Jeff

Jeff, March 27, 1908 (San Francisco, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Bughouse Party (1908)

Running mate with nominee: Augustus Mutt (b. 1907)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/483

The campaign:

Bud Fisher's comic strip characters Mutt and Jeff had a formula that anticipated the dynamics of Abbott and Costello-- the fast talking get-rich-quick schemer coupled with the stubby dim-witted child man. The characters met in an institution for the insane, so when the wildly popular duo ran for the White House it seemed only natural they would use the banner of the Bughouse Party. Probably could not get away with using that party name today.

Election history: none

Other occupations: insane asylum inmate, racetrack gambler

Notes:
Quite possibly the first cartoon characters to run for President and VP.

Aaron Sherman Watkins

Aaron Sherman Watkins, November 29, 1863 (Rushsylvania, Ohio) – February 9, 1941 (Rushsylvania, Ohio)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1908, 1912)

Running mate with nominee (1908, 1912): Eugene W. Chafin (1852-1920)
Popular vote (1908): 254,087 (1.71%)
Popular vote (1912): 208,156 (1.38%)    
Electoral vote (1908): 0/483
Electoral vote (1912): 0/531

The campaign (1908):

Legal prohibition of alcohol across state and local jurisdictions had taken a dramatic rise since the 1904 election.

CSA Army veteran Rev. William B. Palmore who had failed to gain the presidential nomination was given the VP nod, but he declined, opening the way for Aaron S. Watkins.

The first two planks of the 11-point party platform dealt with alcohol, but among the remaining policies were: The election of United States Senators by direct vote of the people, Equitable graduated income and inheritance taxes, The strict enforcement of laws instead of official tolerance and practical license of the social evil which prevails in many of our cities with its unspeakable traffic in girls, The prohibition of child labor in mines, workshops, and factories, and finally most interesting and curious of all-- Legislation basing suffrage only upon intelligence and ability to read and write the English language.

The 1908 election had a funny symmetry that perhaps only those of us who enjoy trivia would notice. In a way there were three contests taking place. 1-- The two Williams, Taft vs. Bryan. 2-- The two Eugenes, Debs vs. Chafin. 3-- The two guys named Thomas, Hisgen vs. Watson.

The Prohibition Party placed 4th nationally in a race with up to seven parties on the presidential ballot.

Presented as an option in all but six states, the Chafin/Watson ticket had their best showing in South Dakota where they placed third with 3.52%. They also made third place in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Iowa, Nebraska, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky. This would be their 4th best presidential election.

The campaign (1912):

The Chafin/Watkins ticket was offered a second time, a testimony to the leadership abilities of both gentlemen within the Party. But 1912 would be one of the wildest presidential elections, making it more difficult for the Prohibition Party to fight for attention.

The introduction to the 1912 platform demonstrated the Prohibition Party's view of the role of alcohol being the cause of many social problems.

"The alcoholic drink traffic is wrong; is the most serious drain on the wealth and resources of the nation; is detrimental to the general welfare and destructive of the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. All laws taxing or licensing a traffic which produces crime, poverty and political corruption, and spreads disease and death should be repealed. To destroy such a traffic there must be elected to power a political party which will administer the government from the standpoint that the alcoholic drink traffic is a crime and not a business, and we pledge that the manufacture, importation, exportation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages shall be prohibited."

The remainder of the 1912 platform was similar to the 1908 version except the literary test for suffrage was deleted. Added to the revised document was: Suffrage for women on the same terms as for men, and, A presidential term of six years, and one term only.

The Party placed 5th nationally, with their tally recorded in all but 8 states their best showings were in Florida (3.65%) and California (3.45%). Vermont and Delaware were the only two states where they outpolled the Socialists.

Election history:
1904 - US House of Representative (Ohio) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1905 - Governor of Ohio (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1916 - US Senate (Ohio) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1920 - President of the United States (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1922 - Governor of Ohio (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1928 - Prohibition Party nomination for US President - defeated
1932 - Governor of Ohio (Prohibition Party) - defeated

Other occupations: President of Asbury College 1909-1910, Methodist minister, attorney, teacher,

Buried: Equality Cemetery (Rushsylvania, Ohio)

Notes:
The second time a third party ran the same ticket two elections in a row, the first being Debs-Hanford
 (Socialist) 1904-1908.
Grandfather of 2000 Prohibition Party VP nominee Willard Dean Watkins.
Held the rank of Captain during WWI while an instructor at Miami Military Institute (Germantown,
 Ohio)
Was preparing to run for Governor of Ohio when nominated as VP in 1908, so he withdrew from the
 gubernatorial campaign.
Debated Clarence Darrow on the subject of prohibition of alcohol in Oshkosh, Wis. on Aug. 30,
 1909.

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.

Donald Lapthorp Munro

Donald Lapthorp Munro, May 6, 1859 (St. John, NB) - March 8, 1934 (Cradock, Va.)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (1908)

Running mate with nominee: August Gillhaus (1867-1932)
Popular vote: 14,031 (0.09%)
Electoral vote: 0/483

The campaign:

At ever at war with other groups, a proposed unification with the Socialist Party of America failed to materialize and the SLP also had problems with the IWW.

SLP leader Daniel De Leon nominated Morris (“Morrie”) R. Preston (1882-1935) for President. Donald L. Munro was selected as his running mate. The only problem was that Preston had been locked up in a Nevada prison since 1907, serving a 25-year sentence for killing a man during a picketing struggle. There is some question as to whether Preston was even a member of the SLP. In any case, he declined the nomination and August Gillhaus was substituted.

Preston, by the way was released in 1917, died as a result of falling off a telephone pole in 1935, and was posthumously pardoned by the Nevada State Supreme Court in the 1980s when the evidence was revisited. Some sources call him Martin Preston.

With votes counted in 16 states, the SLP won 0.32% in Connecticut and it went downhill from there. Gillhaus will emerge later as a SLP VP candidate in 1912 and 1920.

Election history:
1898 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1900 - US House of Representatives (Penn.) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1902 - Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania (Socialist Labor) - defeated

Other occupations: machinist, toolmaker, presidential elector for Socialist Labor Party in Va. 1924-1928

Buried: Olive Branch Cemetery (Portsmouth, Va.)

Notes:
Presbyterian
Buried in the same cemetery as the author V.C. Andrews.
His Canadian birth possibly disqualified him for the VP office had he been elected.

John Temple Graves

John Temple Graves, November 9, 1856 (Willington, SC) – August 8, 1925 (Washington, DC)

VP candidate for Independence Party (aka Independence League aka National Independence League) (1908)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas L. Hisgen (1858-1925)
Popular vote: 82,574 (0.55%)
Electoral vote: 0/483

The campaign:

The Independence Party grew out of William Randolph Hearst's 1904 Municipal Ownership League, created as a springboard for his 1905 run and razor-thin loss for the office of Mayor of New York. Some historians believe the Independence Party, created in 1906, was Hearst's way of punishing William Jennings Bryan (the Democratic nominee in 1908). Hearst apparently felt Bryan had worked against his own quest for the Democratic nomination in 1904. Although not a candidate himself in 1908, the party is an early example of a millionaire single-handedly orchestrating the actions of a third party.

The vice-presidential candidate John Temple Graves, one of Hearst's writers, was quite possibly one of the most vocal avowed racists of his era (which is saying a lot). He advocated lynching, segregation, and the Ku Klux Klan in speeches and articles.

The Independence Party platform included: support for initiative and referendum, 8-hour day, prohibition of convict and child labor, creation of a Dept. of Labor, statehood for Arizona and New Mexico, "exclusion of Asiatic cheap labor," direct election of US Senators, and a graduated income tax.

They were on the ballot in all but six states placing a distant 5th place nationally. Their best showing was in Massachusetts (4.21%) the home state of their presidential candidate. They had an especially miserable showing in Graves' home state of Georgia (0.06%) probably due to the fact it was also home to Populist Party presidential nominee Thomas Watson (who won 12.59% of the Peach State's vote) and who was another vocal avowed racist of his era.

The Independence Party feebly struggled on until 1914, with many of the members eventually returning to the Democratic Party.

Election history:
1886 - Democratic nomination for US House of Representatives (Fla.) - defeated
1905 or 1906 - US Senate (Ga.) (Democratic) - defeated or withdrew
1908 - Independence Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: Democratic Party presidential elector 1884 (Fla.) - 1888 (Ga.), teacher, newspaper editor, orator

Buried: Westview Cemetery (Atlanta, Ga.)

Notes:
Great-grandnephew of John C. Calhoun.
Rejoined the Democratic Party in 1912.
Wrote race-baiting incendiary articles in his newspaper and some historians place responsibility on
 him for creating an atmosphere that led to the Atlanta riots of 1906.
Was an early supporter of the Stone Mountain Confederate carving.
"Let the Government set aside, out of its vast public domains, a large territory for a sovereign State to
 be officered and controlled exclusively by the negroes and no whites to have the right to vote therein,
 the Government to maintain troops to preserve order. The only price the negro need pay for this
 privilege would be his right to vote in any other State."--John Temple Graves paraphrased by the
 Washington Post, Aug. 13, 1893.
Graduate of the University of Georgia 1875.
Campaigned for Cleveland in 1892.
Sometimes called "Colonel Graves" although he apparently was never in the military, probably it was
 an honorary title bestowed by the Governor of Georgia.
In a 1907 speech urged Democrats to support Theodore Roosevelt.
"The people of the South will not be scared by threats of the federal court, and if it invades the state's
 authority and takes charge of these cases there is the Kuklux Klan to fall back on, which was the
 most effective agency that the Southern country had ever known against crime and lawlessness."--
John Temple Graves 1904.

Lorenzo Stephen Coffin

Lorenzo Stephen Coffin, April 29, 1823 (Alton, NH) - January 17, 1915 (Fort Dodge, Iowa)

VP candidate for United Christian Party (1908)

Running mate with nominee: Daniel Braxton Turney (1848-1926)
Popular vote: 463 (0.0%)
Electoral vote: 0/483

The campaign:

The United Christian Party resurfaced in 1908 after we last saw them in 1900. They apparently skipped the 1904 election, either that or they ran stealth candidates.

1908 platform was short and to the point: "The platform of the united Christian party is based on the ten commandments and the golden rule and favors direct primary elections, the initiative, referendum, recall, uniform marriage and divorce laws, equal rights for men and women, government ownership of coal mines, oil wells and public utilities: the regulation of trusts and the election of the president and vice-president and senators of the United States by the direct vote of the people."

At age 85, Lorenzo S. Coffin is one of the oldest third party running mates. He was probably one of the last Civil War veterans to be on a third party ticket as well.

The UCP seems to have been on the ballot in at least two states with 400 votes in Illinois and 63 in Michigan.

Election history:
1906 - Governor of Iowa (Prohibition Party) - defeated

Other occupations: farmer, Union soldier (Iowa Infantry) during the Civil War, newspaper editor, grange activist, member of the Iowa Railroad Commission (1883-1888), instructor in Geauga Seminary

Buried: Willowledge Cemetery (Fort Dodge, Iowa)

Notes:
Attended Oberlin College
Moved to Iowa in 1854
Organized the Iowa Benevolent Association for ex-convicts and unwed mothers.
Started out as a Republican before joining the Prohibition Party.
During his time as an instructor in Geauga Seminary, James A. Garfield was one of his students.
His burial site is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Benjamin Hanford

Benjamin Hanford, 1861 (Cleveland, Ohio) – January 24, 1910 (Brooklyn, NY)

VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1904, 1908)

Running mate with nominee (1904, 1908): Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
Popular vote (1904): 402,810 (2.98%)
Popular vote (1908): 420,852 (2.83%)   
Electoral vote (1904): 0/476
Electoral vote (1908): 0/483

The campaign (1904):

The Debs/Hanford ticket placed a strong third, on all of the ballots save for South Carolina. They polled from 8.90% in California, 8.81% in Montana, 8.45% in Oregon, and above 5% in seven more states mostly in the West. In one of those contests could they have been considered spoilers.

The campaign (1908):

Hanford, who was considered an effective speaker, was sidelined during a good deal of the campaign by his fragile health while Debs whistle-stopped aboard the Red Special.

Once again the Debs/Hanford ticket did well in the West with their top three states being Nevada (8.57%), Montana (8.51%), and Oklahoma (8.47%), and above 5% in six more states. This time they did act as spoilers giving Taft Montana but it made no difference in the national outcome.

Election history:
1897 - Brooklyn Borough President (NY) (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1898 - Governor of New York (Socialist Labor Party) - defeated
1900 - Governor of New York (Social Democratic Party) - defeated
1901 - Mayor of New York (Social Democratic Party) - defeated

Other occupations: printer, author, lecturer

Buried: ?

Notes:
If elected in 1908 he would have died less than two years into his term.
The earliest third party example of running the same ticket two elections in a row.
He was defeated for NY Governor in 1898 by Theodore Roosevelt.
Joined the Socialist Labor Party ca. 1893 but eventually was part of the huge migration to the Social
 Democratic Party ca. 1899-1900.
While still in the SLP, once took part in a violent brawl when rival Socialists stormed the SLP HQ.
"Not only do I owe my life to the Socialist Movement. Until I joined that Movement I had never lived."--Ben Hanford Jan. 1909