The Sargeant brothers, Perry (above) and Larry (below)
Perry David Sargeant, June 17, 1929 (Spokane, Wash.) - October 22, 2016 (Elko, Nev.)
VP candidate for American Freedom Party (1976)
Running mate with nominee: Larry Brant Sargeant (b 1931)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Larry Brant Sargeant was a heavy equipment operator in Yerington, Nev. Apparently a former member of the LDS Church, he started his own religion called House of Israel around 1962 and 15 years later he said that was also the time he formed the American Freedom Party. He told reporters he had made an attempt to run for President in the 1972 election but withdrew.
He began his second presidential campaign in 1975. A few quotations in the early stages of his effort included parts of his Party platform as well as comments regarding President Ford, the only person ever to have ascended to that office through appointment upon the twin resignations in disgrace of Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon rather than being elected:
With an unshakeable faith in the Almighty God, we can show our fellow Americans that government of the people, by the people, and for the people must begin at home-- not in Washington, D.C.
The people of this nation don't have a President at all (all you have is a bird perched under the people's roof, claiming squatters rights).
Under the oath and covenant of the Constitution of the United States of America, the right to select a president and vice-president shall now and forever remain with the people. No man may be put upon them by force or compulsory means. When Richard M. Nixon resigned and Gerald Ford became the president, his first duty should have been to the people to have an open and immediate election for president and vice-president. The Supreme Court failed in their responsibility to act on this violations of the peoples' rights.
I am calling for an immediate and open election for president and vice-president of this nation of the people, by the people and for the people.
Sargeant also called for a flat 10% income tax on wages, drop all business and corporate tax, raise minimum wage to $10 an hour (in 1976 I was working for $1.90 an hour so 10 bucks an hour seemed huge) introduce free medical care, have states take over welfare by starting welfare work farms, and invite other nations to become a US territory simply by ratifying the US Constitution with the eventual possibility of statehood.
He described himself as a servant of the Lord and friend of labor unions. One newspaper reported "Sargeant stated he would do away with many of the federal agencies and establish state marshalls to control the country."
Sargeant picked his brother, Perry David Sargeant of Elko, Nev., as his running mate. Unlike his younger brother, Perry remained active with the LDS Church.
On April 26, 1976, Larry stated that while in Carson City he was "stripped of his Holy Priesthood garments and placed in prison garbs and thrown into a drunk tank, without being charged for a crime or allowed to post bail." He later filed suit for $200 billion dollars.
The Sargeant/Sargeant ticket was a write-in project and probably an uncertified one at that. The fact the brothers were residents of the same state would probably have caused a Constitutional crisis had they been elected.
Larry Brant Sargeant ran for President again in 1980, 1988, and 1992 (and possibly in other years) under his American Freedom Party banner, apparently without a running mate. He had already started on his second career as a vandal who attacked Mormon statuary with knives, hammers, and axes-- crimes for which he eventually did some hard time. It seems he was, according to him, performing God's will. He was also engaged in a third career of filing frequent lawsuits that many viewed as frivolous. He eventually moved to the Colville, Wash. area.
Election history: none
Other occupations: berry picker, logging business, insurance salesman, cattle ranch worker, barb-wire fence business
Buried: Burns Memorial Garden (Elko, Nev.)
Notes:
Perry was raised in Alberta, Elmerton Wash., Portland Or., and Newport Or.
Larry claimed Thomas Jefferson was his "fourth great grandfather" which if true means I am related
to Perry David Sargeant as we share an immigrant ancestor, Christopher Branch, with our 3rd
President.
Nice to finally see a fellow Spokane native on the third party Vice-Presidential roster.
