Samuel Wardell Williams

Samuel Wardell Williams, February 7, 1851 (Mount Carmel, Ill.) – August 5, 1913 (Vicennes, Ind.)

VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party) (1908)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas E. Watson (1856-1922)
Popular vote: 28,862 (0.19%)
Electoral vote: 0/483

The campaign:

The Populist platform was indeed radical in 1896, but this was 1908 in the "Progressive Era" and nearly every party had appropriated the People's Party ideas. This was the final national campaign for what was once one of the most powerhouse third parties in US history. It was also the final campaign for William Jennings Bryan.

1908 running mate Samuel Williams was one of the Populist voices in 1896 that warned it would be a mistake to totally endorse Bryan and he agitated for Watson to be the hybrid running mate in that election. Now Williams himself was the running mate.

Watson's growing racist and religious bigotry was not apparent in the People's Party literature. The articulate Judge Williams actually wrote some of their material.

The Watson/Williams ticket recorded votes in 16 states. They tallied 12.59% in Watson's home state of Georgia, 3.94% in Florida, 1.91% in Mississippi, and 1.50% in Alabama. After that it quickly dwindles down until you reach one single vote in Maine.

Election history:
1877 - Mayor of Vicennes, Ind. (Democratic) - defeated
1882-1886 - Indiana House of Representatives (Democratic)
1904 - People's Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: judge, attorney, Deputy County Clerk of Wasbash County (Ill.), bookkeeper, salesman, Prosecuting Attorney of Knox County, Ind. 1878-1880 

Buried: Greenlawn Cemetery (Vicennes, Ind.)

Notes:
Died from appendicitis
Moved to Vicennes, Ind. in 1869-1870.
Episcopalian
Originally studied to be a Presbyterian minister
Apparently never married.
Once a loyal Democrat, he was driven to the People's Party as a result of his disapproval of President
 Cleveland's first term.

Thomas Henry Tibbles

Thomas Henry Tibbles, May 22, 1840 (Washington County, Ohio) – May 14, 1928 (Omaha, Neb.)

VP candidate for People's Party (aka Populist Party) (1904)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas E. Watson (1856-1922)
Popular vote: 114,070 (0.84%)   
Electoral vote: 0/476

The campaign:

The People's Party was reorganized, with the result being it was serving as a political vehicle for Thomas Watson, the VP running mate from 1896. Watson's running mate was Thomas H. Tibbles which seemed an unlikely alliance since Tibbles had a strong record of abolitionist activity and championing Native American rights while Watson was becoming increasingly xenophobic and promoting white supremacy.

Most of the old Populists had joined one of the major parties, which were co-opting policies originally proposed by the People's Party. William Jennings Bryan himself said that a vote for the Watson/Tibbles ticket was a vote for Theodore Roosevelt.

In Spokane, Wash. Tibbles predicted a financial crash by 1906. He was slightly off, the brief Panic of 1907 took place three years later.

Although their final poll numbers were dismal the Watson/Tibbles ticket did well in their home states. In Georgia they almost placed second with 17.28%, and Nebraska they finished third with 9.09%. Other states where they made respectable percentages for a third party: Alabama (4.64%), Florida (4.15%), Texas (3.45%), Nevada (2.84%), Mississippi (2.55%), and Montana (2.36%).

Election history: none.

Other occupations: author, journalist, Native American rights activist, Methodist preacher, farmer, novelist

Buried: Bellevue Cemetery (Bellevue, Neb.)

Notes:
As a teenager was one of John Brown's group under the command of James Henry Lane in Bleeding
 Kansas. Was captured, sentenced to hang, but escaped.
In his role as a journalist he brought special attention to the case of Standing Bear, also to the
 massacre at Wounded Knee.
Married Susette "Bright Eyes" LaFlesche.
His family moved to Illinois in 1845.
Tibbles' book Buckskin and Blanket Days was read by Louis L'Amour in 1958.

Thomas Edward Watson

Thomas Edward Watson, September 5, 1856 (Thomson, Ga.)– September 26, 1922 (Washington, DC)

VP candidate for People's Party (1896)

Running mate with nominee: William Jennings Bryan (1860-1935)
Popular vote: 222,583 (1.6%)            
Electoral vote: 27/447

The campaign:

With the nomination of William Jennings Bryan the Democratic Party had managed to co-opt many issues long advocated by third parties. The Democratic ticket was endorsed by the single-issue Silver Party, but the People's Party found themselves in a bind. Would they split the vote and help elect McKinley, or would they endorse Bryan?

What they came up with was something of a compromise that in the end worked for no one. They endorsed Bryan but wished not to tolerate his corporate industrialist running mate Arthur Sewall. The Vice-Presidential nomination was given to fiery former Congressman Thomas E. Watson of Georgia. So Bryan had two running mates from two different political parties.

Bryan and Watson were reluctant comrades. The standard bearer basically ignored his Populist VP during the campaign even though Watson was active in his electioneering efforts. Watson included his rival Sewall among the targets in his political attacks.

In a result where the word "fiasco" and "debacle" are frequently used by historians, Bryan lost, Watson began his political journey into racism and religious bigotry, and the People's Party began their collapse.

Although the Bryan/Watson ticket did not garner a high percentage of popular votes, they did earn a respectable tally of 27  in the Electoral College: Arkansas 3, Louisiana 4, Missouri 4, Montana 1, Nebraska 4, North Carolina 5, South Dakota 2, Utah 1, Washington 2, Wyoming 1.

Election history:
1882- Georgia General Assembly (Democratic)
1891-1893 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Alliance Democrat/People's Party)
1892 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (People's Party) - defeated
1894 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (People's Party) - defeated
1895 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (People's Party) - defeated
1898 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Populist Party) - defeated
1900 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Populist Party) - defeated
1904 - US President (Populist Party) - defeated
1908 - US President (Populist Party) - defeated
1911 - Democratic primary US Senate (Ga.) - defeated
1918 - US House of Representatives (Ga.) (Democratic) - defeated
1922-1922 - US Senate (Ga.) (Democratic)

Other occupations: school teacher, attorney, presidential elector (Ga.) for Cleveland 1888, newspaper editor, magazine publisher, author, novelist. 

Buried: Thomson City Cemetery (Thomson, Ga.)

Notes:
While in Congress was one of the forces behind the creation of Rural Free Delivery (the postal RFD)
Was considered a progressive inclusionist in the 19th century but during the 20th century had shifted
 to a white supremacist, anti-Catholic, antisemitic and Nativist political stand.
He opposed America's entry into World War I and the draft which made him sympathetic to the
 Socialists (who he had earlier shunned). The Federal postal system (including RFD no doubt) ceased delivering his publications.
His father was a CSA Army wounded veteran.
Watson sent his child to Catholic school while attacking the Church at the same time.