Marshall E. Uncapher

Marshall E. Uncapher, July 23, 1928 (Madison, Kan.) - June 10, 1994 (Cobb County, Ga.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1972)

Running mate with nominee: E. Harold Munn (1903-1992)
Popular vote: 13,497 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

It was E. Harold Munn's third consecutive shot as the Presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party, a feat that had been unprecedented for the Party up to that time. It took the Party three ballots to agree on a candidate in 1972, and among the defeated was Marshall Uncapher, who went on to be selected as the VP over Roger I. Williams of Massachusetts. Uncapher (pronounced Unca-fur) was on his home turf. Not only was the convention held in Kansas where Uncapher was State Chairman of the Party, but it was in a Nazarene Church, a religious faith to which the running-mate subscribed.

1972 also marked an entire century of the Prohibition Party consistently running candidates for President and Vice-President and it remains America's third oldest political party to this day.

The 1972 Prohibition Party platform was pretty much a replay of the 1968 version. But among the new additions for this election cycle of were these two items:

Environmental Awareness

An awareness of the various problems related to the area of ecology is essential. We believe that all men have a right to a wholesome environment. Accordingly, government must establish standards and enforce a program which will insure a satisfactory stewardship of land, water and air throughout the nation. In particular, we insist on the right of everyone to a pure water supply and to an unpolluted atmosphere. We urge increased emphasis on tertiary treatment of sewage, on the development of fission-type reactors and, as soon as technologically feasible, atomic fusion as a substitute for fossil fuels in electric power generation, and on the substitution of relatively non-polluting sources of power in motor vehicles.

The News Media

We believe in the importance of freedom of the press and of other news media. There must be no suppression of this freedom when properly exercised. On the other hand, we deplore the role of the media in sensationalizing a growing moral permissiveness. We believe that this creates the impression that the media are acting as approving and applauding onlookers. We deplore the decline of investigative reporting, and demand that the media once again become responsible informants of the public.

They were on the ballot in only four states with the ever-faithful Alabama and Kansas being their strongest showings: Alabama 0.85%, Kansas 0.46%, Delaware 0.10%, Colorado 0.05%. 1972 would be Munn's final campaign for any office.

Election history:
1964 - Kansas Insurance Commissioner (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1966 - Kansas Insurance Commissioner (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1968 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1970 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1972 - Prohibition Party nomination for US President - defeated
1974 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1983 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Prohibition Party) - special primary - defeated

Other occupations: teacher, principal, salesman, poet, author, Indiana National Guard.

Buried: Georgia Memorial Park (Marietta, Ga.)

Notes:
1983 race did not actually list party affiliation on the ballot.
Moved to Georgia in 1975.
Was a possible spoiler in the 1974 race.

Rolland Ernest Fisher

Rolland Ernest Fisher, June 3, 1900 (Newport, Neb.) - February 4, 1982 (Topeka, Kan.?)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1968)

Running mate with nominee: E. Harold Munn (1903-1992)
Popular vote: 15,123 (0.02%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Prohibition Party once again nominated E. Harold Munn for President and in this round selected Kansas-based Party stalwart Rolland E. Fisher as his VP.

The 1968 platform sure looked a lot like the 1964 platform, and as the times they were a changin' pretty fast the Prohibition Party was having a difficult time connecting with voters on issues that were relevant in that era.

Their national result of 15,123 votes (0.03%) might seem paltry today, but that is huge compared to what the Prohibition Party would be earning at the end of the 20th century. Listed as choice in ten states, the Munn/Fisher ticket finished strongest in Alabama (0.38%), Fisher's own Kansas (0.25%), Indiana (0.22%), and Montana (0.19%). Since WWII Kansas and Indiana were consistently among the top states where the Party consistently finished with the highest percentages up to this point.

Election history:
1950 - Kansas Secretary of State (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1958 - Kansas Treasurer (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1960 - Kansas Auditor (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1962 - Kansas Auditor (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1964 - Kansas Auditor (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1966 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1972 - Governor of Kansas (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1974 - US Senate (Kan.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated

Other occupations: farm labor, soldier (US Marine Corps), Methodist minister, newspaper editor, on Board of Directors of the Topeka Rescue Mission, Prohibition Party Elector 1952-1956 (Kansas)

Buried: Memorial Park Cemetery (Topeka, Kan.)

Notes:
Winner of the 1974 race was Bob Dole.
1974 race was apparently a write-in campaign
Came to Kansas in 1916

Mark Revell Shaw

Mark Revell Shaw, January 22, 1889 (Grand Rapids, Mich.) - June 4, 1978 (State College, Penn.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1964)

Running mate with nominee: E. Harold Munn (1903-1992)
Popular vote: 23,267 (0.03%)    
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

At their August 1963 the Prohibition Party nominated 1960 VP candidate E. Harold Munn for President and Methodist minister Mark. R. Shaw, age 74, as his running mate.

Although the 1964 Prohibition Party had some strong anti military-industrial complex language, the Party continued to drift to Right in terms of school integration, federal aid to education, and states' rights. The Platform also stated: "We declare our belief that the Bible is not a sectarian book, but is a volume of universal appeal and application which is woven into our history, our laws, and our culture. We deplore any interpretation which would limit its use in any area of our national life."

VP nominee Shaw had a long history of promoting pacifism and had considerable travel experience in his role as a missionary. His statement on "confusionism" during the 1964 campaign is interesting and consistent with the Party's stand against growing militarism in that era:

Confusionism, which so permeates our social order and threatens our body politic, seems daily to be more confounded. Take, for example the case of Senator Goldwater. For years, he has been crusading against the Communists, at home and abroad. He has been so concerned that he talks of sending the Marines to Cuba and of using atomic weapons in Viet Nam. Few, whether or not they agree with his ideas, doubt his sincerity. Yet, who is doing more to aid the Communists that he ­ because he seems unable, or unwilling, to see things in perspective?
    Think of the hundreds of millions of underprivileged, poverty-stricken people among the colored races in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, many of whose parents suffered at the hands of White imperialism and colonialism. Today, they struggle to be free, to gain a new sense of dignity and equality, so long denied them.
    In the contest between democracy and communism for the minds of these millions, what greater boon could be given to the thousands of communist propagandists seeking for converts in Africa and Asia than for the news to be flashed around the world next November that Barry Goldwater, after he had voted against the Civil Rights Act, had been elected President by the people of The United States?

Prohibition Party historian Roger Storms wrote: Shortly after Mark Shaw was nominated for Vice President of the United States, a Maryland woman wrote to him on a postcard:  "Do you really think that Prohibition is something that can stir support from the American people in this election? I don't." To this he replied: "Neither do I. But, I think it ought to, and that makes all the difference."

With votes recorded in 11 states their best results were in Kansas 0.63%, Indiana 0.40%, and Delaware 0.21%. As of today their national finish of 0.03% has never been surpassed since 1964.

Election history:
1946 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1948 - Governor of Massachusetts (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1950 - Governor of Massachusetts (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1952 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1956 - Governor of Massachusetts (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1958 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1960 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1962 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1966 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1967 - Prohibition Party nomination for President - defeated
1970 - US Senate (Mass.) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1971 - Prohibition Party nomination for President - defeated

Other occupations: Methodist minister, international missionary, editor of Peace Action

Buried: ?

Notes:
Winner of the 1946 race was Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., one of Shaw's other opponents was future 1964
 Socialist Labor Party VP nominee Henning A. Blomen.
Winner of the 1952 and 1958 race was John F. Kennedy.
One of his opponents in the 1956 race was Henning A. Blomen.
Winner of the 1962 and 1970 race was Ted Kennedy.
Winner of the 1966 race was Edward W. Brooke.
Was raised by parents who were active prohibitionists.
Member and officer in the National Council for the Prevention of War starting in the 1930s.
Graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University 1913.

Earle Harold Munn Sr.

 Munn and Decker

 Decker, Earl Dodge, Munn

Earle Harold Munn Sr., November 29, 1903 (Bay Village, Ohio) – July 6, 1992 (Hillsdale, Mich.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1960)

Running mate with nominee: Rutherford Losey Decker (1904-1972)

Popular vote: 46,203 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/537

The campaign:

At their Sept. 1959 convention the Prohibition nominated Baptist preacher RutherFord Losey Decker for President and E. Harold Munn as his running mate.

In reading contemporary news accounts of the 1960 election season Decker did not appear to be an energetic campaigner. Even so, by some accounts the Decker/Munn ticket was reportedly feeling pressure from conservatives to withdraw from the race and endorse Nixon in order to prevent the Catholic JFK from moving to the White House. To the credit of both Decker and Munn they stayed their course.

Earl Dodge, who was already rising within the Party ranks in 1960, later recalled: "The 1960 campaign was marked by tremendous pressures on Dr. Decker to withdraw in favor of Richard Nixon, [in order] to prevent John Kennedy from being elected.  Dr. Decker and I pointed out that Mr. Nixon would be even more apt to breach the wall of separation [between] church and state than would Kennedy (how time has proved us right)."

Munn was a protégé of Prohibition Party veteran Enoch Arden Holtwick the 1952 VP nominee and 1956 Presidential nominee. Munn's son, E. Harold Munn Jr. (1928-2016) wrote the following about 2003/2004:

"In 1932, the pressure was applied to 'scratch the ticket' and vote for Herbert Hoover to 'save Prohibition.' Contrary to the advice of Dr. Holtwick, dad succumbed to the 'logic' and voted Republican ­ only to see his vote 'lost' and Prohibition go down the drain under the Roosevelt 'New Deal.' He vowed then and there never to again compromise principle for expediency ­ and he never did! He contended hard for this issue in 1960 when the pressure was applied to 'vote Republican and keep a Roman Catholic out of the White House....' Unfortunately, others abandoned both him and other Prohibition Party candidates to vote for Richard Nixon, receiving the defeat they were by choice a part of. But he did not retreat."

The 1960 platform had shifted a bit to the Right since the 1956 version, adding strong declarations of anti-communism and pro-states' rights.

The ballots in Silver Bow County, Mont. printed Munn's name as "Numm" which created a brief stir in the media.

Given the large number of third parties on the 1960 ballots, the Prohibition Party had a relatively good showing. They placed 5th after the Unpledged Electors and were barely behind the Socialist Labor Party. Although having 0.07% of the national vote is not something to write home about, it would be the last time the Party would ever register above 0.03% in a Presidential election. From 1992 to the present they have consistently finished in the 0.00% range. 0.07% looks pretty good now, eh?

On the ballot in 11 states their strongest results were in Kansas (0.45%), Alabama (0.37%), California (0.33%), and Indiana (0.32%).

According to one source, Decker went on to endorse George Wallace in the 1968 Presidential election. Munn would be the Party's Presidential nominee for 1964, 1968, and 1972.

Election history:
1941 - University of Michigan Board of Regents (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1942 - Lt. Governor of Michigan (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1944 - Michigan State Senate (Prohibition) - defeated
1948 - Michigan Secretary of State (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1949 - Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1950 - Michigan State Senate (Prohibition) - defeated
1951 - Mayor of Hillsdale, Mich. (Prohibition) - defeated
1952 - Mayor of Hillsdale, Mich. (Prohibition) - defeated
1952 - Governor of Michigan (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1953 - Mayor of Hillsdale, Mich. (Prohibition) - defeated
1954 - Governor of Michigan (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1958 - Michigan State House of Representatives (Prohibition) - defeated
1959 - Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1961 - Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1964 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1968 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1972 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated

Other occupations: Prohibition Party elector for Michigan 1948, 1952, 1976, 1980, 1984, educator, college dean, radio station executive, credit union president

Buried: Oak Grove Cemetery (Hillsdale, Mich.)

Notes:
Buried in the same cemetery as Capt. "You May Fire When Ready, Gridley" Charles Vernon Gridley.
Methodist.
"I would rather lose in a cause that will ultimately win, than win in a cause that will ultimately lose."--E. Harold Munn, Sr.
Some sources give his death date as June 6, 1992.