David Leigh Colvin

David Leigh Colvin, January 28, 1880 (South Charleston, Ohio) – September 7, 1959 (Bronxville, NY)

VP candidate for Prohibition Party (1920)

Running mate with nominee: Aaron S. Watkins (1863-1941)
Popular vote: 188,787 (0.71%)     
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for. After decades of effort, the Prohibition Party at last saw passage of the 18th Amendment and Prohibition becoming the law of the land.

Now what?

Their 1920 platform summarizes the purpose of their existence in a nutshell: "The issue is not only the Enforcement but also the Maintenance of the law to make the Amendment effective."

The platform took a stand on several other issues of the day, including: support for the League of Nations, increasing the role of women in government, creation of a Dept. of Education, and implementation of sex education in schools.

Presidential candidate Watkins offered to drop out of the race if Cox or Harding made a pledge not to weaken or repeal the Volstead Act. But response had he none. This backfired to some degree as the Prohibition Party found itself late in the campaign having to deny rumors that Watkins had indeed stepped down.

Ballot access by third parties was starting to become a problem as laws were changing to institutionalize the two-party system. The Prohibition Party, being the oldest of the third parties, makes a good case study for this. In 1920 their votes were recorded in only 26 states.

Their best three states were Florida (3.52%), California (2.67%), and Pennsylvania (2.30%). The Watkins/Colvin national result of 0.71% was the worst tally the Party had since 1880, and in all subsequent elections their final vote would never top 0.21%.

Election history:
1913 - New York State Assembly (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1914 - New York House of Representatives (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1916 - US Senate (NY) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1917 - Mayor of New York City (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1922 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1932 - US Senate (NY) (Law Preservation Party) - defeated
1936 - US President (Prohibition Party) - defeated
1947 - Prohibition Party nomination for US President - defeated

Other occupations: Army Captain WWI, speaker with Flying Squadron Foundation, Chairman of the Prohibition National Committee 1926-1932, author

Buried: Summit Lawn Cemetery (Westfield, Ind.)

Notes:
One of his opponents in the 1916 US Senate race was Socialist Labor candidate August Gillhaus,
 who he would later compete with for US Vice-President in 1920.
Earned a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1913.
His wife Mamie White Colvin also ran for various offices as a Prohibition Party candidate and was
 President of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union 1944-1953. They were considered something
 of a fervent power couple in the prohibition movement.
Methodist.
Unknown if he was related to Industrial Reform Party 1888 VP nominee John A. Colvin (1841-1900)
 who was also from the same region of Ohio.

Seymour Stedman

Seymour Stedman, July 4, 1871 (Hartford, Conn.) – July 9, 1948 (Chicago, Ill.)

VP candidate for Socialist Party of America (1920)

Running mate with nominee: Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
Popular vote: 913,693 (3.41%)    
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The Socialist Party of America had not had a good four years since the 1916 election. WWI and the post-war Red hysteria had landed many members behind bars. The 1917 Russian Revolution had made communism a more attractive action-based solution for many of the Socialists, starting an exodus to the more Leftward parties. The creation of the Farmer-Labor Party was also drawing away a significant number of SPA members. The SPA itself was splitting as a result of irreconcilable differences between the Left and Right, with the latter camp gaining more control.

And to top it off, their presidential nominee was serving a prison sentence of 10 years, found guilty of "sedition" in Nov. 1918 for advocating resistance to military conscription. He was nominated anyway in what would be his final run for President.

His running mate Seymour Stedman was a founding member of the SPA and the actual job of barnstorming and electioneering fell on his shoulders. He represented the Right wing of the party and was something of a Machiavellian figure in the Socialist world. Strongly anti-Soviet, he was accused of cooperating with police to prosecute Communists, which is rather ironic considering he later became a card-carrying Communist himself ca. 1936-1942, although not politically active.

With votes recorded in 40 states, the Debs/Stedman ticket had their best results in Wisconsin (11.50%), Minnesota (7.62%), New York (7.01%), Nevada (6.85%), California (6.79%), and Oklahoma (5.29%). These were states where the Farmer-Labor Party was basically not in the equation. Landslide winner Warren Harding commuted Debs' sentence effective Christmas Day, 1921.

Election history:
1902 - Illinois State House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1904 - States Attorney (Cook County, Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1906 - Supreme Court Justice (Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1908 - Socialist Party of America nomination for US Vice-President - defeated
1908 - States Attorney (Cook County, Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1913-1915 - Illinois State House of Representatives (Socialist Party of America)
1915 - Mayor of Chicago, Ill. (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1916 - Governor of Illinois (Socialist Party of America) - defeated
1923 - US House of Representatives (Ill.) (Socialist Party of America) - defeated

Other occupations: shepherd, foundry worker, messenger, janitor, writer, attorney

Buried: Oak Woods Cemetery (Chicago, Ill.)

Notes:
Buried in the same cemetery as James "Big Jim" Colosimo, Enrico Fermi, Jesse Owens, William H.
 "Big Bill" Thompson (his 1915 opponent), June Travis, and Harold Washington.
Began his political life as a Georgist.
Was a Democrat, then a Populist before joining the Socialists in 1897. Had worked to make Eugene
 Debs the Populist nominee in 1896.
Was an officer of the City State Bank in the 1920s-1930s. After it went bust in 1929 he was accused of accepting deposits when he knew the bank was going to fail but the charges were dropped.

Maximillian Sebastian Hayes

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

William Jervis Hough

William Jervis Hough

VP candidate for American Party (1920)

Running mate with nominee: James E. Ferguson (1871-1944)
Popular vote: 47,968 (0.18%)    
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

James Edward Ferguson, the former Democratic Governor of Texas who was forced to resign under the shadow of impeachment in 1917, started his own political party with big plans. Unfortunately for him the American Party never appeared on any ballot outside of Texas. He had a problem with expanding his ideas beyond the borders of the Lone Star State. In one case he even stormed out a convention of his own party in Chicago. Mainly, he seemed bent on hurting the Democrats.

The platform was something of an extension of his personality, including opposition to the League of Nations, women's suffrage (which was odd since his wife would later become Governor), prohibition, and conscription. He declared he would pardon Eugene Debs.

On Election Day the Ferguson/Hough ticket won an impressive 9.86% of the Texas vote-- winning in 8 counties and placing second in many more, but that was still not enough to fulfill his goal of throwing the state to the Republicans.


Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Buried: ?

Notes:
Easily one of the most mysterious of running mates, Hough's description is summarized as "The little-known William J. Hough of New York." No doubt related to the NY Congressman of the same name who lived from 1795-1869.

Richard Clarence Barnum

 Macauley and Barnum

Richard Clarence Barnum, July, 1879 (Ellis County, Tex.) - Aug. 27, 1961 (Cuyahoga County, Ohio)

VP candidate for Single Tax Party (aka National Single Tax Party) (1920)

Running mate with nominee: Robert Colvin Macauley (1865-1933)
Popular vote: 8110 (0.03%)
Electoral vote: 0/531

The campaign:

The single-issue single-tax disciples of Henry George had morphed from the tiny Land Value Tax Party to the Single Tax Party with a cat as their party symbol.

Except for the final month, most of the STP campaign consisted of Macauley running a front porch campaign from his home in Philadelphia.

Running mate R.C. Barnum didn't need any professional political handlers: "Mrs. Barnum is my business partner. I intend to conduct my political campaign in the same way I handle my private business. Then whom shall I select as my campaign manager but my wife?"

The Macauley/Barnum ticket was on the ballot in 9 states and didn't exactly turn the world upside down, winning 8110 popular votes for a national total of 0.03%.

Election history: none

Other occupations: publisher

Buried: Highland Park Cemetery (Highland Hills, Ohio)

Notes:
Arrived in Cleveland, Ohio around 1910.
Was 6 ft. 8 in. tall.
His parents, Franklin and Harriet Barnum natives of Ohio, appeared to be Texas residents for just a short time, and returned to the Buckeye State, living in Rock Creek.
Some sources claim Carrie Chapman Catt was actually the nominee or running mate in 1920.
Buried in the same cemetery as Donald “Cinque” DeFreeze.

August Gillhaus

August Gillhaus, June, 1867 (New York, NY?)- May 4, 1932 (New York, NY)

VP candidate for Socialist Labor Party (aka Industrial Labor Party) (1912, 1920)

Running mate with nominee (1912): Arthur E. Reimer (1882-1969)
Running mate with nominee (1920): William Wesley Cox (1865-1948)
Popular vote (1912): 29,324 (0.19%)
Popular vote (1920): 31,084 (0.12%)   
Electoral vote (1912): 0/531
Electoral vote (1920): 0/531

The campaign (1912):

The Socialist Labor Party was pretty much lost in the shuffle in an election year when other third parties were taking up all the political oxygen. The Party continued their trajectory to an isolated and sectarian philosophical territory. It would be the final election in which SLP leader and polarizing figure Daniel De Leon was involved.

The Party's 1912 platform was unusual due to the length of the text. However it was still familiar in that the content was not so much specific statements on various policies but more of a general essay on class struggle.

The SLP was on the ballot in 21 states, placing dead last in every single one. Their two best results, both at 0.66% were Minnesota and Connecticut.

The campaign (1920):

The post-WWI government "Red Scare" prosecution of any organization to the left of the Democratic Party impacted the SLP's ability to spread their message via the postal service. Also, the SLP's membership included many immigrants who were threatened with deportation.

The SLP lost a number of members to the Communist Party in the wake of the Russian Revolution, these defectors were  characterized by the SLP as "a handful of sentimentalists." The differences between the SLP and the Communists would sharpen in the coming years.

On the ballot in only 14 states, where they placed last every time, their strongest result was in Minnesota with 0.79%.

Election history:
1903 - New York State Assembly (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1904 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1905 - New York City Controller (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1908 - US President (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1914 - New York State Engineer and Surveyor (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1916 - US Senate (NY) (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1917 - New York City Controller (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1918 - Lt. Governor of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1929 - New York City Controller (Socialist Labor) - defeated
1930 - Attorney General of New York (Socialist Labor) - defeated

Other occupations: bricklayer, engineer, cigar maker

Buried: possibly cremated and placed in a SLP-owned niche, Fresh Pond Crematory and Columbarium (Middle Village, NY)

Notes:
The first time a prior presidential nominee of any party subsequently ran for Vice-President.
Charles Gillhaus, his father, had immigrated to New York from Germany in 1864.