Marjorie Reilly Smith

 

Marjorie Reilly Smith, April 17, 1943 (Washington, D.C.) -

VP candidate for Independent (aka Independent Republican) (2012)

Running mate with nominee: Randall Allen Terry (b. 1959)
Popular vote: 9,284 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Randall Terry was well known by 2012 as an anti-abortion activist who had been arrested scores of times in acts of civil disobedience. He also opposed all forms of birth control aside from abstinence, as well as working against the right-to-die concept (e.g. Terri Schavio). Prior to 2012 he had run for US Congress and the Florida Senate first as a member of the Right to Life Party and then a Republican. He announced his Presidential run in Jan. 2011.

RationalWiki has gathered some of Terry's earlier quotations to help set the stage--

"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called on by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism."
—The News Sentinel, (Fort Wayne, Indiana), August 16, 1993.

"What this is coming down to is who runs the country. It's us against them. It's the good guys versus the bad guys. It's the God-fearing people against the pagans, and some of the pagans are going to church."
—Speech in Jackson, Mississippi, April 1992

"The next step, if at all humanly possible (and in 90% of the cases it is), it is to get our children out of the humanistic, brainwashing institution called public education. Frankly, it is a mixture of insanity and irresponsibility to turn our children over to our adversaries and their curriculum in a God-less education system (i.e., a system that teaches history and science without God)."
—Why Does a Nice Guy Like Me Keep Getting Thrown in Jail? (1993)

"America is under the judgment of God. And if we are ever going to rebuild this country, it must be under God's law. Our goal must be simple: We must have a Christian nation built on God's law, on the Ten Commandments. No apologies."
—Speech to "Cities of Refuge" campaign, Willoughby Hills, Ohio, July, 1993.

In 2012 he ran in the Democratic primaries for President, telling one reporter, "I want to pummel Obama. I despise this presidency. He is the arch child killer of the Western Hemisphere, so I'm going to go head-to-head with him." After basically being shown the door by the Democrats, he continued to run as an Independent. He was simultaneously running for a Florida position in US Congress as an Independent at the same time, which was interesting since he was a resident of West Virginia.

His campaign gained national attention for two events. First, he attempted (and failed) to show gruesome photos of aborted fetuses on his televised ads during the Superbowl but apparently was successful in other venues. Second, during a debate in Dec. 2011, Vermin Supreme glitterbombed Terry.

Critics pointed out that Terry's personal life was contrary to and hypocritical with his Christian family values rhetoric. Shortly after the election he was inducted into the Encyclopedia of American Loons.

Terry did not speak kindly about his major party opponents. On Obama: "He's a hybrid of a Marxist, a socialist, and a fascist." On Romney: "Obama with white skin ... He caved in to his state supreme court to give homosexual marriage. His policies are socialistic and fascist. Fascism being the wedding of big government and big business."

Terry's positions included--

-Making abortion illegal.
-Oppose corporate bailouts.
-Global warming is hoax.
-Build a wall to keep Mexicans out.
-Anti-Islam to the point of destroying the Quran in front of the White House in public protest.
-In favor of withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
-"The solution for the health needs of the poor rests with the Church."
-Cut the defense budget.
-Support the death penalty, "There are some people who I would offer to pull the switch. (I also believe that executions should be public, and that young men who are in trouble with the law should be required to view the execution.)"
-"Same sex marriage" is an affront to God and man. It violates Natural Law, and well as the Laws of God. Beyond that, it seeks to legitimize a sinful, self-destructive lifestyle. We cannot legitimize nor normalize that which is against the Laws of Heaven and Nature, and a behavior that is self-destructive."
-Pro gun culture.
-"We have plenty of regulations to protect our water and our air. The current 'green movement' is often driven by those who are anti-human (Malthusian) or anti-American (communists and socialists.)"
-Increase domestic oil drilling.
-Repeal the Patriot Act.
-Expand nuclear energy.
-"I think everyone who loves freedom should drive a great big, safe, SUV...and everyone who wants us to be slaves to the socialist state should drive an itty-bitty Hyundai."
-"I cannot say enough, nor say it strongly enough. Social Security is a scam. It is immoral; it is theft and compulsion driven, generational transfer of wealth. It is a Ponzi scheme. And it needs to be ended."
-"End the federal income tax now. The government has NO RIGHT to know what we make. Moreover, the graduated income tax is Marxist...straight out of the Communist Manifesto. Get rid of the income tax, and replace it with a federal income taxon ALL retail purchases."

Terry had two running-mates: In Colorado, Kentucky, and Nebraska she was Marjorie "Missy" Reilly Smith, and in Ohio she was Cathy Lewis. No VP was listed for Indiana or West Virginia. He was listed on the ballot in Kentucky, Nebraska, and West Virginia. He was a registered write-in in Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio.

Smith, an ardent anti-abortion activist who called the Democrats "the party of death," had run for the position of District of Columbia Delegate in 2010 as a Republican with Terry's support and advice. Some accounts say he was her campaign manager and the 2010 race was a trial run for the national 2012 contest. Her graphic television ads did get her a lot of attention, but not the elected position. She appeared to be the official VP while Lewis was a stand-in.

During the announcement of Smith's selection in late May, 2012, Terry said--

Missy Smith is articulate, unflinching, and beautiful. Her heartrending honesty about killing two of her own children makes her doubly formidable -- a true threat to the child killers and pandering politicians.

I know that her witness for the babies as a vice presidential candidate will reach millions of Americans, and hopefully be instrumental in causing Obama to lose several swing states. I thank her with all my heart for joining me in this campaign. If we are successful in our mission, Missy will go down in history as an American Joan of Arc.

Smith added--

It is a great honor and privilege to accept the invitation of Randall Terry to be his Vice Presidential running mate in the general election. In my opinion, Randall is the greatest 'Warrior for Life' in American history, and a brilliant media strategist.

I killed two of my babies by abortion, and I know the private hell that millions of women live in day after day because of their 'safe legal abortion.' Abortion is murder, and I will do everything in my power to make it illegal.

No other person in our nation's history has done more to cause the killing of children as well as attack the Church and exploit women than Obama. The goal of our campaign is to cause a crisis of conscience in Catholic and Evangelical voters by showing pictures of babies slaughtered by abortion so that they refuse to vote for Obama.  I know we can achieve this goal by using graphic pictures in our television ads in certain swing states, and hopefully cause Obama's defeat.

Nationally Terry finished in 9th place with 13,108 (0.01%) popular votes. The Terry/Missy Smith ticket finished with 4 write-in votes in Colorado, 4th place in Kentucky (0.38%), and 4th place out of 4 in Nebraska (0.30%).

Election history:
2010 - District of Columbia Delegate (Republican) - defeated

Other occupations: real estate, author, editor, publisher, public speaker, founder of WAKEUP (Women Against the Killing and Exploitation of Unprotected Persons), radio talk show host

Notes:
Supported Trump in 2016 and 2020.

Dorne Harold Smith

 

Dorne Harold Smith, April 15, 1955 (Dexter, Me.) - January 9, 2014 (Newport, Me.)

VP candidate for Independent (aka Independent Democrat) (2012)
 
Running-mate with nominee: Keith Russell Judd (b. 1958)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Keith Russell Judd, a prison inmate in Texas who had been trying to move from the Big House to the White House since 1996, made yet another Presidential run for 2012. He filed as a Democrat with the FEC in Oct. 2012 and quickly amended it to "Democrat and/or Independent."

Judd made national news in 2012 when he placed second in the West Virginia Democratic primary with 41% to Obama's 59%, actually placing first in 10 counties.

It was never spelled out exactly how Judd and his running-mate Dorne Smith of Newport, Me. knew each other, although Smith appeared to have had more than one brush with the law.

The Judd/Smith ticket were registered write-in candidates in Idaho and Kentucky for the general election, and received a reported total of zero votes. In the event of their victory Smith would have died in office.

Election history: none

Other occupations: US Air Force (Vietnam War), wine and beer making supply business, textile worker, staffing service

Buried: Riverside Cemetery (Newport, Me.)

Notes:
Member of Barrows-Skidgel Post American Legion.

Wesley Kanne Clark Sr.

 

 

Wesley Kanne Clark Sr., December 23, 1944 (Chicago, Ill.) -

VP candidate for Proletarian Jeffersonian Party (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Mark Shane Robinson

Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Mark Shane Robinson, who apparently lived in the American Inn of Hemet, Calif., filed for President with the FEC on Oct. 20, 2007 with the Committee to Elect Mark Shane Robinson and General Clark. The address was given as "General Delivery, Hemet, CA" and the Committee's email address was that of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, a webpage for roller coaster fans.

Also on the form the campaign treasurer and keeper of records was given as the ACLU. Robinson's Proletarian Jeffersonian Party seemed to be described as "Bull Moose Party, Theodore Roosevelt," and the other candidate on the ticket is named as "General Westley Clark."

General Wesley Clark had made a run for President in the Democratic primaries in 2004 and had actually won the Oklahoma contest. He was considered a potential contender for the 2008 nomination but on Sept. 15, 2007 he endorsed Hillary Clinton. After Sen. Clinton dropped out he endorsed Barack Obama. Some felt he was angling for a VP spot in the event Clinton had won the nomination, but instead he landed as the running-mate for Mark Shane Robinson. One wonders if General Clark even knew about it.

Around this same time Clark's memoir, A Time to Lead: For Duty, Honor and Country, was published and made headlines due to some narratives involving the US military involvement in the Mideast and critical contentions regarding the policies of the George W. Bush administration.

The Robinson/Clark ticket failed to materialize on any state ballots or as registered write-ins.

Election history:
2004 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: US Army general, lecturer, author, investment firm, board of directors Atlantic Council, reality television host

Notes:
West Point graduate, Rhodes Scholar, wounded in Vietnam.

Monty Wayne Judd

 

Below, Keith Judd in the center, 1989

Monty Wayne Judd, October 15, 1960 (Albuquerque, NM) -

VP candidate for Nonpartisan (aka Green Party of the United States aka Independent Democrat) (2008)

Running mate with nominee: Keith Russell Judd (b. 1958)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Keith Judd, called a gifted musician by some, was not so gifted as a criminal as evidenced by his court records and convictions. By 2008 he had become a perennial candidate having run for President since 1996.

In 1999 he was sentenced to over 17 years for extortion via mail and in 2008 was a prison inmate in Beaumont, Tex.  Early in the year Judd actually made the ballot for the Democratic Party primary in Idaho. "We got conned," admitted Idaho Sec. of State Ben Ysura. With no petition signatures required, Judd was able to pay the $1000 fee. Two of the phone numbers on his filing form turned out to be a newspaper in Beaumont, and the IRS helpline. On the Voice for Inmates website, Judd declared: I AM ON THE MAY 27, 2008 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTION
in IDAHO, ALL CONVICTED FELONS CAN VOTE!!

Judd continued his quest for the White House with his younger brother Monty, of Albuquerque, NM, as his running-mate. Other brother Presidential tickets in the past include Larry Brant Sargeant/Perry David Sargeant - American Freedom Party (1976), and Lowell Jackson Fellure/James Monroe Fellure - Independent (2000).

He filed with the FEC in Feb. 2005 as a "Non-Party candidate", refiled in Aug. 2007 as a Democrat, and refiled yet again in Feb. 2008 under the Green Party.

Judd's entries into the Votesmart database are intriguing, and gave journalists the opportunity to fact check his claims, some of which were rather dubious. Here are some of the entries I found most interesting--

Full Name:
Keith 'Mtr. President, Dark Priest, W.D., Rusy...' Russell Judd

Religion:
Rastafarian-Christian

Education
University of California
Attended, Political Science, John F. Kennedy School of Politics, Harvard University, 1998
Attended, Business/Music/Dance/Speech Communications, University of New Mexico, 1992, Grade Point Average of 3.4
University of California Los Angeles, 1972-1978
Attended, Bethany Nazarene College, Oklahoma, 1976

Professional Experience
Agent/Individual Contractor, New York Society of Reproductive Medicine
Band Leader, United States Air Force
Educator, Piano/Music, FCC Low, Education/Recreation Department, Beaumont, Texas, 2006-2007
Sound Engineer, Conavan East Nite Club, 1985-1998
Recording Musician/Writer/Producer, Nadine's Music, Hollywood, California, 1968-1998
Bass Player, Norman Frasier Band, 1995
Sales, Grandma's Music & Sound, 1984-1989
Recording Consultant/Research and Development, Nadine's Music, 1982-1983
Quality Assurance, Inspector, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group, 1978-1982

Religious, Civic, and other Memberships
Activist, Lamesa Neighborhood Association, 1972-present
Activist, Trumble Neighborhood Association, 1972-present
Organizer, Homeless Peoples Voting Rights Association, National, 1968-present
Founder, World Peace Through Musical Communications Skills, 1963-present
Member, American Civil Liberties Union, 1992-2007
Member, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, 1999-2007
Member, National Rifle Association, 1972-2007
Volunteer/Honorary Member, Albuquerque Police Officer's Association, 1997-1998
Member, Musicians-Entertainment Union Los Angeles, 1982-1998
Founder, Rehabilitation of Homeless Association, 1997-1998
Promoter, Musicians Union, 1982-1983
Member, Federation of Super Heroes, 1976-1982
Member, Machinist Union, 1980-1982
Bass Player, Albuquerque Youth Symphony, 1970-1976

Favorite President and Why:
Richard Nixon: He got us out of Vietnam, and began world peace with China and the Soviets

Hobbies or Special Talents:
I Bowled a Sanctioned 300 Perfect Game, and Tournaments. ESP, Telling the Future

Name one thing you would most like to do before you die:
I would like to record another album and go on tour

Personal Hero and Why:
My father, Homer T. Judd. He designed the first Atomic Bomb and worked for the Atomic Energy Commissions 30 years

Person Most Want to Meet (Dead or Alive):
Mozart. He was cool

Priority Issues:
Judicial Accountability Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Accountability Commission. U.S. Treasury Accountability Commission; Federal Reserve Bank System Accountability Commission. Reinvent the Public School System with ties to Industries, Community Job-Placement and Higher Education

Judd was a registered write-in, mostly with Monty as VP, in at least eight states: Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Washington, and West Virginia. Since some states basically ignored reporting write-ins, it is difficult to guess how many votes they received. In Minnesota, Montana, and Utah Judd identified himself as a member of the Green Party. In Washington Judd was a write-in candidate as a Democrat.

We will be revisiting Keith Judd later in the 2012 campaign when he made national news.

Election history: none

Other occupations: sound and light man for Revolver (Keith Judd's rock band)

Notes:
Custom car enthusiast.

Phillip John Donahue

 Above: Donahue with various past, present, future Presidents. Below, Paulsen in 1988

Phillip John Donahue, December 21, 1935 (Cleveland, Ohio) -

VP candidate for Straight Talking American Government Party (aka STAG Party aka Independent) (1988)

Running mate with nominee: Pat Paulsen (1927-1997)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

With a campaign slogan of "Pat Paulsen for President. He's running again?" the comedian and perennial candidate started off the season by running in the Democratic primaries. In previous elections he began his campaigns by running in the Republican primaries. In all cases he eventually ran as an independent sometimes as part of the supposed Straight Talking American Government Party (aka STAG Party). Although the entire electioneering was a publicity stunt and a political sideshow people had come to expect and enjoy, there were times when he seriously addressed some issues.

Still, it is his comedy we remember--

On why he is running: "I'm often asked why am I traveling around the country talking politics. Is it for humanitarian reasons, community spirit, or is for for the money, the limousines, and the girls? The answers are no, no, yes, yes, yes. Why should I be any different?"

On entering the Iowa caucus as a Democrat: "I want to do it. I want to come into Iowa. I think the other Democrats here will be every bit as funny as I am."

On dealing with the deficit: "I'll turn it into a government program and then eliminate the program."

On leadership: "I figure I can be a leader if I can find a group of desperately lost people."

On the Strategic Defense Initiative, aka "Star Wars": "I don't care what Johnny (Carson) or Joan (Rivers) are doing."

On the future: "I think I can say without qualification that the future lies ahead."

On the GNP: "I feel privileged to live in a land where even the national product is gross."

On whether or not he had Secret Service protection: "That's a secret."

Although he said he had no VP when he originally announced his 1988 run, there was a quip he frequently made later in the campaign: "Pat Robertson may run, and he has God as his running mate. I'm pretty close; I've got Phil Donahue." That isn't much to go on, but I'm going to use it.

Televangelist Robertson was running in the Republican primaries that year. Phil Donahue was, at the time, one of the pioneers in hosting daytime TV shows asking tough confrontational questions about controversial issues. Paulsen's joke was playing off the public perception of liberal morality exhibited by Donahue. Donahue's show blazed a trail and created an entire genre that would inspire many others to follow, not the least of which would be Oprah Winfrey who by 1988 had already been in the air for a couple years.

If Donahue had a response to Paulsen's assigning him the role of running mate I have yet to find it.

Election history: none

Other occupations: radio and television interviewer, syndicated talk show host,

Notes:
Erma Bombeck lived across the street during his childhood.
Has 20 Emmy Awards.
Married to Marlo Thomas.
Endorsed the Ralph Nader Green Party campaign in 2000.

Billy Marvin Davis

Billy Marvin Davis, April 22, 1938 (Bay Springs, Miss.) - July 16, 2018 (Aldie, Va.)

VP candidate for Independent (aka Independent Democrat aka Hawaiians for LaRouche aka Independents for LaRouche aka Independent Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Lyndon LaRouche (1922–2019)
Popular vote: 78,809 (0.09%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Having attempted to gain the Presidency in 1980 and 1984 via the Democratic Party primaries, Lyndon LaRouche was back as an independent in the 1984 general election. As you might recall he ran for President in 1976 under the banner of the U.S. Labor Party.

His running mate for 1984 was Billy M. Davis, an attorney who was more of a true farmer at heart. Davis had been part of the American Agricultural Movement and had run for Governor of Mississippi as a LaRouche Democrat in the 1983 primary. Davis called himself a "mainline Democrat." During the 1984 Democratic primaries Davis was touted as LaRouche's future Secretary of Agriculture.

LaRouche had recently married, moved to Virginia, and lived in an armed fortress complete with camouflaged armed guards since he claimed he had many enemies out to assassinate him.

LaRouche supported the Reagan administration's Strategic Defense Initiative (aka "Star Wars") and proposed expanding use of lasers (they called it "beam technology") for wartime use. Now solidly and openly shifted to the Right wing to the point of being called fascist by critics, LaRouche had become an ardent anti-Communist and accused Walter Mondale of being a Soviet agent. President Reagan was considered a good man who was being given bad information by the "palace guard." LaRouche also proposed high tariffs, more nuclear power plants, and identified himself as anti-abortion.

Both LaRouche and Davis gave urgent warnings concerning the just-around-the-corner collapse of the world monetary system, the final stages of the decimation of U.S. agriculture, war with the Soviet Union and Nicaragua, and the downfall of Western civilization in general. In early September Davis predicted the Soviets would invade and take over West Germany between October 1st through 14th, 1984. Their public statements brought to mind a doomsday cult, but as the decades went on the End Time dates kept moving farther into the future but seldom beyond three years. Those who opposed LaRouche were deemed insane, drug dealers, homosexuals, or Soviet agents. Hence, I suppose, the extreme security at his estate.

VP Davis was quite active in electioneering. He echoed some of LaRouche's conspiracy theories. For example, Davis claimed one reason President Reagan performed so badly in his televised debate with Mondale was due to White House Chief of Staff James Baker deliberately misleading Reagan so that he would "come off as bumbling." Also, the hand of Kissinger was behind everything. Davis told the media, "Mondale is owned by Kissinger, and Reagan is controlled by Kissinger. So you've got a Kissinger and a Kissinger. What kind of a choice is that?" Before the 1984 election LaRouche's anti-Semitism was more apparent, but during this campaign "Kissinger" became sort of a wink-wink code as his organization soft-pedaled this bigoted aspect of their philosophy.

At one point in the campaign NBC TV First Camera broadcasted an unflattering report on LaRouche describing how he ran his organization like a cult and would likely be arrested on some kind of fraud (which in fact happened before the 1988 election). He apparently had made statements about assassinating President Carter. One ADL critic called him "a small time Hitler." LaRouche sued for defamation but to no avail.

LaRouche purchased half hour chunks of television air time to present his case, a remarkable and expensive feat for any third party. You can find some of these today on Youtube and hear his complex assertions from the man himself if you are interested. This would save me the trouble of trying to repeat it here and pretend to make sense out of his complicated conspiracy theories.

On the ballot in just under 20 states and DC, the LaRouche/Davis ticket placed third in Iowa, North Dakota, Texas, and Virginia (the last state by default, there were no other third parties on the ballot). The highest percentages came from: Virginia 0.62%, Iowa 0.47%, North Dakota 0.41%, Colorado 0.36%, Texas 0.27%, Washington 0.25%, Ohio 0.24%, Arkansas and Louisiana 0.21% each.

On a forum for recovering LaRouche followers, one person made the following contribution in 2018: "In the 1980s, we recruited a real nice guy named Billy Davis from the farm movement. My understanding is that we tore his family apart as investments and retirement funds were liquidated for us. He was our VP candidate and was at one time a big deal in our Leesburg Va operation. Eventually, he lost everything and instead of a nice retirement, had to go to work to just eat and live."

Election history:
1983 - Governor of Mississippi (Democratic) - primary - defeated

Other occupations: US Marine Corps, farmer, attorney, junior high school history teacher, beekeeper

Buried: ?

Notes:
Davis' obituary has no mention of his 1984 VP run.

Curtis Emerson LeMay

Curtis Emerson LeMay, November 15, 1906 (Columbus, Ohio) – October 1, 1990 (March Air Force Base, Calif.)

VP candidate for American Independent Party (aka Democratic Party aka American Party) (1968)

Running mate with nominee: George C. Wallace (1919-1998)
Popular vote: 1,312,917 (1.80%) 
Electoral vote: 21/538 (Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina)

The campaign:

The American Independent Party was created in Bakersfield, Calif. in 1967 as a Presidential vehicle for George Wallace, the former Democratic Governor of Alabama who was a segregationist in the Right-wing populist tradition. As the campaign became national Wallace's plan was to drive the election into the US House where his forces could negotiate with one of the major parties for policy concessions.

The AIP managed to co-opt most of the extremist Right-wing political parties and continue the process started by Barry Goldwater in the previous election of delivering conservative Democratic Party voters of the Southern States into the ranks of the Republican Party-- a process that would be complete by the next election in 1972.

Wallace's campaign managed to place his name on the ballot in all 50 states. The Party was filed under a variety of names but they all traced back to the same organization. In order to qualify for some of the Byzantine requirements frequently encountered by third parties (and designed to discourage them), Wallace had to name a running mate before he was ready. So as a stand-in VP he chose another former Democratic Governor who was a segregationist, S. Marvin Griffin of Georgia.

It had been almost a decade since Griffin had held an elected office, but he had hoped to be on the ticket permanently. The Wallace people felt that Griffin was basically the Georgia version of Wallace and they wanted someone who would broaden the ticket and appeal to more mainstream voters. When Gen. Curtis LeMay was announced as the real-life VP nominee in early Oct. 1968, Griffin was disappointed.

LeMay was reluctant to accept the offer to be the VP nominee for the AIP. He was not a segregationist and in fact supported the integration of the Armed Forces. He was a liberal on the subject of abortion and pro-birth control. But for reasons that reveal how politically naive he was about civilians selecting and perceiving their leaders, the General agreed to join Wallace and has since forever been branded, perhaps unfairly, as a racist.

The one area where Wallace and LeMay really saw eye to eye was their hawkish view of American foreign policy. LeMay was noted for his enthusiasm regarding the use of heavy bombing. He was also not as shy about the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons if the occasion presented itself. History has painted LeMay as one of the military hotheads in the room with JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, in 1945 LeMay personally felt using the atomic bombs was a mistake, preferring conventional bombing.

On October 4, 1968 the Wallace campaign can mark the moment they began to slip in the polls and probably lost a couple states they otherwise would have taken. That was the day Gen. Curtis LeMay and ex-Gov. George Wallace held their first joint press conference. If LeMay had been sent as a plant to screw up Wallace's chances he could not have done a better job. The General volunteered that he felt people had too much of a "phobia" regarding nuclear bombs and supplied the press and both of the major political parties with this gem: "If I have to go to war and get killed in the conflict in Vietnam with a rusty knife, or get killed with a nuclear weapon, if I had the choice, I'd get killed with the nuclear weapon."

At least twice during the press conference Wallace had to step in and "reinterpret" LeMay's words. But the worms were out of the can. The voters began to question Wallace's decision-making abilities, the professional credibility of the AIP, and were frankly frightened of the running mate. Humphrey called the AIP ticket "the Bombsey Twins."

Wallace at this point had probably wished he had stuck with Griffin. LeMay's role in his brief one-month stint as the VP nominee was quite limited but had an impact. I remember all of this quite well and was struck by how even some of the pro-Wallace people around me were making fun of their ticket. They would imitate Wallace and say, "What the General is really trying to say is ..." Gen. LeMay turned out to be one of the biggest drags on any ticket in the history of third party Vice-Presidential candidates.

Because of the lateness in naming LeMay, it was Griffin's name that appeared with Wallace on the ballot in 44 states. Although the Electors were said to be pledged to LeMay, most of the AIP voters selected a ticket that read George Wallace-Marvin Griffin.

LeMay's name appeared only on the ballots in Hawaii, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Utah. In 1968 Arizona did not list running mates, so he was in their equation by default.

The 1968 Alabama ballot was especially confusing. The Presidential candidates were not listed, only the parties and their Electors. Unlike the rest of the country, Wallace was running for President as a regular Democrat in Alabama. Humphrey's people had to cook up their own alternative names for the major party, which they did under two different entities: the Alabama Independent Democratic Party, and the National Democratic Party of Alabama. And just to make it murkier there was also listed the American Independent Party of Alabama which was supposedly pledged to Wallace but not part of the national campaign.

Of the 9,901,118 votes cast for Wallace, 1,312,917 of those were on the ballot where LeMay's name appeared or was considered there by default (Alabama, Arizona). Wallace won 13.53% of the national total, and 1.8% of that was with LeMay. 21 of Wallace's 46 Electoral votes were with LeMay.

One of the Wallace/LeMay Electoral votes came from a Nixon-pledged faithless Elector in North Carolina.

1968 would be the last year to date where a third party would win the popular vote of any state. Ross Perot in 1992 would be the only third party candidate to outpoll Wallace (Perot's 18.91% to Wallace's 13.53%) but the later effort failed to win any states as it did not have the regional concentration of the AIP.

Interestingly, Perot's ticket in 1992 also had a non-politician military figure as a VP nominee, Admiral James Bond Stockdale, who like LeMay was widely viewed as a liability on the ticket.

Election history: none

Other occupations: General in the US Air Force, US Air Force Chief of Staff,

Buried: United States Air Force Academy Cemetery (Colorado Springs, Colo.)

Notes:
Promoted the use of judo in US military training.
Sports car racing enthusiast.
I know a fellow who was a solider and once was lined up for inspection by Gen. LeMay. My friend's
 dogtag listed his religion as "Deist." LeMay looked at the tag and said, "Deist? Where's your
 headquarters." "You're standing on it, Sir!" was the response. LeMay looked puzzled, went to the
 next soldier, looked at that dogtag and read out loud while glancing back at my friend, "Catholic.
 Now that's one I can understand."
"I think at Wright-Patterson, if you could get into certain places, you'd find out what the Air Force
 and the government does know about UFOs. Reportedly, a spaceship landed. It was all hushed up. I
 called Curtis LeMay and I said, 'General, I know we have a room at Wright-Patterson where you put
 all this secret stuff. Could I go in there?' I’ve never heard General LeMay get mad, but he got
 madder than hell at me, cussed me out, and said, 'Don’t ever ask me that question again!'"--Barry
 Goldwater 1994

Thomas Edward Watson

Thomas Edward Watson, September 5, 1856 (Thomson, Ga.)– September 26, 1922 (Washington, DC)

VP candidate for People's Party (1896)

Running mate with nominee: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1935)
Popular vote: 222,583 (1.6%)            
Electoral vote: 27/447

The campaign:

With the nomination of William Jennings Bryan the Democratic Party had managed to co-opt many issues long advocated by third parties. The Democratic ticket was endorsed by the single-issue Silver Party, but the People's Party found themselves in a bind. Would they split the vote and help elect McKinley, or would they endorse Bryan?

What they came up with was something of a compromise that in the end worked for no one. They endorsed Bryan but wished not to tolerate his corporate industrialist running mate Arthur Sewall. The Vice-Presidential nomination was given to fiery former Congressman Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. So Bryan had two running mates from two different political parties.

Bryan and Watson were reluctant comrades. The standard bearer basically ignored his Populist VP during the campaign even though Watson was active in his electioneering efforts. Watson included his rival Sewall among the targets in his political attacks.

In a result where the word "fiasco" and "debacle" are frequently used by historians, Bryan lost, Watson began his political journey into racism and religious bigotry, and the People's Party began their collapse.

Although the Bryan/Watson ticket did not garner a high percentage of popular votes, they did earn a respectable tally of 27  in the Electoral College: Arkansas 3, Louisiana 4, Missouri 4, Montana 1, Nebraska 4, North Carolina 5, South Dakota 2, Utah 1, Washington 2, Wyoming 1.

Election history:
1882- Georgia General Assembly (Democratic)
1891-1893 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Alliance Democrat/People's Party)
1892 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (People's Party) - defeated
1894 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (People's Party) - defeated
1895 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (People's Party) - defeated
1898 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Populist Party) - defeated
1900 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Populist Party) - defeated
1904 - US President (Populist Party) - defeated
1908 - US President (Populist Party) - defeated
1911 - Democratic primary US Senate (Ga.) - defeated
1918 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Democratic) - defeated
1922-1922 - US Senate (Ga.) (Democratic)

Other occupations: school teacher, attorney, presidential elector (Ga.) for Cleveland 1888, newspaper editor, magazine publisher, author, novelist. 

Buried: Thomson City Cemetery (Thomson, Ga.)

Notes:
While in Congress was one of the forces behind the creation of Rural Free Delivery (the postal RFD)
Was considered a progressive inclusionist in the 19th century but during the 20th century had shifted
 to a white supremacist, anti-Catholic, antisemitic and Nativist political stand.
He opposed America's entry into World War I and the draft which made him sympathetic to the
 Socialists (who he had earlier shunned). The Federal postal system (including RFD no doubt) ceased delivering his publications.
His father was a CSA Army wounded veteran.
Watson sent his child to Catholic school while attacking the Church at the same time.