write-in. Actually she was serving as a stand-in for her son, Michael, who at age 30 was too young to be elected President. Michael had, according to the press, "definite views on ending the Vietnam war and cutting rents everywhere." The campaign's motto was "You stand on your own two feet."
Levinson told reporters she was planning to ask James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, to be her running mate. If this indeed happened, Brown's response was not reported. Brown had endorsed Humphrey in 1968 but by 1972 he was solidly in Nixon's camp. He later supported Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and George W. Bush in the 2000s. Strangely, Brown was also an admirer of segregationist Dixiecrat Strom Thurmond. Many fans were disappointed with Brown's conversion to the Republican Party in the late 1960s and staged protests or boycotted his concerts in that era.
Levinson later recalled in 1992 that she received "30-odd votes."
Election history: none
Other occupations: musical artist
Buried: Thomas Family Home Crypt (Beech Island, SC)
Notes:
Michael Levinson has run for several offices since 1972, including multiple attempts for President in the primaries of both major parties. In 1988, when he ran in the Republican primaries, he produced a poster declaring Muhammad Ali as his VP.
