Below: Ray Ferrill Green
Harold Guy Hunt, June 17, 1933 (Holly Pond, Ala.) – January 30, 2009 (Birmingham, Ala.)
VP candidate for Independent (1988)
Running mate with nominee: Ray Ferrill Green (1948-2015)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
Ray Ferrill Green managed his 1988 campaign for President from Roxbury, Mass. while he was temporarily staying with his father. According to Green, his home was actually in Switzerland and he had not been a U.S. resident since 1979. Green said he owned an oil company "headquartered around the world."
"I have led the war on drugs since 1972," he said as part of his platform. His travels, he told the press, lent him a certain expertise on international affairs. He claimed to be a "personal friend" of Ayatollah Khomeini.
In early 1987 Green made the news when he entered North Korea illegally and was expelled by that country.
Green had a long career as a DJ which put him in contact with many musical celebrity artists. He was the godson of James Brown (who was a third party VP, by the way, in 1972).
Green, who was African American, told a reporter, "The name, 'The White House': A lot of people feel it's a stigma because only white people live in it." Although the reporter speculated the candidate would change it to the "Green House," in fact he proposed "House of the American People."
As for a running mate, the Daily News (New York, NY) reported, "He can't remember the name of the governor of Alabama, but that is who he would like to serve as his vice president."
That governor was H. Guy Hunt, who served as Alabama's chief executive from 1987-1993. He was the first Republican elected to that office since Reconstruction. Following George Wallace's final term, Hunt was living proof that the Republican "Southern Strategy" to peel off conservative Democrats was working. Hunt was initially considered a dark horse candidate but he was the beneficiary of a bitter split in the Democratic Party and received a winning percentage of crossover votes. In this regard his detractors described Hunt as the "accidental Governor" but the evidence actually points to a major political party realignment already in process in Alabama that had been going on since 1964.
If Hunt had a response to Green's Vice-Presidential offer, I have not found it. Gov. Hunt spent part of 1988 defending the display of the Confederate flag on the State Capitol building amid criticism that it symbolized treason, bigotry and oppression.
Since Alabama has a law not allowing felons to hold the Governorship, Hunt was forced to resign in 1993 after being found guilty for various white collar crimes while in office. He served his sentence in a probationary status. In 1998 the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles bestowed a pardon to Hunt.
In 2008 Green made another run for President in the Republican primaries. The Constitutional requirement that a President must have been a resident of the country for 14 years does pose a question whether or not Green would have qualified. But several past presidents had lived abroad (mostly as diplomats) for a few years within the 14 years prior to taking office, so they set a precedent that would make it safe for Green to assume office if anyone contested it. Their example demonstrates that the 14 years can be at any time in life.
Election history:
1962 - Alabama State Senate (Republican) - defeated
1964-1976 - Cullman County (Ala.) Probate Judge
1978 - Governor of Alabama (Republican) - defeated
1987-1993 - Governor of Alabama (Republican)
1998 - Governor of Alabama (Republican) - primary - defeated
2002 - Alabama State Senate (Republican) - defeated
2006 - Governor of Alabama (Independent Republican) - defeated
Other occupations: US Army (Korean War), Primitive Baptist Church minister, State Director of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Committee, delegate to the 1976-1980 Republican conventions, chicken farmer, Amway distributor
Buried: Mount Vernon Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery (Cullman, Ala.)
Notes:
Supported Gov. Reagan over President Ford in 1976. Supported Reagan in 1980.
Was a write-in in 2006.
