Theodora Nathalia Nathan, February 9, 1923 (New York, NY) – March 20, 2014 (Eugene, Or.)
VP candidate for Libertarian Party (1972)
Running mate with nominee: John Hospers (1918-2011)
Popular vote: 3,674 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 1/538
The campaign:
A new national political party emerged in the 1972 Presidential election. Even though they were only on the ballot in two states, Colorado where the Party had been created and Washington (and official write-ins in four others), they would go on to become America's largest third party. I recall reading the 1972 Washington State Voters Pamphlet trying to figure out this unusual group that had a civil liberties policy to the Left of the Democratic Party and an economic policy to the Right of the Republican Party but all on a foundation of what seemed to me a Darwinian belief in survival of the fittest in both wings with as little government involvement as possible. The closest Presidential election precedent I could come up with at the time was Barry Goldwater's version of the Republican Party in 1964.
John Hospers and Toni Nathan had both been influenced by the writings of Ayn Rand and were considered among the founders of the Party. Nathan had originally been a Democrat, which I imagine was an unusual political background for the Libertarians of that era. Nathan did not attend the Party's convention expecting to be selected as the running-mate, but the nomination seemed to fit and launched her interest in running for public office for over the next quarter century.
The 1972 platform included:
Crime. "We hold that no action which does not infringe the rights of others can properly be termed a crime."
Freedom of Speech and The Press. "We pledge to oppose all forms of censorship, whatever the medium involved."
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms. "In recognition of the fact that the individual is his own last source of self-defense, the authors of the Constitution guaranteed, in the Second Amendment, the right of the people to keep and bear arms. This reasoning remains valid today. We pledge to uphold that guarantee. We oppose compulsory arms registration."
Volunteer Army. "We oppose the draft (Selective Service), believing that the use of force to require individuals to serve in the armed forces or anywhere else is a violation of their rights, and that a well-paid volunteer army is a more effective means of national defense than the involuntary servitude exemplified by the draft."
Subsidies. "In order to achieve a free economy in which government victimizes no one for the benefit of anyone else, we oppose all government subsidies to business, labor, education, agriculture, science, the arts, or any other special interests."
Tariffs and Quotas. "Like subsidies, tariffs and quotas serve only to give special treatment to favored interests and to diminish the welfare of other citizens. We therefore support abolition of all tariffs and quotas as well as the Tariff Commission and the Customs Court."
Consumer Protection. "We shall support strong and effective laws against fraud and misrepresentation. We shall oppose, however, that present and prospective so-called "consumer protection" legislation which infringes upon voluntary trade."
Overpopulation. "We support an end to all subsidies for childbearing built into our present laws, including all welfare plans and the provision of tax-supported services for children. We further support the repeal of all laws restricting voluntary birth control or voluntary termination of pregnancies during their first hundred days. We shall oppose all coercive measures to control population growth."
Education. "We support the repeal of all compulsory education laws, and an end to government operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools. We call for an immediate end of compulsory busing."
Poverty and Unemployment. "We support repeal of all laws which impede the ability of any person to find employment—including, but not limited to, minimum wage laws, so-called "protective" labor legislation for women and children, governmental restrictions on the establishment of private day-care centers, the National Labor Relations Act, and licensing requirements. We oppose all government welfare and relief projects and "aid to the poor" programs, inasmuch as they are not within the proper role of government, and do contribute to unemployment. All aid to the poor should come from private sources."
Foreign Aid. "We support an end to the Federal foreign aid program."
Military Alliances. "The United States should abandon its attempts to act as policeman for the world, and should enter into alliances only with countries whose continued free existence is vital to the protection of the freedom of all American citizens."
Secession. "We shall support recognition of the right to secede. Political units or areas which do secede should be recognized by the United States as independent political entities where: (1) secession is supported by a majority within the political unit, (2) the majority does not attempt suppression of the dissenting minority, and (3) the government of the new entity is at least as compatible with human freedom as that from which it seceded."
The United Nations. "We support withdrawal of the United States from the United Nations. We further support a Constitutional Amendment designed to prohibit the United States from entering into any treaty under which it relinquishes any portion of its sovereignty."
I was politically active here in Washington State in 1972, and I have to say that if not for the Voters Pamphlet I would not have been aware of the Libertarian Party. The media up here pretty much ignored them and the embryonic party really didn't have a strong enough organization yet to wage an effective statewide campaign.
The Hospers/Nathan ticket received 0.12% of the Colorado vote and 0.10% in Washington. A faithless Nixon Elector in Virginia named Roger MacBride (1929-1995) cast his vote for the Libertarian ticket. There had been other women in the VP role in the past, as well as running-mates of the Jewish faith, but Toni Nathan was the first in either category to have ever been granted an Electoral vote-- before Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, before Joe Lieberman in 2000. MacBride had been a former Goldwater Republican and had served in the Vermont State Legislature a decade earlier. In 1976 he was the Libertarian Party nominee for President.
Election history:
1976 - US House of Representatives (Or.) (Independent) - defeated
1980 - US Senate (Or.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1983 - Libertarian Party nomination for US President - defeated
1984 - Lane County (Or.) County Commission (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1990 - US House of Representatives (Or.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1992 - Oregon State Senate (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1996 - US House of Representatives (Or.) (Libertarian Party) - defeated
1998 - Oregon State Senate (Libertarian Party) - defeated
Other occupations: insurance agent, music publisher, decorating service owner, radio and television producer, television talk show host
Buried: Sunset Hills Cemetery (Eugene, Or.)
Notes:
1980 opponents were Bob Packwood (winner) and Ted Kulongoski.
She lived in a county in Oregon named after another third party vice-presidential candidate who also
received votes from the Electoral College, Joseph Lane (1801-1881) who in 1860 ran as VP in the
Constitutional Democratic Party.
Married a composer, Charles Nathan, who had the same surname.
She was a lifelong naturopath.
"The American public has a right to hear discussions on ALL issues that affect them. If all views were represented in the dialogues preceding the national election, there would be more voters participating and a better indication of what voters really wanted. If the winning candidate could know the major concerns of the public, he/she could act upon them. After all, the election is the most revealing and authentic poll of all, providing voters are aware of all viewpoints and vote for the ones they support. The election isn't a horse race and voters don't have to pick a winner. They should vote their consciences and pick the candidate who best represents their values. This way is really the only way of getting their concerns before those who will ultimately determine the direction of this country on matters of supreme importance."--Toni Nathan 2004.
