Grace Wagner Pierce, May 9, 1926 (Coatsville, Penn.) - October 5, 2008 (Dover, Del.)
VP candidate for National Unity Party of Kentucky (1984)
Running mate with nominee: John Bayard Anderson (1922-2017)
Popular vote: 1486 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Attempting to build upon his significant independent run for President in 1980, John B. Anderson formalized the name National Unity Party in Dec. 1983 and sought to forge a mainstream alternative to the American political party duopoly. In Apr. 1984 he announced he would run for President only if his party could register enough voters in ten states. But the momentum and money wasn't there. Some pundits felt the rise of Democratic Sen. Gary Hart in the primaries preempted potential political foot soldiers who otherwise would have been drawn to the National Unity Party.
Before Anderson dropped the idea of running for President in 1984 his supporters had managed to find him a place on the Kentucky ballot, where his name remained during the election although there was no campaign.
His running mate was National Unity Party Vice-Chair Grace W. "Bubbles" Pierce of Dover, Del. Pierce had served on Anderson's campaign in 1980 as an environmental advisor. It isn't clear if Pierce was originally entered as a "stand-in" VP while Anderson would search for someone who was more of a national name or not, but early in his campaign some commenters guessed he would select a woman as his running mate. Later in the year the Democratic ticket included Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the first time one of the major parties ever had a female running mate. By my count the third parties all across the political spectrum had already selected women VPs about 50 times between 1884 and 1980, so the mainstream parties were a little slow.
Anderson said in Aug. 1984 that if he was running which he wasn't but if he was he would call for a 25% cut in the defense budget, develop solar and photovoltaic energy, place a $10-per-barrel import tax on oil, and promote disarmament. He eventually endorsed Mondale. His 1980 VP nominee Patrick Lucey acted as the go-between to negotiate the endorsement.
For her part Pierce did not campaign either. She spent the 1984 election season (and the rest of her life) as a tireless and effective environmental activist working to save Delaware's coastal ecology.
In Kentucky the Anderson/Pierce ticket, without campaigning and officially out of the race, placed 5th out of 9 with 1479 votes (0.11%). They also picked up a few write-in votes in other states.
By the 1988 election the National Unity Party had evaporated.
Election history:
1972 - Delaware State Senate (Republican) - primary - defeated
1974 - Delaware House of Representatives (Republican) - defeated
198- - Slaughter Beach (Del.) Town Council.
Other occupations: DuPont employee, pharmacy co-manager, President of the Junior Board of Kent General Hospital, President-board member-lobbyist for the Delaware Audubon Society, President of the Delaware Federation of Republican Women, delegate at the 1968 Republican convention, Vice-Chair of the National Unity Party
Buried: Lakeside Cemetery (Dover, Del.)
Notes:
Later in life was known as Grace W. Pierce-Beck.
Her motto was "Not blind opposition to progress but opposition to blind progress."
Episcopalian
Originally wanted to be a dancer or choreographer.
