Richard Arnold Grayson, June 4, 1951 (New York, NY) -
VP candidate for any political party (1980)
Running mate with nominee: Fred Silverman (1937-2020)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
The 1980 Presidential election year must have been extra interesting for NBC. Part of their talent, David Brinkley, was nominated for VP by James Zalmer Hardy for his Correction, Punishment and Remedy Ticket and the CEO of the network itself, Fred Silverman had his name filed with the FEC for President by Richard Grayson and Jerry Weinberger. As you might recall this duo was also behind the Nixon/Agnew 1980 Nostalgia Party ticket. 1980 appears to have been Grayson's debut year in what would be a long career in sometimes using elections as a venue for political satire, usually as a write-in candidate.
The Silverman for President with Grayson as the running mate campaign was announced in Sept. 1979. The platform included intriguing issues such as banning religious bookstores and returning royalty to America.
Some select quotes from "The Committee to Draft Fred Silverman":
I selected Fred as my running mate because I figure being a TV executive is good training to be president. After all, under President Fred, if one of his programs doesn't work out, he can cancel it after three weeks.
We need a prime-time president. All we've got now is the equivalent of a summer rerun or an early morning sermonette.
If Fred and I get in, we're going to do something about fuel allocations right away. We'll have Ed McMahon host a television special. We'll call it "Bowling for Gallons." I think it's as fair a way as any to distribute gasoline.
Grayson on choice of political party: Jimmy, Jerry, Teddy, they're all the same to me.
NBC sent Grayson a huffy letter stating, "Mr. Silverman is not a candidate for the Presidency or any other office" with the legal threat that the jokester's "unauthorized, possibly illegal, and self-serving activities" could land him in court. "I'd love it," Grayson responded.
Around the same time Grayson was attempting to draft Gloria Vanderbilt into a race for the US Senate under the banner of the Right to Be the Life of the Party Party. Vanderbilt's attorney said the effort was "unauthorized and unappreciated."
Some people.
Also in 1980 Grayson registered the Ayatollah for Congress Committee with the FEC, running the Ayatollah Khomeini as a Democrat running for US Congress out of Brooklyn as a way to diminish his threat to US security, "Then he would be as ineffective as any other congressman."
Aside from Silverman's refusal to accept the nomination there were other problems with this ticket. Grayson was only 29 in 1980, far short of the Constitutionally mandated age of 35 to be VP. Also, with Grayson's parallel effort to get Nixon and Agnew back in the White House, he created his own competition. So far as we know, neither one of them threatened legal action so maybe they had more of a sense of humor than we give them credit for.
In 1984 Grayson reflected on Silverman, "He threatened to sue. But he would have been great. I wanted someone in show business because politics is basically entertainment. I bet he's sorry now that he's fired. The presidency is a sure four years ... I wasn't too far off, though. We've got someone in show business anyway."
Apparently in this election Grayson ended up supporting Rep. John Anderson's third party bid.
Grayson's name will show up in profiles of other third party VPs as I continue this project.
Election history:
1982 - Davie Town Council (Fla.) (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1982 - US Senate (Fla.) (Republican) - primary - defeated
1984 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
1984 - US President (Citizens Running for Election as President Party) - defeated
1986 - Florida State Commissioner of Education (Democrat) - primary - defeated
1988 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
1994 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Democratic) - defeated
1996 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2000 - US Senate (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2004 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2006 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2008 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2008 - US House of Representatives (Ariz. CD4) (Republican) - primary - defeated
2008 - US House of Representatives (Ariz. CD6) (Democratic) - primary - defeated or withdrew
2010 - US House of Representatives (Ariz.) (Green Party) - defeated
2012 - Green Party nomination for US President - defeated
2012 - US House of Representatives (Ariz.) (Green Party) - primary - defeated
2012 - US House of Representatives (Ariz.) (Americans Elect) - defeated
2014 - US House of Representatives (Wyo.) (Democratic) - defeated
2016 - US House of Representatives (Wyo.) (Democratic) - withdrew
2018 - Arizona House of Representatives (Green) - defeated
Other occupations: author, teacher, satirist
Notes:
Winner of the 2000 race was Bill Nelson
Winner of the 2010 race was Jeff Flake
Supported McGovern in 1972 and McCarthy in 1976
In 1989 Grayson identified my late friend Crad Kilodney as "Canada's funniest fiction writer." For
that viewpoint alone Grayson would get my vote. I interviewed Kilodney (his pen name) in the early
1990s for City Limits Gazette as his street-vending case went to the Canadian Supreme Court.
Attempting to document Grayson's kinetic runs for offices is quite challenging, which I'm sure must
delight Mr. Grayson! I'll keep retooling the list as I learn.
