Marshall E. Uncapher, July 23, 1928 (Madison, Kan.) - June 10, 1994 (Cobb County, Ga.)
VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1972)
Running mate with nominee: E. Harold Munn (1903-1992)
Popular vote: 13,497 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
It was E. Harold Munn's third consecutive shot as the Presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party, a feat that had been unprecedented for the Party up to that time. It took the Party three ballots to agree on a candidate in 1972, and among the defeated was Marshall Uncapher, who went on to be selected as the VP over Roger I. Williams of Massachusetts. Uncapher (pronounced Unca-fur) was on his home turf. Not only was the convention held in Kansas where Uncapher was State Chairman of the Party, but it was in a Nazarene Church, a religious faith to which the running-mate subscribed.
1972 also marked an entire century of the Prohibition Party consistently running candidates for President and Vice-President and it remains America's third oldest political party to this day.
The 1972 Prohibition Party platform was pretty much a replay of the 1968 version. But among the new additions for this election cycle of were these two items:
Environmental Awareness
An awareness of the various problems related to the area of ecology is essential. We believe that all men have a right to a wholesome environment. Accordingly, government must establish standards and enforce a program which will insure a satisfactory stewardship of land, water and air throughout the nation. In particular, we insist on the right of everyone to a pure water supply and to an unpolluted atmosphere. We urge increased emphasis on tertiary treatment of sewage, on the development of fission-type reactors and, as soon as technologically feasible, atomic fusion as a substitute for fossil fuels in electric power generation, and on the substitution of relatively non-polluting sources of power in motor vehicles.
The News Media
We believe in the importance of freedom of the press and of other news media. There must be no suppression of this freedom when properly exercised. On the other hand, we deplore the role of the media in sensationalizing a growing moral permissiveness. We believe that this creates the impression that the media are acting as approving and applauding onlookers. We deplore the decline of investigative reporting, and demand that the media once again become responsible informants of the public.
They were on the ballot in only four states with the ever-faithful Alabama and Kansas being their strongest showings: Alabama 0.85%, Kansas 0.46%, Delaware 0.10%, Colorado 0.05%. 1972 would be Munn's final campaign for any office.
Election history:
1964 - Kansas Insurance Commissioner (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1966 - Kansas Insurance Commissioner (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1968 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1970 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1972 - Prohibition Party nomination for US President - defeated
1974 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1983 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Prohibition Party) - special primary - defeated
Other occupations: teacher, principal, salesman, poet, author, Indiana National Guard.
Buried: Georgia Memorial Park (Marietta, Ga.)
Notes:
1983 race did not actually list party affiliation on the ballot.
Moved to Georgia in 1975.
Was a possible spoiler in the 1974 race.
