Dale Harold Learn

Dale Harold Learn, December 8, 1897 (East Swiftwater, Penn.) - March 16, 1976 (East Stroudsburg, Penn.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1948)

Running mate with nominee: Claude A. Watson (1885–1978)

Popular vote: 103,708 (0.21%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

Claude Watson was nominated again for President but not without a contest. Other names proposed were Enoch Arden Holtwick (future 1952 VP nominee and 1956 Presidential nominee), David Leigh Colvin (1920 VP nominee and 1936 Presidential nominee with Watson as his running mate) and Dale Harold Learn, a realtor from Pennsylvania. Watson won the prize and Learn was nominated as the running mate.

Watson knew how to work the media. He publicized the fact he was the first Presidential nominee to pilot his own campaign airplane. A tall tale was told that Mrs. Watson had already visited the White House in order to make redecoration plans when she assumed the role of First Lady.

The 1948 Prohibition Party platform did indeed have a few extreme statements regarding alcohol and God being the source of all government, but on many other issues it is a surprisingly centrist document given their earlier hard Right religious turn in 1940 and 1944. This time they probably had the most moderate platform in tone of the many third parties running that year.

They earned 0.21% of the national vote, landing in 6th place. As paltry as that sounds the Party would never come close to finishing with a percentage that high again. Their 103,708 popular votes marked the final instance where they surpassed 100,000.

On Election Day, the Watsons were unable to vote since their absentee ballots had been misplaced.

With recorded votes in about two dozen states, the Watson/Learn ticket had their largest percentages in Indiana (0.89%), Kansas (0.82%), Washington (0.68%) and Michigan (0.62%).

Election history:
1942 - Governor of Pennsylvania (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1946 - US Senate (Penn.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1947 - Prohibition Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: school director, realtor, lay minister for the United Methodist Church in East Stroudsburg, Penn., Trustee of East Stroudsburg State College, US Army soldier WWI.

Buried: Laurelwood Cemetery (Stroudsburg, Penn.)

Notes:
Mason
Buried in the same cemetery as Walter Burke and A. Mitchell Palmer.

Claude Alonzo Watson

Claude Alonzo Watson,  June 26, 1885 (Wexford, Mich.) – January 3, 1978 (Los Angeles, Calif.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (aka National Prohibition Party aka Commonwealth Party) (1936)

Running mate with nominee: David Leigh Colvin (1880-1959)

Popular vote: 37,646 (0.08%)

Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The 1936 Prohibition Party convention selected WWI hero Alvin York as the running mate for D. Leigh Colvin (who was himself the 1920 VP selection for the Party) but the decorated soldier declined so the delegates turned to Los Angeles attorney Claude A. Watson.

It must have been a very difficult campaign year for the Colvin/Watson ticket. It was the first presidential election since the experiment with Prohibition had ended and for the veteran Party activists it must have felt like starting all over again.

The 1936 Party platform, seething with anger, roasted the two major parties over repeal of Prohibition. It also outlined policy statements on other issues and stated: "We present a sane, liberal and comprehensive program on the great problems of our time." This would probably be the last time the word "liberal" was used in a positive way by this group. 

Other selected passages foreshadowed the future for this party:

"It is plain that the crass materialism of our dominant parties; their abandonment of moral precepts; their flouting of the majesty of the law; their double dealing; their supreme self interest must be replaced by a return to the early American principles of dependence upon Almighty God as the source of all just government and to a following of the principles of the Prince of Peace."

"Movie Censorship

  We stand for federal supervision of the creation of motion picture films at the source of production so that the public effect may be beneficial and uplifting."

"Gambling

  We are opposed to the legalization of lotteries, gambling and all other forms of exploitation of the people."

With recorded votes in 25 states, their strongest finish was in California with 0.49%.

Election history:
1938 - Attorney General of California (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1942 - Attorney General of California (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1944 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1946 - Attorney General of California (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1948 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1950 - Attorney General of California (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1952 - Los Angeles County (Calif.) District Attorney (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1954 - Republican nomination for Attorney General of California - defeated

Other occupations: minor league baseball player, attorney, Methodist minister, author

Buried: Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale, Calif.)

Notes:
Buried in the same cemetery as Forrest Ackerman, James Arness, Theda Bara, Joe Barbera, George Barris, Billy Barty, L. Frank Baum, Warner Baxter, Iceberg Slim, Wallace Beery, Joe Besser, Joan Blondell, Monte Blue, Humphrey Bogart, Gutzon Borglum, Clara Bow, William Boyd, Joe E. Brown, Vincent Bugliosi, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Francis X. Bushman, Jack Carson, William Castle, Lon Chaney, Charlie Chase, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Donald Crisp, George Cukor, Bob Cummings, Michael Curtiz, Dan Dailey, Delmer Daves, Sammy Davis Jr., William Demarest, Noah Dietrich, Walt Disney, Theodore Dreiser, Marie Dressler, Don Drysdale, W.C. Fields, Larry Fine, Errol Flynn, Dwight Frye, Clark Gable, Jerry Giesler, Samuel Goldwyn, Sydney Greenstreet, Jean Harlow, Edith Head, Edward Everett Horton, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Jones, Tom Keene, Ted Knight, Kathryn Kuhlman, Louis L'Amour, Alan Ladd, Carole Landis, Mervyn Leroy, Harold Lloyd, Carole Lombard, Ernst Lubitsch, Jeanette MacDonald, Chico Marx, Gummo Marx, Mike Mazurki, Chuck McCann, Victor McLaglen, Vincente Minnelli, Tom Mix, Clayton Moore, Hugh O'Brian, Merle Oberon, Clifford Odets, Edna May Oliver, R.F. Outcault, Lilli Palmer, Franklin Pangborn, Mary Pickford, Dick Powell, Blossom Rock, S.Z. Sakall, David O. Selznick, Aimee Semple McPherson, Norma Shearer, Red Skelton, William French Smith, Carrie Snodgress, Max Steiner, Casey Stengel, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, Robert Taylor, Irving Thalberg, Spencer Tracy, Ben Turpin, Hal B. Wallis, Mary Wells, James Whale, Bobby Womack, Sam Wood, Robert Woolsey, Hank Worden, William Wyler, Ed Wynn, Keenan Wynn, and Robert Young
The winner in the 1938 race for Attorney General of California was Earl Warren.
The winner in the 1950 race for Attorney General of California was Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.
Graduate of Alma College (Mich.)
His widow, Maude (1889-1996) lived to be 106.
Licensed pilot.
Sometimes called Dr. Claude Watson although the origin of the prefix is murky.

Jeremiah Daniel Crowley

Jeremiah Daniel Crowley, May 2, 1875 (Syracuse, NY) - September 23, 1960 (Onondaga, NY)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1928)

Running mate with nominee: Verne L. Reynolds (1884-1959)
Popular vote: 21,590 (0.06%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The SLP renominated their 1924 ticket of Frank T. Johns and Verne Reynolds. Shortly after the nomination process Johns was in Bend, Oregon giving a speech when he heard cries for help from a boy being swept away in the Deschutes River. Without hesitation Johns jumped in to save the lad but both perished. And so the SLP suddenly lost one of their most charismatic young candidates.

The SLP then elevated Reynolds to the presidential nomination and selected long-time stalwart perennial SLP candidate for New York offices Jeremiah D. Crowley as the running mate.

Purists that they were, the SLP platform for 1928 spoke in class war generalities without addressing specifics.

On Election Day the SLP finished in 5th place, following the Socialist Party of America and the Communists. It was an even more miserable finish than their 1924 results. Out of the 19 states where they appeared on the ballot their two best were Washington (0.81%) and Oregon (0.49%).

Election history:
1910 - NY State Engineer and Surveyor (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1912 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1914 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1916 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1920 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1922 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1926 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1930 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1932 - US Senate (NY) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1934 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1938 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Industrial Government) - defeated

Other occupations: electric utility company employee, stonemason

Buried: Saint Agnes Cemetery (Syracuse, NY)

Notes:
The winner of his 1922 and 1926 runs for NY Governor was Al Smith.
One of his opponents in the 1926 run for NY Governor was 1928 Workers (Communist) Party VP
 nominee Benjamin Gitlow.
The winner of his 1930 run for NY Governor was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
One of his opponents in the 1932 US Senate race was 1920 Prohibition Party VP nominee David
 Leigh Colvin.
Lived in Marcellus, NY in 1928.
Lived in Onondaga, NY in 1940.
All of his grandparents were Irish immigrants.

David Leigh Colvin

David Leigh Colvin, January 28, 1880 (South Charleston, Ohio) – September 7, 1959 (Bronxville, NY)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1920)

Running mate with nominee: Aaron S. Watkins (1863-1941)
Popular vote: 188,787 (0.71%)     
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for. After decades of effort, the Prohibition Party at last saw passage of the 18th Amendment and Prohibition becoming the law of the land.

Now what?

Their 1920 platform summarizes the purpose of their existence in a nutshell: "The issue is not only the Enforcement but also the Maintenance of the law to make the Amendment effective."

The platform took a stand on several other issues of the day, including: support for the League of Nations, increasing the role of women in government, creation of a Dept. of Education, and implementation of sex education in schools.

Presidential candidate Watkins offered to drop out of the race if Cox or Harding made a pledge not to weaken or repeal the Volstead Act. But response had he none. This backfired to some degree as the Prohibition Party found itself late in the campaign having to deny rumors that Watkins had indeed stepped down.

Ballot access by third parties was starting to become a problem as laws were changing to institutionalize the two-party system. The Prohibition Party, being the oldest of the third parties, makes a good case study for this. In 1920 their votes were recorded in only 26 states.

Their best three states were Florida (3.52%), California (2.67%), and Pennsylvania (2.30%). The Watkins/Colvin national result of 0.71% was the worst tally the Party had since 1880, and in all subsequent elections their final vote would never top 0.21%.

Election history:
1913 - New York State Assembly (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1914 - New York House of Representatives (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1916 - US Senate (NY) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1917 - Mayor of New York City (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1922 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1932 - US Senate (NY) (Law Preservation Party) - defeated
1936 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1947 - Prohibition Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: Army Captain WWI, speaker with Flying Squadron Foundation, Chairman of the Prohibition National Committee 1926-1932, author

Buried: Summit Lawn Cemetery (Westfield, Ind.)

Notes:
One of his opponents in the 1916 US Senate race was Socialist Labor candidate August Gillhaus,
 who he would later compete with for US Vice-President in 1920.
Earned a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1913.
His wife Mamie White Colvin also ran for various offices as a Prohibition Party candidate and was
 President of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 1944-1953. They were considered something
 of a fervent power couple in the prohibition movement.
Methodist.
Unknown if he was related to Industrial Reform Party 1888 VP nominee John A. Colvin (1841-1900)
 who was also from the same region of Ohio.