William Floyd Weld, July 31, 1945 (Smithtown, N.Y.) -
VP candidate for Libertarian Party (aka Independent aka Independence Party) (2016)
Running mate with nominee: Gary Earl Johnson (b. 1953)
Popular vote: 4,489,359 (3.27%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
2016 provided an important opportunity for the Libertarian Party and continued their long-standing intraparty debate of practical compromise vs. philosophical purity. Both of the major parties were fielding candidates who were more polarizing than usual and many Americans were looking for an alternative. After two ballots at their convention the Libertarians once again selected Gary Johnson as their nominee. His running-mate was former Governor of Massachusetts William Weld. The LP ticket, with two ex-state executives on the ballot with high name recognition, actually had far more government insider experience to offer than the Republican team of Trump and Pence.
Johnson spent a considerable portion of his acceptance speech imploring the convention to select Weld as the VP nominee--
Now that said, we're going to move on to the vice president. And I understand that you get to choose the vice president, but I just want you to know if it's not Bill Weld, I don't think we have the opportunity of being elected president of the United States and that is not to take anything away from any of the candidates up here on the stage.
Jim Gray in 2012 did not make one national media appearance and don't think we didn't try to have Jim Gray be on the national media. Since Bill Weld announced that he is seeking the vice presidential nomination I would say at a minimum he has made 25 national media appearances.
And not to take anything away from any of the candidates, nothing away from any of the candidates, but Bill Weld was my role model. Bill Weld was Libertarian-Republican. Bill Weld was denied the nomination by Jesse Helms to be ambassador to Mexico because Jesse described him as pro-gay, pro-choice and pro-medical marijuana at a time when nobody else was talking about this.
It's your choice. We can go out there and we can make, and you have kind of sort of made a choice here already. And that is that we do have the opportunity to reach millions and millions of Americans.
Talk about fund-raising. The total amount of fund-raising, the total amount of funds since I've been in politics, directly or indirectly that I have raised is probably about $8 million. If you make that comparison with Bill Weld, the number is closer to a quarter of a billion dollars. It's a reality. It is a reality and I'm asking you all to recognize that reality. And I'm also asking you to recognize that you did nominate me for president, and I'm hopefully going to get elected president of the United States.
The first consideration that people are going to look at when they look at a vice president, the first consideration, maybe the only consideration is, can that person actually step in and be vice president of the United States. I'm just going to ask you to make that determination with those that are on stage. I trust in all of you that moving forward that you can see, I hope you can see, the wisdom of this Libertarian Party exploding. And at a minimum, let's just not say, at a minimum I think we are in the presidential debates.
If it's not Bill Weld I don't think that that happens. If it is Bill Weld, and not to take anything away from anybody else that is on the stage. But if it is Bill Weld there's a real possibility that we can achieve major party status in this country. And who would have dreamed that that was possible four years ago?
Weld barely won the running-mate slot on the second ballot over Larry Sharpe, 441-409 votes.
The VP nominee found himself defending some of his past non-Libertarian stances such as support of Republican neocon military actions as well as his role in gun control as Governor of Massachusetts. "I was deeply concerned about gun violence, and frankly, the people I represented were demanding action. Sometimes, governing involves tough choices, and I had to make more than a few. Today, almost 25 years later, I would make some different choices ... Those who know me best and for the longest all know that I have always been a libertarian. I have said it many times, and it is true. Since law school, my bibles have always been The Constitution of Liberty, and The Road to Serfdom, by Friedrich Hayek."
But as the campaign neared Election Day, Weld came across as somewhat ambivalent about his role as a potential spoiler. Some of his statements indicated he preferred Clinton over Trump--
-The way Washington is trending, the wacko left and wacko right are heaving more closely into view ... I think the Republican Party’s going to split, this cycle or the next cycle ... One party will be Donald Trump’s party, which you could call the Know-Nothing Party ... based on hatred of immigrants and conspiracy theories and violent rallies.
-I have a platform ... As long as I’m a candidate for a legitimate political party, people pay attention to what I say, and I have a lot to say about Mr. Trump ... We are drawing 50-50 [from the two major parties], but that’s before people hear everything I have to say about Mr. Trump for the next seven weeks.
-This is not the time to cast a jocular or feel-good vote for a man whom you may have briefly found entertaining.
-Most families would not allow their children to remain at the dinner table if they behaved as Mr. Trump does. He has not exhibited the self-control, the discipline or the emotional depth necessary to function credibly as a president of the United States.
-This is the worst of American politics. I fear for our cohesion as a nation and for our place in the world if this man, who says he is unwilling to abide by the result of our national election, becomes our president.
-I'm one of those who thinks there's a hidden Trump vote of 3 percent — maybe more — of people who don't want to tell pollsters that they're voting for Donald Trump, so I'm not at all relaxed about the outcome of this election.
-You want someone who is calm. When you are governor or chief executive of a government, you make a hundred decisions a day and you get judged at the end of the year by how you did. If you have to stop and think ‘how can I take a swipe at someone in this situation,’ that is the last thing you want in a president of the United States ... In psychology, it’s called a malignant narcissist: someone who’s not happy succeeding unless everyone else fails at the same time ... Unfortunately, you could say that that happened a little bit with Mr. Trump’s success with his casinos in Atlantic City, because hundreds if not thousands of small businesses went down the tubes when Mr. Trump was rising there.
-I’m sick and tired of seeing her [Clinton] dragged through the mud by a man [Trump] who makes absolutely no demands on himself as to moral behavior, including common decency or truthfulness.
-I've known her for 40 years. I've worked with her. I know her well, professionally ... I know her well personally. I know her to be a person of high moral character, a reliable person and an honest person, however so much Mr. Trump may rant and rave to the contrary. So, I'm happy to say that, and people can make their own choices ... I'm not taking back anything I said about the massive difference between the two establishment party candidates. One would be chaos for the country I think and the other would be a very business-like and capable and competent approach to our affairs.
In Sept. 2016 there were rumors, according to journalist Carl Bernstein, that Weld would drop out of the race and endorse Clinton.
Johnson's ignorance of international affairs and some of his more eccentric public performances such as sticking out his tongue during a TV interview didn't exactly help the LP's credibility with outside independent voters, while valid doubts about Weld's commitment to the Party made activists wary they had yet another carpetbagger in their midst. But even so, 2016 turned out to be the highest total of the LP vote in any Presidential election, and the highest among third parties since Ross Perot in 1996.
In a remarkable finish, the Johnson/Weld ticket placed third and cracked 1% in every state. Their best results: New Mexico 9.34%, North Dakota 6.22%, Alaska 5.88%, Oklahoma 5.75%, Montana 5.64%, South Dakota 5.63%, Colorado 5.18%, Wyoming 5.13%, and Maine 5.09%.
During the campaign Weld gave hints he might return to the Republican Party in order to run for President in the 2020 primaries, which is exactly what he did. The Trump forces, apparently threatened by some degree of Weld's potential percentages, successfully managed to make sure he was not a ballot option for Republican voters in the primary season in many states, seeming to confirm Weld's charge that the Republicans had morphed into an authoritarian personality cult bent on undermining the democratic process.
Election history:
1978 - Massachusetts Attorney General (Republican) - defeated
1991-1997 - Governor of Massachusetts (Republican)
1996 - US Senate (Mass.) (Republican) - defeated
2006 - Governor of New York (Republican) - primary - withdrew
2020 - Republican nomination for US President - defeated
Other occupations: U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, chief executive of Decker College, member of the Council on Foreign Relations, novelist
Notes:
Winner of the 1996 election was John Kerry.
Worked on Romney's campaign in 2008 primary, voted for Obama over McCain in the general. Endorsed Romney in 2012, and Kasich in 2016. Voted for Biden/Harris in 2020.
