William Buford McKenzie, January 5, 1913 (Pike County, Mo.) - April 2, 1990 (Rocky Mount, Mo.)
VP candidate for Theocratic Party (1968)
Running mate with nominee: Homer A. Tomlinson (1892-1968)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538
The campaign:
For the first time since the Theocratic Party was founded Homer Tomlinson did not choose to run for President. Instead the Party selected 1964 VP William R. Rogers as the standard bearer for 1968. The decision to select Rogers was made early, in May 1965, and the selection was formalized during the 1967 Theocratic Party convention.
Rogers estimated he had covered over 76,000 miles in the course of his campaign, frequently visiting college campuses. The Party platform was expanded from previous years, and Rogers talked about the anti-war plank, "Stop the war in Vietnam. We're going to have to stop that war. American boys are dying and children left homeless as it gets bloodier day by day. We shouldn't have been there in the first place. I believe I can stop the war and without losing American integrity. I would stop the bombing and pull back our troops for 60 days and as a man of God talk with Hanoi." Rogers was one of the very few candidates in the 1968 campaign to actually visit South Vietnam (in 1966).
Oddly, the Theocratic Party had never selected a running mate for Rogers. And he would never have one because he suddenly dropped out of the race:
I withdrew from the presidential race in late May, 1968, after campaigning hard for three full years. I had discovered that we were not going to get on the ballot anywhere, even in Missouri. I had gone to the court houses. I had traveled all over, but the organization wasn't there.
The Party very quickly replaced Rogers with Tomlinson (his 5th run for the Presidency) and fellow Church of God leader W. Buford McKenzie of Chaffee, Missouri. By this point in his life Tomlinson was very ill and the campaign was a low-key effort. The "King of the World" headline-grabbing theatrics were not as abundant as in earlier election years.
As usual, the Party failed to attain ballot status in any state. 9,629 unnamed write-in votes were recorded in the 1968 Presidential election so it is possible the Tomlinson/McKenzie ticket had a few votes in that mix.
Tomlinson died Dec. 4, 1968, just a month after the election, and although his branch of the Church of God continued to survive, the Theocratic Party itself came to an end with his passing.
Election history: none
Other occupations: shoe company employee, Church of God minister
Buried: ?
Notes:
Known as Buford.
Contrary to a repeated claim on Internet, William Penn Patrick was never associated with or the 1968
running mate for the "California Theocratic Party."
