Maximillian Sebastian Hayes, May 25, 1866 (Havana, Ohio) - October 11, 1945 (Cleveland, Ohio)
VP candidate for Farmer-Labor Party (1920)
Running mate with nominee: Parley P. Christensen (1869-1954)
Popular vote: 265,398 (0.99%)
Electoral vote: 0/531
The campaign:
At their July 1920 convention the Labor Party added the hyphenated prefix "Farmer-" to their name. The Farmer-Labor Party originally wanted Sen. Robert M. La Follette (R-Wis.) as their standard bearer but he considered the Party to be too radical. Parley Christensen (the first person from Utah to run for President) and Max S. Hayes were reluctant nominees. Hayes was badgered into accepting with one of the reasons being Henry Ford was a possible alternative.
Although he was initially not desiring to be the nominee, Christensen turned out to be the most exciting and energetic candidate from any party in the 1920 presidential election, in spite of the fact he knew that even if he won in every state where he was on the ballot it would still fall short of the required number of electoral votes for victory.
The platform included equal suffrage for all, release of all political prisoners (a result of the WWI and postwar crackdowns on "subversives"), anti-League of Nations, a free Ireland, US withdrawal from Philippines-Cuba-Guam-Hawaii-Puerto Rico, equal pay for equal work for men and women, public ownership of utilities, and more.
Although they had some former and current Socialists in their ranks (such as "Old Guard" Max Hayes), the events in Russia had moved many of activists in other political parties more to the Left, some of them regarding the FLP as socialism for the middle class. The FLP was indeed an umbrella for several diverse groups, requiring compromise, a degree of moderation, and old-fashioned political equivocation. FLP nominee for Governor of Washington Robert Bridges who took the equal suffrage for all part of the platform to heart, refused to cave in for demands to support anti-Japanese legislation coming from labor and from pro-Soviet leftists still angry about the 1904 war. When Christensen arrived in Seattle to campaign, he embraced the anti-Japanese policies. So there were some litmus test divisions within the Party.
But it was 1920. The majority of Americans wanted a rest from years of progressive ideas, wars, and social change. So Warren Harding won in a record-breaking landslide. That didn't turn out so well in the short or long run.
The Christensen/Hayes ticket had votes recorded in 19 states. Their top three states were Washington (19.37%), South Dakota (19.04%), and Montana (6.82%). Impressive. Harding easily won over 50% of the vote in every state where the FLP was running so in no way could they be considered spoilers.
Election history:
1893 - Ohio General Assembly (People's Party) - defeated
1900 - US House of Representatives (Ohio) (Socialist Democratic Party) - defeated
1902 - Ohio Secretary of State (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1904 - US House of Representatives (Ohio) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1908 - US House of Representatives (Ohio) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
Other occupations: printer, newspaper editor
Buried: Lake View Cemetery (Cleveland, Ohio)
Notes:
Challenged Samuel Gompers for presidency of the AFL in 1912.
Suffered a major stroke in 1939.
Buried in the same cemetery as President and Mrs. Garfield, John Hay, Eliot Ness, John D.
Rockefeller Sr., Dr. James Henry Salisbury (creator of the Salisbury Steak), and Carl Stokes
Catholic
Opponent of the IWW
Began his political career as a member of the People's Party 1890-1896, Socialist Labor Party
1896-1899, Socialist Democratic Party 1899-1901, Socialist Party of America 1901-1919, Labor
Party 1919-1920, Farmer-Labor Party 1920-1936.
Was considered for VP nominee of the Social Democratic Party in 1900 but he stepped aside in favor
of fellow SLP refugee Job Harriman.
Family moved to Fremont, Ohio in 1876, then to Cleveland in 1883
