James William Barton

James William Barton, October 20, 1922 (Illinois) - February 22, 1999 (Missouri)

VP candidate for Independent Party of America (1980)

Running mate with nominee: William James Barton (1949-2002)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Chester, Illinois resident William James Barton of the Independent Party of America promised that as President "all my speeches will be live with no notes." He challenged incumbent President Jimmy Carter to "a radio interview."

Barton selected a running mate he could trust-- his father, James William Barton of Granite City, Ill. This is the first instance of a son and father on the same ticket that I know of.

As far as I can ascertain this Independent Party of America was not connected with the later LDS-inspired party of the same name.

Precious little is known about this campaign or where they stood on the issues of the day. The ticket had some news coverage in Sept. 1979 but then were quickly ignored by the press.

Apparently no journalist made the connection between the Bartons' national campaign and a huge controversy taking place back home at the same time. The elder Barton, the Supervisor of Assessments of Madison County, Ill., was known as "the most powerful Democrat in Madison County." He had been appointed to the position Dec. 1972 and by the late 1970s he was embattled, beleaguered, and was in charge of an office in the midst of an organizational meltdown. By 1986 he entered a guilty plea when charged with bribery, but only after several years of prolonged court action. He was sentenced to six months in jail but his attorneys managed to postpone his original start date in 1987 and I cannot determine if he ever actually did serve some hard time or not.

If they had been elected the younger Barton at age 31 was legally too young to be President so the US House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats in that time period, would have selected the President.

But there is another possible legal issue. Both father and son were residents of the same state which poses a second Constitutional roadblock. But even if the elder Barton had somehow made it past that hurdle, it seems his illegal activity as a county public official would have caught up to him, forcing him to resign much like Vice-President Agnew in 1973 for the same reasons.

Election history:

1968-197- - District 7 School Board (Madison County, Ill.)
196--1972 - Granite City (Ill.) Assessor.

Other occupations: soldier (WWII), Supervisor of Assessments for Madison County, Ill. (1972-1984)

Buried: Goodbread Cemetery (Gorham, Ill.)

Notes:
Chester, Illinois is the "Home of Popeye"!
Was a pilot.

Richard Arnold Grayson

Richard Arnold Grayson, June 4, 1951 (New York, NY) -

VP candidate for any political party (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Fred Silverman (1937-2020)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The 1980 Presidential election year must have been extra interesting for NBC. Part of their talent, David Brinkley, was nominated for VP by James Zalmer Hardy for his Correction, Punishment and Remedy Ticket and the CEO of the network itself, Fred Silverman had his name filed with the FEC for President by Richard Grayson and Jerry Weinberger. As you might recall this duo was also behind the Nixon/Agnew 1980 Nostalgia Party ticket. 1980 appears to have been Grayson's debut year in what would be a long career in sometimes using elections as a venue for political satire, usually as a write-in candidate.

The Silverman for President with Grayson as the running mate campaign was announced in Sept. 1979. The platform included intriguing issues such as banning religious bookstores and returning royalty to America.

Some select quotes from "The Committee to Draft Fred Silverman":

I selected Fred as my running mate because I figure being a TV executive is good training to be president. After all, under President Fred, if one of his programs doesn't work out, he can cancel it after three weeks.

We need a prime-time president. All we've got now is the equivalent of a summer rerun or an early morning sermonette.

If Fred and I get in, we're going to do something about fuel allocations right away. We'll have Ed McMahon host a television special. We'll call it "Bowling for Gallons." I think it's as fair a way as any to distribute gasoline.

Grayson on choice of political party: Jimmy, Jerry, Teddy, they're all the same to me.

NBC sent Grayson a huffy letter stating, "Mr. Silverman is not a candidate for the Presidency or any other office" with the legal threat that the jokester's "unauthorized, possibly illegal, and self-serving activities" could land him in court. "I'd love it," Grayson responded.

Around the same time Grayson was attempting to draft Gloria Vanderbilt into a race for the US Senate under the banner of the Right to Be the Life of the Party Party. Vanderbilt's attorney said the effort was "unauthorized and unappreciated."

Some people.

Also in 1980 Grayson registered the Ayatollah for Congress Committee with the FEC, running the Ayatollah Khomeini as a Democrat running for US Congress out of Brooklyn as a way to diminish his threat to US security, "Then he would be as ineffective as any other congressman."

Aside from Silverman's refusal to accept the nomination there were other problems with this ticket. Grayson was only 29 in 1980, far short of the Constitutionally mandated age of 35 to be VP. Also, with Grayson's parallel effort to get Nixon and Agnew back in the White House, he created his own competition. So far as we know, neither one of them threatened legal action so maybe they had more of a sense of humor than we give them credit for.

In 1984 Grayson reflected on Silverman, "He threatened to sue. But he would have been great. I wanted someone in show business because politics is basically entertainment. I bet he's sorry now that he's fired. The presidency is a sure four years ... I wasn't too far off, though. We've got someone in show business anyway."

Apparently in this election Grayson ended up supporting Rep. John Anderson's third party bid.

Grayson's name will show up in profiles of other third party VPs as I continue this project.

Election history:
1982 - Davie Town Council (Fla.) (Nonpartisan) - defeated
1982 - US Senate (Fla.) (Republican) - primary - defeated
1984 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
1984 - US President (Citizens Running for Election as President Party) - defeated
1986 - Florida State Commissioner of Education (Democrat) - primary - defeated
1988 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
1994 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Democratic) - defeated
1996 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2000 - US Senate (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2004 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2006 - US House of Representatives (Fla.) (Independent) - defeated
2008 - Democratic nomination for US President - defeated
2008 - US House of Representatives (Ariz. CD4) (Republican) - primary - defeated
2008 - US House of Representatives (Ariz. CD6) (Democratic) - primary - defeated or withdrew
2010 - US House of Representatives (Ariz.) (Green Party) - defeated
2012 - Green Party nomination for US President - defeated
2012 - US House of Representatives (Ariz.) (Green Party) - primary - defeated
2012 - US House of Representatives (Ariz.) (Americans Elect) - defeated
2014 - US House of Representatives (Wyo.) (Democratic) - defeated
2016 - US House of Representatives (Wyo.) (Democratic) - withdrew
2018 - Arizona House of Representatives (Green) - defeated

Other occupations: author, teacher, satirist

Notes:
Winner of the 2000 race was Bill Nelson
Winner of the 2010 race was Jeff Flake
Supported McGovern in 1972 and McCarthy in 1976
In 1989 Grayson identified my late friend Crad Kilodney as "Canada's funniest fiction writer." For
 that viewpoint alone Grayson would get my vote. I interviewed Kilodney (his pen name) in the early
 1990s for City Limits Gazette as his street-vending case went to the Canadian Supreme Court.
Attempting to document Grayson's kinetic runs for offices is quite challenging, which I'm sure must
 delight Mr. Grayson! I'll keep retooling the list as I learn.

Spiro Theodore Agnew

Spiro Theodore Agnew, November 9, 1918 (Baltimore, Md.) – September 17, 1996 (Berlin, Md.)

VP candidate for Nostalgia Party (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Richard Grayson (self-described moderate radical) and Jerry Weinberger (self-described radical moderate), two twentysomethings from Queens, NY formed the tongue-in-cheek Nixon-Agnew in '80 Committee and said they registered the ticket with the FEC. Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, who both resigned their last public offices in disgrace, were listed under the Nostalgia Party.

A couple problems here. Nixon had already been elected twice to the Presidency and according to the term limits set by the Constitution that includes the phrase "No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice ..." would certainly make him ineligible for a third round. No such restriction applies to the VP, so Agnew would be safe.

Grayson's response, "Since when did Nixon care about the Constitution?"

Secondly, as frequently the case when big names are appropriated by third parties, neither candidate gave permission to use their names.

"Well, we tried to contact both Nixon and Agnew but we had a problem ... They wouldn't take our calls. I don't think they're even speaking to each other anymore. They're sort of like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis after they split up."

Some more quotes from Grayson and Weinberger:

Life was a lot better when Nixon and Agnew came into office. The Beatles were still together. Gasoline dealers had price wars and gave away free dishes.

Nixon and Agnew have learned a lot since leaving office. They've both written two books and have matured.

Look at how things were when these two were in office. Interest rates were down and hemlines were up. Students were active in social issues. No disco.

I regret never having voted for Nixon. I'm not going to let it happen again. You know, I really miss seeing him. I miss seeing his upper lip sweat. Carter doesn't sweat. How can you trust a man who doesn't sweat?

Remember how great he was on TV? When that man lied, you knew he lied. What more could you ask for in a president?

The Nixon/Agnew ticket enjoyed some novelty publicity in the spring of 1980 and even though news coverage of the Nostalgia Party faded it is an easy bet they received some write-in votes in November. In the event they won, Agnew would have once again served as VP, but the Democratic controlled US House would have been placed in the position of electing a President between two runner ups (Carter and Reagan) as long they also had Electoral votes. Let the conjecture begin!

Election history:
1960 - Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge - defeated
1962-1966 - Baltimore County (Md.) Executive (Republican)
1967-1969 - Governor of Maryland (Republican)
1969-1973 - US Vice-President (Republican) - resigned

Other occupations: US Army (WWII) (Korea), attorney, Baltimore County Board of Zoning Appeals, author, international business consultant

Buried: Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens (Timonium, Md.)

Notes:
Buried in the same cemetery as Johnny Unitas.
His father was a Greek immigrant to the US in 1897, original name was Theophrastos
 Anagnostopoulos.
Was a Democrat until after WWII.
Brush with fame: I was in a college class with one of Agnew's daughters about six years after he
 resigned and she was really a delightful person.