Amos Nathaniel Goldhaber

Amos Nathaniel Goldhaber, February 15, 1948 (Wisconsin)  -

VP candidate for Natural Law Party (aka Independent aka Reform Party of the United States of America aka Independence Party) (2000)

Running mate with nominee: John Samuel Hagelin (b. 1954)
Popular vote: 77,439 (0.07%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

John Hagelin was running for a third time for President in 2000, but what exact party and who the running-mates were takes some sorting out.

As early as November 1999, Mike Tompkins (the running-mate in 1992 and 1996) was campaigning in Ohio, identified as the Natural Law Party VP. As late as August 2000, when Hagelin was fighting Pat Buchanan for the Reform Party of the United States of America nomination, Tompkins was called the former's running-mate in Iowa. In the same month, when Hagelin was removed from the Indiana ballot as the Reform Party candidate, Tompkins was listed on the ticket. A Hagelin/Tompkins NLP 2000 campaign button was even produced.

But something happened and I could not find any sources that spelled it out.

It was in August 2000 that Hagelin told the press he was considering either Silicon Valley multimillionaire entrepreneur Amos Nathaniel "Nat" Goldhaber as his running-mate, or NASA scientist Bob Bowman. This was right after Pat Buchanan was declared the official Reform Party nominee, a nomination disputed by Hagelin. So at a parallel splinter group Reform Party convention, Goldhaber was nominated as Hagelin's VP. Two weeks later Goldhaber was officially nominated the second spot at the NLP convention as well. Shortly after all of this, the FEC granted the Reform Party nomination to Buchanan, along with the matching funds.

A fellow devotee of Transcendental Meditation with Hagelin, Goldhaber is the son of Jewish refugees who were respected physicists. He was raised in Berkeley, Calif.

Still, Tompkins ended up on the ballot with Hagelin in two states. In Massachusetts they were presented as "Unenrolled" and gained 0.11% of the vote. In Missouri the Hagelin/Tompkins ticket, under the NLP banner, had 0.05%.

Laura Ticciati was on the ballot with Hagelin in Kansas, Louisiana, and New Jersey. In several other states Hagelin was on the ballot with no VP at all.

Hagelin still considered himself representing a fusion of the NLP and Reform Party and indeed was listed as a Reform candidate on the ballot in Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Wisconsin and perhaps a few others. In New York, the old New Alliance Party leaders Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani were now using the Independence Party as a vehicle and in that capacity ran Hagelin/Goldhaber under their banner. Fulani had made an earlier attempt to be Hagelin's running-mate. Interestingly, Newman and Fulani had originally endorsed Pat Buchanan but changed their minds.

Overall the NLP finished with 83,710 votes (0.08%) in 2000, a decline from their 1996 result. The Hagelin/Goldhaber portion of the NLP vote came to 77,439 popular votes by my estimation. Their strongest showings were: New York 0.36%, Alaska 0.32%, Idaho 0.23%, Wyoming 0.19%, Iowa-Oregon 0.17% each, Montana 0.16%, Colorado-Ohio 0.13% each, Arkansas-Washington 0.12% each, California-Kentucky-North Dakota-Utah 0.10% each

It was their final nationwide election effort. The Party eventually scattered into local chapters, with Michigan remaining the most active. In 2004 the NLP endorsed Rep. Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic Party primaries.

Election history: none

Other occupations: venture capitalist, computer entrepreneur, special assistant to Lt. Gov. William Scranton III (Penn.),

Notes:
Private pilot.
Father of triplets.
Austrian mother, German father who met in Israel.

Sharon E. Marth

 above: 2017

Sharon E. Marth, February 18, 1952 -

VP candidate for Independent (aka Unaffiliated aka No Party) (2000)
VP candidate for Independence Party (aka No Affiliation) (2016)

Running mate with nominee (2000, 2016): Gloria Dawn Strickland (b. 1948)
Popular vote (2000): 100 (0.00%)
Popular vote (2016): 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote (2000, 2016): 0/538

The campaign (2000):

Wisconsin resident Gloria Dawn Strickland kicked off her Presidential effort, which she called her "Good News Campaign," at the Million Mom March on Mother's Day 2000. The national event was mostly centered on advocating for tighter gun control.

Strickland had come into the independent category from the Republican side, having donated funds to both the 1992 and 1996 campaigns of that party.

Initially she had invited by letter (Washington State trivia alert!!!) Microsoft CEO Bill Gates to be her running-mate. In defending Gates against any government regulation against what she termed his "mental genetic material" she told the press, "Microsoft is his baby and the government should keep its hands off and I will fight it for him on the basis of Roe v. Wade."

When Gates failed to join the ticket, Strickland chose Sharon Marth of Carmel, Calif., a fellow artist.

The campaign had a webpage that summarized the platform: Wise Tax Reform. Reduce Income Taxes. Rebudget and Redistribute to Fund The Best National Health Care Insurance In The World. Election Reform: Eliminate Electoral College; Replace With One Person - One Equal Vote. Common Sense Handgun Legislation. Major Education Reform. Protect The Environment, Pure Food and Water. Protect Social Security/Medicare. Peace And Safety For All Americans.

Strickland, sometimes with Marth in the certification and sometimes not, was a write-in option in Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Utah, and West Virginia.

Of the 100 votes on the dot I counted, 80% of that came from Kentucky (0.01% of the vote in that state). 

The campaign (2016):

One secondary source mentions Strickland had started to campaign for President in 2004, but withdrew. In 2016 she was back, once again with Marth as a the VP. This time both of them were apparently residents of West Bend, Wis., which would have posed a Constitutional problem in the event of their victory.

Since her 2000 run the world of social media had become part of daily life and that seems to have been Strickland's campaign venue.

On Twitter she proposed: "I will create the Dept. of Peace & appoint a Secretary 2 coordinate efforts for peaceful resolutions 2 domestic & foreign disputes."

And on Facebook: "I am inviting all of my Facebook friends to visit my official Facebook page: Gloria Dawn Strickland for U. S. President 2016, and my channel on YouTube, and to visit me on Twitter ... Our campaign is called The Good News Campaign!  (Jesus was in a three-year campaign against the Roman Empire that was exploiting the people! We are facing many of the issues that he was working to overcome on behalf if the citizens. Almost 1/3 of the surface area of the U S is held in a Federal Trust for U S citizens, as beneficiaries. These federally held lands are immensely rich in natural resources and renewable energy resources. All U S citizens should be very rich. We need to make our public servants and our "federal trustees" accountable on behalf of the vast wealth owned by the citizens. Poverty is the number one problem in the U S and in the world. We should be leading the world in lifting our population out of poverty)."

The Strickland/Marth team were certified write-ins in Alaska and Washington but received no votes from what I can ascertain.

The ticket was invited to the inauguration ceremonies for President Trump although they could not attend. Instead Strickland hosted an event honoring Trump in Wisconsin.

Election history: none

Other occupations: artist, real estate agent

Notes:
Marth appears to have been born and raised in Wisconsin but I cannot confirm.

Terence J. Spencer

Terence J. Spencer, October 10, 1928 (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) - April 1, 2008 (Pultneyville, NY)

VP candidate for Independence Party (aka Independent Party) (1976)

Running mate with nominee: Eugene McCarthy (1916-2005)
Popular vote: 4303 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

After US Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-MN) failed to secure the Democratic Party's nomination for President in 1968, a number of his followers campaigned for him as a third party candidate. McCarthy himself did not approve and in many but not all cases was able to have his name removed from the ballot. Different states ran his name under various party names with a variety of running mates, some of whom who were also not too thrilled to be listed: Coretta Scott King, Paul Newman, Dick Gregory, Paul O'Dwyer, and John Lindsay.

McCarthy made a brief foray into the Democratic Party primaries of 1972 but did not generate a lot of excitement. At some point after he dropped out of the race he left the Party, declared himself an Independent, and began a political journey to what could be described as libertarian centrism. As an Independent Presidential candidate in 1976 he is frequently better remembered for his high-profile legal battles to gain ballot access for third parties than for his political platform.

His 1976 VP situation made 1968 look tame. He was on the ballot in 29 states and a registered write-in in a few others. He had over 20 running mates. McCarthy himself said, "Vice-presidential candidates just clutter up the campaign. We should not ask the country to make two judgments. Everyone knows vice presidents have no influence on presidents once elected. Presidents' wives have much more influence. Perhaps we should have candidates' wives debate."

McCarthy's running-mate in New York was Terence J. Spencer who loved in a mobile home upstate in Bristol. They ran under the Independence Party label but failed to obtain ballot status at the last minute, an official government decision that no doubt helped Jimmy Carter carry the state. Their names had even appeared in sample ballots and stickers had to be produced to cover the McCarthy/Spencer ticket already printed on most ballots. Electors were already selected so in fantasy theory McCarthy could have won in a write-in sweep.

Spencer was quoted as saying the difference between McCarthy's bid and "those of the entrenched parties is that we take very seriously the country's persistent problems, such as unemployment, non-constitutional government and militarism. The other candidates take themselves seriously."

McCarthy/Spencer won 0.07% of the vote in New York as write-ins. Nationally McCarthy won 0.91% of the popular poll.

The Ford-Carter result was very close in New York (Carter 51.87% - Ford 47.45%). Politicos like to point out that pre-election polls indicted if McCarthy had been allowed on the ballot in the Empire State there was strong possibility Ford would have won the state's 41 Electors, and with it the Presidency in 1976.

Election history: 
1972 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Democratic) - defeated
1974 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Democratic) - primary - defeated
1974 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Independent) - defeated

Other occupations: college teacher, consulting and public relations, soldier (WWII, Korea), Peace Corps volunteer, playwright, newspaper columnist

Buried: Mount Calvary Cemetery (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 

Notes:
Has a cool name for Spaghetti Western fans, combining the classic duo of Terence Hill and Bud
 Spencer.
In 1974 listed to voters all the reasons why they might NOT want to vote him including divorce and
 not being in combat while in the US Army.
Ph.D. in English, Stanford 1957
Known for his tongue-in-cheek humor, died on April Fools Day.
Buried in the same cemetery as Fran Allison.
His play Jonah was produced off-Broadway in 1967
In the general election of 1974 ran as a write-in.

John Temple Graves

John Temple Graves, November 9, 1856 (Willington, SC) – August 8, 1925 (Washington, DC)

VP candidate for Independence Party (aka Independence League aka National Independence League) (1908)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas L. Hisgen (1858-1925)
Popular vote: 82,574 (0.55%)
Electoral vote: 0/483

The campaign:

The Independence Party grew out of William Randolph Hearst's 1904 Municipal Ownership League, created as a springboard for his 1905 run and razor-thin loss for the office of Mayor of New York. Some historians believe the Independence Party, created in 1906, was Hearst's way of punishing William Jennings Bryan (the Democratic nominee in 1908). Hearst apparently felt Bryan had worked against his own quest for the Democratic nomination in 1904. Although not a candidate himself in 1908, the party is an early example of a millionaire single-handedly orchestrating the actions of a third party.

The vice-presidential candidate John Temple Graves, one of Hearst's writers, was quite possibly one of the most vocal avowed racists of his era (which is saying a lot). He advocated lynching, segregation, and the Ku Klux Klan in speeches and articles.

The Independence Party platform included: support for initiative and referendum, 8-hour day, prohibition of convict and child labor, creation of a Dept. of Labor, statehood for Arizona and New Mexico, "exclusion of Asiatic cheap labor," direct election of US Senators, and a graduated income tax.

They were on the ballot in all but six states placing a distant 5th place nationally. Their best showing was in Massachusetts (4.21%) the home state of their presidential candidate. They had an especially miserable showing in Graves' home state of Georgia (0.06%) probably due to the fact it was also home to Populist Party presidential nominee Thomas Watson (who won 12.59% of the Peach State's vote) and who was another vocal avowed racist of his era.

The Independence Party feebly struggled on until 1914, with many of the members eventually returning to the Democratic Party.

Election history:
1886 - Democratic nomination for US House of Representatives (Fla.) - defeated
1905 or 1906 - US Senate (Ga.) (Democratic) - defeated or withdrew
1908 - Independence Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: Democratic Party presidential elector 1884 (Fla.) - 1888 (Ga.), teacher, newspaper editor, orator

Buried: Westview Cemetery (Atlanta, Ga.)

Notes:
Great-grandnephew of John C. Calhoun.
Rejoined the Democratic Party in 1912.
Wrote race-baiting incendiary articles in his newspaper and some historians place responsibility on
 him for creating an atmosphere that led to the Atlanta riots of 1906.
Was an early supporter of the Stone Mountain Confederate carving.
"Let the Government set aside, out of its vast public domains, a large territory for a sovereign State to
 be officered and controlled exclusively by the negroes and no whites to have the right to vote therein,
 the Government to maintain troops to preserve order. The only price the negro need pay for this
 privilege would be his right to vote in any other State."--John Temple Graves paraphrased by the
 Washington Post, Aug. 13, 1893.
Graduate of the University of Georgia 1875.
Campaigned for Cleveland in 1892.
Sometimes called "Colonel Graves" although he apparently was never in the military, probably it was
 an honorary title bestowed by the Governor of Georgia.
In a 1907 speech urged Democrats to support Theodore Roosevelt.
"The people of the South will not be scared by threats of the federal court, and if it invades the state's
 authority and takes charge of these cases there is the Kuklux Klan to fall back on, which was the
 most effective agency that the Southern country had ever known against crime and lawlessness."--
John Temple Graves 1904.