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.

Edwin Maurice Cooper

Edwin Maurice Cooper, May 12, 1885 (Clay County, Neb.) - February 26, 1971 (Montebello, Calif.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1956)

Running mate with nominee: Enoch Arden Holtwick (1881-1972)

Popular vote: 41,937 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

Chairman Lowell H. Coate resigned his office, walked out the 1955 Prohibition Party convention and took about 20 delegates with him in an effort to form a new umbrella third party which became the Pioneer Party. This episode is covered in the Burr McCloskey profile.

Meanwhile, political nomad and retired General Herbert C. Holdridge was searching for a new home. He wanted the Prohibition Party Presidential nomination but settled for the position of running mate alongside Party stalwart Enoch Arden Holtwick. In 1952 Holdridge had been the American Rally nominee for President (without a VP nominee) parallel with his nomination from the American Vegetarian Party. He had a falling out with the AVP and withdrew/was removed from the ticket before the election. Holdridge quit the American Rally Party as well but waited until immediately after the 1952 election to do so. Burr McCloskey, the 1956 Pioneer Party VP nominee, had been Holdridge's 1952 campaign manager for both the AVP and American Rally.

After being the VP nominee for nearly year, Holdridge gained some unwanted publicity for the Prohibition Party when he was ejected from the August, 1956 Republican Party convention for handing out anti-Eisenhower literature described as "virulent" and "scurrilous." It was shortly after that incident he either voluntarily withdrew or was kicked out of the position of running mate for Holtwick. After a scramble the Party selected California attorney and Prohibition loyalist Edwin M. Cooper as the replacement.

Holtwick was 75, Cooper 71. Not quite the oldest combined ages on a Presidential ticket in US history, but close.

The 1956 Party platform was mostly a repeat of the 1952 version, but there was a new section in this one that could be considered quite progressive:

Extension of Democracy

  To help perfect our political democracy and extend it to all who live under our flag we urge;

    (1) The submission to the people of an amendment to the Constitution to provide for the election of the President and Vice-President directly by the people;

    (2) Immediate home rule and the franchise and representation in Congress for the District of Columbia;

    (3) Immediate statehood for Alaska and Hawaii;

    (4) Encouraging Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam and Samoa to advance as rapdily as possible to complete internal self-government;

    (5) We recognize the right of all Indians to full citizenship.

On the ballot in 10 states, their best showings were in New Jersey (0.37%), Kansas (0.35%), and Indiana (0.33%). That doesn't look very exciting but they actually fared better than most of the other third parties in the 1956 Presidential race.

Election history:
1954 - Attorney General of California (Prohibition) - defeated
1958 - Attorney General of California (Prohibition) - defeated

Other occupations: attorney, YMCA leader

Buried: Rose Hills Memorial Park (Whittier, Calif.)

Notes:
Methodist
Sometimes called Edward M. Cooper
Buried in the same cemetery as Lewis Arquette, Ron Glass, William Hopper, Nguyen Coa Ky.
Graduate of USC Law School, passed the bar in 1910.
His opponent in the 1954 AG race was Edmund G. "Pat" Brown.

Enoch Arden Holtwick

Enoch Arden Holtwick, January 3, 1881 (Rhineland, Mo.) – March 28, 1972 (Greenville, Ill.)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1952)

Running mate with nominee: Stuart Hamblen (1908–1989)

Popular vote: 73,412 (0.12%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

Overtures were apparently made to Gen. Douglas MacArthur offering the Presidential nomination for the Prohibition Party in Nov. 1951. Mac did something he didn't do with the America First, Christian Nationalist, and Constitution parties (all of whom went ahead and nominated him whether he liked it or not)-- he actually released an official statement declining the honor: "I am not a candidate for the office of president and have no political ambitions of any sort ... While I do not associate myself with some of the principles enunciated by your party, I have always understood and respected the high moral and spiritual tone of its activities."

While the General rejected the offer, another well known character was actively lobbying for the nomination, the Rev. Homer Aubrey Tomlinson. The Party rejected his advances and Tomlinson went on the create the Church of God Party for the 1952 Presidential election.

Meanwhile longtime Prohibition Party office-seeker Enoch Arden Holtwick, a 70-year old educator was the odds-on favorite to win the nomination, having coming close to winning the position in 1947. But singing cowboy star and recording artist Stuart Hamblen, a recovering alcoholic-- who was converted in 1949 at a Billy Graham tent revival-- took the convention by storm when his song It Is No Secret What God Can Do was played. The final delegate tally was close but Holtwick once again missed the nod. This time he was awarded with the nomination as running mate.

The 1952 platform was a bit more centrist than the previous few election cycles. In the age where segregation was still the law in the South, the Prohibition Party did make a stand against racial discrimination. The most glaring thing about this particular platform was the frequent use of the word "deplore," which was associated with the more Right-leaning planks:

Constitutional Government

      We are strongly opposed to atheistic communism and every other form of totalitarianism. We deplore their infiltration throughout the nation. We challenge all loyal citizens to work against this menace to civilization. We are convinced that the best safeguard against these dangerous doctrines is to protect the rights of our citizens by enforcing the provisions of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Free Enterprise

      We deplore the current trend toward a socialistic state, with its increasing emphasis upon governmental restraint of free enterprise, regulation of our economic life, and federal interference with individual freedom. We declare ourselves in favor of freedom of opportunity, private industry financed within the structure of the present anti-trust laws, and an economic program based upon sound business practice.

Social Security and Old Age Pensions

      We endorse the general principle of social security, including all employed groups. We deplore, however, the widespread current abuses of its privileges and the maladministration of its provisions for political ends, and pledge ourselves to correct these evils.

Their national 0.12% share of the popular vote would be the last time the Party would finish with more than 1/10th of one percent. To their credit they finished 4th in a crowded field, with only the Progressive Party beating them in the third party category.

Out of 20 states where their votes were recorded their strongest finishes were in Indiana (0.78%), Kansas (0.67%), and Alabama (0.43%).

Holtwick would be the Presidential nominee in the next round, 1956.

Election history:
1912 - California State Assembly (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1914 - California State Assembly (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1916 - California State Assembly (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1936 - Treasurer of Illinois (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1938 - US Senate (Ill.) - defeated
1940 - US Senate (Ill.) - defeated
1942 - US Senate (Ill.) - defeated
1944 - US Senate (Ill.) - defeated
1947 - Prohibition Party Presidential nomination - defeated
1948 - US Senate (Ill.) - defeated
1950 - US Senate (Ill.) - defeated
1951 - Prohibition Party Presidential nomination - defeated
1956 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1960 - Governor of Illinois (Prohibition Party) - defeated

Other occupations: bookkeeper, real estate salesman, educator, President of Wessington Springs Seminary (South Dakota), President of Pacific Junior College (Los Angeles, Calif.), history and political science teacher at Greenville College (Greenville, Ill.)

Buried: Mount Auburn Cemetery (Greenville, Ill.)

Notes:
Winner of the 1948 Senate race was Paul Douglas, of the 1950 Senate race, Everett Dirksen.
Methodist.
Ranks #9 playback.fm's "Most Famous Person Named Enoch"
USC MA 1914, dissertation was entitled The Role of the Third Party in American Politics.
Filed for Gov. of Illinois in 1960 according the newspapers but apparently was not on the ballot?

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.