Woodstock

 

Woodstock, April 4, 1967 (Santa Rosa, Calif.) -

VP candidate for Independent (2016)

Running mate with nominee: Snoopy (b. 1950)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Snoopy, Charlie Brown's pet beagle in Charles Schulz's comic strip Peanuts, has been running for President since 1968. In that same year a musical group called The Royal Guardsman released a "Snoopy for President" 45 single launching what became the cartoon dog's quadrennial bid for the White House. Sometimes these efforts were officially sanctioned, other times they were fan-driven.

Snoopy made political promises such as "Pizza on every table" and "Federal aid to surfing." When Gov. Reagan ran for President in 1980 he was alleged to have written to Schulz, "Anything you can do to talk Snoopy out of running will be appreciated. How would he feel about a cabinet post?"

Snoopy's sidekick in the comic strip was a little bird named Woodstock who spoke with his word balloons filled with chicken scratches. It is probable he was Snoopy's running mate prior to 2016 but I cannot confirm it. Many characters in the Peanuts universe ran for President and Woodstock himself was touted in 2012 and 2016 for the office.

Election history:
2012 - US President (Independent) - defeated
2016 - US President (Independent) - defeated

Other occupations: fictional character

Notes:
One of the qualities I love about the Peanuts strip is the fact that during most of his career Charles Schulz produced the entire thing himself including writing, pencils, inks, lettering, etc.

Mrs. Peace

Mrs. Peace

VP candidate for Independent (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Mr. Peace
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Mr. and Mrs. Peace of Boyes Hot Springs, Calif. were certified as write-in candidates for President and Vice-President in their home state in 1980. They listed no first names and did not a provide a telephone number. The press never did track them down, although attempts were made.

Being residents of the same state would have posed a Constitutional problem in the event of their victory.

Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Notes:
There actually were residents of the Boyes Hot Springs area who really did have the "Peace" surname.

Martha M. Hoglund

Martha M. Hoglund, October 1, 1943 -

VP candidate for Independent (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Raymond V. Liebenberg (1920-1990)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Raymond V. Liebenberg was a perennial candidate for various offices starting as early as 1964. A tree topper, chiropractor, naturalist, property developer, and WWII veteran, he had a long white beard and once described himself as "a hank of hair and a hunk of bone." His political career began in the Santa Cruz, Calif. area.

In 1980 he initially ran in at least one Democratic primary for President (Florida) in what he characterized as a "penniless campaign." But then he went on to the general election as an independent with Martha M. Hoglund of Baytown, Tex. as his running-mate. They were certified write-ins in California and Missouri and perhaps elsewhere.

Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Notes:
Hoglund belonged to a bowling team called the Gutter Rats.

Gregory Lee Gilbreth

Gregory Lee Gilbreth

VP candidate for Independent (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Carmen A. Conde
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Carmen A. Conde and Gregory Lee Gilbreth were certified write-in candidates for President in California, 1980. They were both listed as residents of San Luis Obispo, and that information exhausts the sum of their press coverage.

Circumstantial evidence leads to the conjecture that Conde is possibly the same as the 27 year old Bay Area photographer and con artist arrested in 1972. Conde had escaped from the Napa State Hospital and was recaptured after a brief spree with bad checks. Plus, an alternate spelling for Gilbreth could be Gregory Lee Gilbreath, born 1956 in California with ties to San Luis Obispo, who was jailed in Bellingham, Wash. for robbery in the first degree in 1999.

But, as I say, it is just a wild brainstorm guess and not an established fact the two gentlemen comprising the Conde/Gilbreth ticket are the same as the two I mentioned with criminal records. In any event, being residents of the same state would have posed a Constitutional barrier to taking office had they won (as well as Gilbreath's age if he the same as Gilbreth).

Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Notes:
Possible Washington State trivia alert.

Dorothy Louise Perkins

Dorothy Louise Perkins, December 11, 1929 (Blytheville, Ark.) - January 23, 1991 (Rockwall, Tex.)

VP candidate for Independent (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Marvin Edward Perkins (1935-2003)
Popular vote: 0 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Reported to be a husband and wife ticket, Marvin and Dorothy Perkins were certified write-in candidates in Missouri, their home state of Texas, and perhaps other states.

Although their names were listed a few times in the media, their platform and motivations were not. This couple seemed to have had an interesting on again off again marriage. After the 1980 election, if I am reading the records correctly, it looks like they divorced twice and remarried twice.

If the Perkins/Perkins ticket had won, the fact they were residents of the same state would have posed a Constitutional problem.

Dorothy died in 1991. Marvin ran for President again in 1996.

Election history: ?

Other occupations: ?

Buried: Rest Haven Memorial Park (Rockwall, Tex.)

Notes:
Birth name: Dorothy Louise Leath. Also known as Dorothy Louise Gann.

Patrick Joseph Lucey

Patrick Joseph Lucey, March 21, 1918 (La Crosse, Wis.) – May 10, 2014 (Milwaukee, Wis.)

VP candidate for Independent (aka Anderson Coalition aka Anderson Alternative aka Liberal Party aka Anderson for President aka National Unity Party) (1980)

Running mate with nominee: John Bayard Anderson (1922-2017)
Popular vote: 5,586,806 (6.46%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

John B. Anderson had been a US Representative from Illinois for nearly two decades when he ran in the Republican primaries for President in 1980. Initially a very conservative member of the Illinois delegation in the 1960s he shifted to the Left and by the 1970s was considered an animal that is nearly extinct today-- a liberal Republican.

Finding himself out of step with his own party and with no hope of winning the nomination he decided to run as an independent candidate. Basically a centrist, he was more conservative than the Democrats on fiscal matters and more liberal than the Republicans on environment, women's issues, and civil rights. His articulate, direct delivery and opposition to draft registration made him particularly popular with many college and university students.

In two states he was forced to keep surrogate running-mates in order to qualify for early filing. In Texas he selected Milton Eisenhower, in South Dakota it was Nancy B. Flint.

As the Herculean effort to be listed on every state ballot began, Anderson announced that former Wisconsin Democratic Governor Patrick J. Lucey would be the VP nominee. Lucey had been a strong Kennedy man, working in the campaigns of all three brothers-- JFK in 1960, RFK in 1968, and Ted in 1980. Lucey had walked out of the 1980 Democratic convention when Ted Kennedy lost the nomination to President Carter.

Anderson had considered other running mates: Hugh Carey, Jesse Jackson, Morris Udall, Kevin White, Barbara Jordon, Shirley Chisholm, Walter Cronkite, and Edward Brooke. It finally boiled down to Brooke or Lucey, and the Massachsetts Senator had recently acquired some politically damaging baggage, so Lucey got the nod. Although Patrick Lucey was not quite in the top tier of national figures, being a former governor plus an Ambassador to Mexico did add some stature to the ticket plus he was not the type to cause any harm. Lucey had told Anderson that if he wanted his help it would be as Veep or not at all.

Lucey echoed the view of many of his fellow disenchanted liberal Democrats when he said, "I have not abandoned the Democratic Party. It is Jimmy Carter who has abandoned the Democratic Party. He has abandoned the Democratic Party's historical commitment to full employment and has deliberately thrown millions of Americans out of their jobs ... He has abandoned the Democratic Party's traditional faith in the people by blaming the ills of the nation in the malaise of the people rather than his own ineptitude."

I recall whenever Anderson would pronounced the name of his Veep he really punched hard into the surname, "Patrick LUCEY," which struck me as odd.

Anderson scored a big victory when he was allowed to participate in a Presidential debate, but Carter refused to take part saying he didn't want to face down two Republicans. So It was just Reagan and Anderson, the first time a third party candidate took part in such a campaign ritual.

Nixon loyalist, 1980 Reagan campaign operative, and now seven-times convicted felon Roger Stone claims he and the notorious Roy Cohn arranged to deliver a large sum of money to an influential member of the Liberal Party in New York to have them endorse Anderson (which they did) and split the vote (which they also did). Reagan indeed won the state.

As it happens in so many other instances with insurgent parties, Anderson's once threatening polls began to rapidly drop as the election approached. Even so, his total with all three running-mates was 6.61%, one of the more impressive results for a third party in the modern era. But it made no difference in the ultimate outcome of the election although it certainly would not have been a Reagan landslide victory had Anderson not been in the race.

Although Anderson's persistence in gaining nationwide ballot access has been touted, he was able to do so as he built on the past efforts of George Wallace in 1968 and Eugene McCarthy in 1976.

Anderson/Lucey's biggest percentages: Massachusetts 15.15%, Vermont 14.90%, Rhode Island 14.38%, New Hampshire 12.94%, Connecticut 12.22%, Colorado 11.03%, Washington 10.62%, Hawaii 10.56%, Maine 10.20%. Although they didn't carry one single county, these are major results for a third party in a national election.

Election history:
1946 - Justice of the Peace, Ferryville, Wis.
1946 - De Soto School Board
1949-1951 - Wisconsin State Assembly (Democratic)
1950 - US House of Representatives (Wis.) (Democratic) - defeated
1965-1967 - Lt. Governor of Wisconsin (Democratic)
1966 - Governor of Wisconsin (Democratic) - defeated
1971-1977 - Governor of Wisconsin (Democratic)
1980 - Democratic nomination for US Vice-President - defeated

Other occupations: grocery store manager, soldier (WWII), Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party 1957-1963, political campaign manager, US Ambassador to Mexico 1977-1979 

Buried: Holy Cross Cemetery and Mausoleum (Milwaukee, Wis.)

Notes:
Was a Wisconsin point man for John Kennedy's 1960 campaign, Robert Kennedy's 1968 campaign,
 among others.
In 1970 one of his opponents was Georgia Cozzini.
In 1974 his opponents included William D. Dyke and Georgia Cozzini.
Catholic.
Meaningless trivia-- A couple years ago on a road trip I drove on the Governor Patrick Lucey
 Highway in Wisconsin which includes his Ferryville stomping grounds. The Mississippi River was
 in a mild flood stage at the time. I had to brake for a weird shaggy weasel-like animal that did not
 seem to be in much of a hurry to cross the lane.

Nancy Elaine Blair Flint

Nancy Elaine Blair Flint, September 12, 1921 (Oregon) -

VP candidate for Independent (1980)

Running mate with nominee: John Bayard Anderson (1922-2017)
Popular vote: 21,431 (0.02%)    
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

John B. Anderson had been a US Representative from Illinois for nearly two decades when he ran in the Republican primaries for President in 1980. Initially a very conservative member of the Illinois delegation in the 1960s he shifted to the Left and by the 1970s was considered an animal that is nearly extinct today-- a liberal Republican.

Finding himself out of step with his own party and with no hope of winning the nomination he decided to run as an independent candidate. Basically a centrist, he was more conservative than the Democrats on fiscal matters and more liberal than the Republicans on environment, women's issues, and civil rights. His articulate, direct delivery and opposition to draft registration made him particularly popular with many college and university students.

In two states he was forced to keep surrogate running-mates in order to qualify for early filing. In Texas he selected Milton Eisenhower, in South Dakota it was Nancy B. Flint.

Nancy B. Flint was an Anderson volunteer from Rapid City and the wife of retired Army Colonel Brilsford P. Flint. "I've never been in politics before," she told the press, "but I've been for John Anderson since he first started to run. I have voted Republican, but it's worth helping him against them because he's right on all the issues. It's exciting."

The Anderson/Flint ticket finished with 6.54% of the South Dakota vote, just a fraction below Anderson's national result of 6.61%

Election history: none

Other occupations: clerk

Notes:
The Flints moved around a lot. Col. Flint, veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam died in Las Vegas in 2006, survived by Nancy.
Northwest trivia alert!!! Born in Oregon, lived in Clatsop County. Her father was born in Washington, her mother in Oregon.

Milton Stover Eisenhower

Milton Stover Eisenhower, September 15, 1899 (Abilene, Kan.) – May 2, 1985 (Baltimore, Md.)

VP candidate for Independent (1980)

Running mate with nominee: John Bayard Anderson (1922-2017)
Popular vote: 111,613 (0.13%)    
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

John B. Anderson had been a US Representative from Illinois for nearly two decades when he ran in the Republican primaries for President in 1980. Initially a very conservative member of the Illinois delegation in the 1960s he shifted to the Left and by the 1970s was considered an animal that is nearly extinct today-- a liberal Republican.

Finding himself out of step with his own party and with no hope of winning the nomination he decided to run as an independent candidate. Basically a centrist, he was more conservative than the Democrats on fiscal matters and more liberal than the Republicans on environment, women's issues, and civil rights. His articulate, direct delivery and opposition to draft registration made him particularly popular with many college and university students.

In two states he was forced to keep surrogate running-mates in order to qualify for early filing. In Texas he selected Milton Eisenhower, in South Dakota it was Nancy B. Flint.

Milton, called by his sibling President Eisenhower "the brightest of the Eisenhower brothers" turned 81 years of age during the campaign. In addition to Texas he had also originally been included as the VP in petition drives for the Florida, Illinois and Virginia ballots, and probably other states as well. But only in Texas was Anderson not allowed to remove Eisenhower's name to be replaced by Lucey. If he had legally challenged this decision he might have won as he did in other states but I suspect he had to pick his battles.

Eisenhower was perhaps the best known among a group of center-to-Left Republicans who backed Anderson in the Republican primaries. In 1980 he was a resident of Baltimore. Eisenhower was among the last of the Northeastern "Codfish Cadre" moderate Republicans that had been in control of that party before the center of power shifted South and West. Rather than the start of a new era, Anderson's campaign seemed to be more of a swan song for a political philosophy that celebrated practical compromise, an appeal to the brain more than the gut. Endorsing that sort of thinking would not be as favored by the voters in the coming decades as America grew more polarized and partisan.

The Anderson/Eisenhower ticket earned 2.46% of the Texas vote, Anderson's 8th worst result.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: Director of Information for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Director of the War Relocation Authority (displacing and imprisoning Japanese-American civilians as if they were enemies during WWII), Associate Director of the Office of War Information, President of Kansas State University, President of Pennsylvania State University, President of Johns Hopkins University,

Buried: Centre County Memorial Park (State College, Penn.)

Notes:
Perhaps one of the last third party VPs born in the 1800s.
Voted for Walter Mondale in 1984.

David Hamilton Koch

David Hamilton Koch, May 3, 1940 (Wichita, Kan.) – August 23, 2019 (Southampton, NY)

VP candidate for Libertarian Party (aka Independent aka Free Libertarian Party) (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Edward E. Clark (b. 1930)
Popular vote: 921,128 (1.06%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

In 1980 the polarizing term "Koch Brothers" and what that represented had yet to really become part of the American lexicon. David Koch himself, the Libertarian Party running-mate with Ed Clark in that year, was learning a lesson in electoral politics the hard way.

Born into oil refinery wealth, Koch lived up to his middle name of Hamilton when in a 1974 speech he declared, "The development of a well-financed cadre of sound proponents of the free enterprise philosophy is the most critical need facing us today."

As we have seen in several cases, the size of the candidate's bank account is frequently more important than their experience or credentials when it comes to gaining the second spot on the ticket. In Aug. 1979 Koch announced his availability for the VP nomination in a very unsubtle way: "As the Vice-presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party I will contribute several hundred thousand dollars to the Presidential campaign committee in order to ensure that our ideas and our Presidential nominee receive as much media exposure as possible." It seems he actually kicked in more than two million dollars.

I remember being impressed that as a third party the Libertarians actually had television advertisements in 1980. I also remember those ads looked low-budget, were badly produced, and very hokey. Koch's investment was poorly spent in this regard.

The long 1980 platform included: repeal of and pardons for what they considered victimless crimes such as drug use, prostitution, suicide -- pro-Gay rights -- repeal of all laws permitting involuntary psychiatric treatment -- An end to criminal defenses based on "insanity" or "diminished capacity" which absolve the guilty of their responsibility --  opposition to all forms of government censorship and media regulation including anti-pornography laws -- no government sponsored media such as NPR -- an end to the taxation of private owned real property -- oppose the issuance by the government of an identity card, to be required for any purpose, such as for employment, voting, or border crossings -- abolition of the CIA and FBI -- pro-guns -- anti-draft -- anti-national service programs -- Members of the military should have the same right to quit their jobs as other persons -- abolition of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Border Patrol, and a declaration of full amnesty for those people who have entered the country illegally. We oppose government welfare payments to non-citizens just as we oppose government welfare payments to all other persons. We welcome Indochinese and other refugees to our shores, and condemn the efforts of U.S. government officials to induce Indochinese governments to create a new "Berlin wall" that would keep them captive -- oppose all personal and corporate income taxation, including capital gains taxes -- abolition of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, The National Banking System, and all similar state and federal agencies -- termination of government-created franchise privileges and governmental monopolies for such services as garbage collection, fire protection, electricity, natural gas, telephone, or water supplies. Furthermore, all rate regulation in these industries should be abolished -- repeal of all federal and state controls over price and output in the petroleum industry. All government owned energy resources should be turned over to private ownership -- abolition of the Consumer Product Safety Commission -- abolition of the Federal Aviation Administration -- abolition of the Food and Drug Administration -- government ownership, operation, regulation, and subsidy of schools and colleges should be ended --  dissolution of all government agencies concerned with transportation, including the Department of Transportation, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Civil Aeronautics Board, the Federal Maritime Commission, Conrail and Amtrak -- repeal of the Occupational Safety and Health Act -- Social Security should be made voluntary -- abolition of the governmental Postal Service -- abolition of the Civil Service system -- abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs -- abolition of the "despotic" Federal Election Commission -- In order to expand the range of choice in federal, state and local elections of government officials, we propose the addition of the alternative "None of the above is acceptable" to all ballots. In the event that "none of the above" wins a plurality of votes, the elective office for that term will remain unfilled and unfunded -- withdrawal from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund -- withdrawal of all American troops from bases abroad, and NATO, and the UN, and cease the Monroe Doctrine -- reform of the Presidential War Powers Act to end the President's power to initiate military action, and for the abrogation of all Presidential declarations of "states of emergency" -- immediate independence for all colonial dependencies, such as Samoa, Guam, Micronesia, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

Needless to say, eliminating that pesky Dept. of Energy was one of Koch's favorite topics.

After reading that partial list of issues we have to remind ourselves that Clark and Koch were considered moderates within the Party. For those in the traditional dualism mindset of American politics, there was something in there to offend everyone. The civil liberties portion of this platform horrified the evangelicals. And the economic and deregulating half alienated the Left.

During the campaign Koch Industries had been subpoenaed in an investigation regarding fraudulent gas and oil leases in Wyoming, which would have made one wonder about Koch's Libertarian motives if anyone had been paying attention. Using Koch as an example, it would be easy to assume the Libertarian Party was more about the wealthy perpetuating the economic class and social sense of entitlement in order to keep their huge fortunes and maintain the Darwinian Ayn Rand romantic notions of elitism than it was to think of the LP being a champion of individualism and personal liberty. A populist party this was not.

A portion of the Party resented Koch's presence and felt he was buying his way into the power structure of their group, which he in fact was doing. Koch himself enjoyed campaigning but was about to realize a hard fall. Lulled into a confident state by meeting only supporters during the campaign, he was surprised when the Party did not enjoy a higher national vote. Then as the LP drifted increasingly into the hardcore camp, Koch crossed over to the Republican Party by 1984, taking his billions with him.

The Koch Brothers bring to mind the lines uttered by Ned Beatty in his role as the television executive Arthur Jensen in the 1976 film Network. Jensen is lecturing one of his newscasters (Howard Beale played by Peter Finch) who had foiled an international commercial transaction through the power of his presence on TV:

You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won't have it! Is that clear?! You think you've merely stopped a business deal. That is not the case. The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back! It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity! It is ecological balance!

You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems, one vast and immane, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petro-dollars, electro-dollars, multi-dollars, reichmarks, rins, rubles, pounds, and shekels.

It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today! And you have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and you will atone!

Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale?

You get up on your little twenty-one inch screen and howl about America and democracy. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.

What do you think the Russians talk about in their councils of state, Karl Marx? They get out their linear programming charts, statistical decision theories, minimax solutions, and compute the price-cost probabilities of their transactions and investments, just like we do.

We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations, inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime. And our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there's no war or famine, oppression or brutality. One vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock, all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused.

One senses that Koch's brand of libertarianism could care less about the civil liberties aspects of the party and instead was utterly embroiled with the all-about-the-monetary-profit aspects. I detected no great passion there on the civil side. His heart was with laissez-faire economics.

It is intriguing that the Koch Brothers supported an increasingly social unlibertarian Republican Party until Trump came along, partly due to the protectionist trade and tariff policies which hurt Koch profit margins.

In 1980 David Koch learned the limits of third party idealistic elective politics and after that went full speed into the much more effective role of being a guy behind the curtain pulling the strings for many years of the major parties in the world of dirty practical politics. The Libertarian Party itself took a more hardcore stance after Clark/Koch, demanding more philosophical purity from their candidates in the next election. By that time Koch would no longer be in the Party.

The Libertarians had a strong popular vote for a still fairly new third party. They had a national result of 4th place at 1.06%-- a percentage for the Party that would not be surpassed until 2016. On the ballot in all 50 states and DC, their most impressive finish was in Alaska with 11.66%, the only state where they placed 3rd. The remainder of their most enthusiastic percentages came from the Far West: Montana 2.70%, Wyoming 2.55%, Oregon 2.19%, Colorado 2.17%, Arizona 2.15%, Idaho 1.93%, Nevada 1.76%, California 1.73%, and Washington 1.68%.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: obscenely rich guy

Buried: ?

Notes:
Full disclosure/confession: I voted for this ticket in 1980 as a protest.

LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris

LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris, February 26, 1931 (Temple, Okla.) -

VP candidate for Citizens Party (aka Independent aka Consumer Party) (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Barry Commoner (1917-2012)
Popular vote: 222,072 (0.26%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Citizens Party was formed in 1979 by a group of political progressives who were disenchanted with what they viewed as the corporate centrism of the Carter administration. The headliner and chief organizer was Barry Commoner, an academic and environmental scientist who had been an activist against nuclear power. Others involved in the founding of the Party included Gray Panthers leader Maggie Kuhn, Mario Savio, and Studs Terkel. The Washington Post said the Citizens Party was "blessed by Ralph Nader." Nader had apparently been offered the CP Presidential nomination, but turned it down. Former Yippie Abbie Hoffman also endorsed the Citizens Party as well.

The lengthy platform included disarmament of nuclear and chemical weapons, constrain multi-national corporations, wider use of the United Nations and World Court, open relations with Cuba and Vietnam, abolish the CIA, progressive taxation, encourage the growth of small business and co-ops, reduce the military budget, phase out nuclear power, national recycling program, public control of utilities, pro-choice, national health service, eliminate ROTC, increase minimum wage, pro-Affirmative Action, strengthen OSHA, pro-labor unions, national gun control, pro-ERA, no peacetime draft registration, rent control, development of mass transit.

The CP also ran candidates for the US House, US Senate, and local levels.

Commoner, the Presidential nominee, while not exactly a socialist did make an effort to link the abusive side of capitalism with environmental degradation. Today's eco-socialist movements embrace Commoner's writings as part of their philosophical foundation.

The Citizen's Party was not a huge blip on the radar in the news media during 1980 as I recall-- John Anderson had pretty much sucked all the air out the room for the other third parties. But I do remember the main stunt Commoner performed in the campaign to gain attention and make his point. No doubt from frustration for being squeezed out of the mainstream national discussion while attempting to bring up serious issues, the Citizens Party used shock talk and employed the campaign motto of "Bullshit" on radio ads. "Carter, Reagan, and Anderson: It's all bullshit," a voice declared, followed by Commoner saying, "Too bad people have to use such strong language, but isn't that how you feel too?" You have to remember this was in 1980 before profanity was so freely used by elected officials as it is today and public comments in the pre-Internet world didn't immediately sink to the lowest common language denominator.

In order to qualify for filing in the early states Wretha Wiley Hanson, the widow of and fellow agitator with civil rights activist George A. Wiley, was used as a stand-in running-mate for Kentucky and Ohio. Hmm. "stand-in running-mate" sounds like a contradiction in terms, how can one stand and run at the same time?

At the contentious Party convention (where the Black Caucus walked out) LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris was nominated as running-mate and on the ballot in all the other states where Commoner was running-- except in Tennessee. For some reason Commoner did not have a VP on the ballot with him in that state although all the other Presidential candidates there did.

As a Comanche, Harris was touted as the first female Native American Vice-Presidential candidate-- but that honor actually belongs to Ramona Frances Crowell, part of the Assiniboine people. Crowell was one of Dizzy Gillespie's running-mates in 1964. But Harris was certainly the first to have ballot status.

Harris was also connected with DC insiders by virtue of being the spouse of US Sen. Fred Harris (D-Okla.) at the time.

Although Wikipedia states "Commoner did not garner more than one percent in any state, the party received enough support to be the first minor party to qualify for federal matching funds (about $157,000) for the 1984 election," in fact the Party did win more than 1% in Oregon (1.15%), Vermont (1.09%), and DC (1.05%). I always love zinging Wikipedia on these details.

On the ballot or registered write-ins in 30 states, in addition to the three top percentages mentioned above, Commoner/Harris' other strongest results were: Maine 0.84%, Virginia 0.75%, California 0.71%, Washington 0.54% (which I think included my brother!), and Hawaii 0.51%.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: founder and President of Americans for Indian Opportunity, author, member of way too many boards and commissions to list.

Notes:
Harris invited controversy 2012-2019 by defending and adopting Johnny Depp when the actor was
 under accusations of being a Pretendian, cultural appropriator, and perpetuating stereotypes of
 indigenous Americans through his acting roles and advertisement appearances.
Endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016.
Full disclosure: I supported Sen. Fred Harris for President at my caucus in 1976. Here in Washington
 State the Scoop Jackson people had it all locked up, of course.
Brush with fame: I knew someone who once went a hike with Mario Savio. Those are the kinds of
brushes with fame I have.

Wretha Frances Wiley Hanson

Wretha Frances Wiley Hanson, August 7, 1935 (Abilene, Tex.) - January 8, 2013 (New York, NY)

VP candidate for Citizens Party (1980)

Running mate with nominee: Barry Commoner (1917-2012)
Popular vote: 9868 (0.01%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Citizens Party was formed in 1979 by a group of political progressives who were disenchanted with what they viewed as the corporate centrism of the Carter administration. The headliner and chief organizer was Barry Commoner, an academic and environmental scientist who had been an activist against nuclear power. Others involved in the founding of the Party included Gray Panthers leader Maggie Kuhn and Studs Terkel. The Washington Post said the Citizens Party was "blessed by Ralph Nader." Nader had apparently been offered the CP Presidential nomination, but turned it down. Former Yippie Abbie Hoffman also endorsed the Citizens Party.

The lengthy platform included disarmament of nuclear and chemical weapons, constrain multi-national corporations, wider use of the United Nations and World Court, open relations with Cuba and Vietnam, abolish the CIA, progressive taxation, encourage the growth of small business and co-ops, reduce the military budget, phase out nuclear power, national recycling program, public control of utilities, pro-choice, national health service, eliminate ROTC, increase minimum wage, pro-Affirmative Action, strengthen OSHA, pro-labor unions, national gun control, pro-ERA, no peacetime draft registration, rent control, development of mass transit.

The CP also ran candidates for the US House, US Senate, and local levels.

Commoner, the Presidential nominee, while not exactly a socialist did make an effort to link the abusive side of capitalism with environmental degradation. Today's eco-socialist movements embrace Commoner's writings as part of their philosophical foundation.

The Citizen's Party was not a huge blip on the radar in the news media during 1980 as I recall-- John Anderson had pretty much sucked all the air out the room for the other third parties. But I do remember the main stunt Commoner performed in the campaign to gain attention and make his point. No doubt from frustration for being squeezed out of the mainstream national discussion while attempting to bring up serious issues, the Citizens Party used shock talk and employed the campaign motto of "Bullshit" on radio ads. "Carter, Reagan, and Anderson: It's all bullshit," a voice declared, followed by Commoner saying, "Too bad people have to use such strong language, but isn't that how you feel too?" You have to remember this was in 1980 before profanity was so freely used by elected officials as it is today and public comments in the pre-Internet world didn't immediately sink to the lowest common language denominator.

In order to qualify for filing in the early states Wretha Wiley Hanson, the widow of and fellow agitator with civil rights activist George A. Wiley, was used as a stand-in running-mate for Kentucky and Ohio. Hmm. "stand-in running-mate" sounds like a contradiction in terms, how can one stand and run at the same time?

At the contentious Party convention (where the Black Caucus walked out) LaDonna Vita Tabbytite Harris was nominated as running-mate and on the ballot in all the other states where Commoner was running-- except in Tennessee. For some reason Commoner did not have a VP on the ballot with him in that state although all the other Presidential candidates there did.

Hanson had been active with third party politics earlier. In his 1972 People's Party campaign, Dr. Benjamin Spock said he wanted Wretha for his Sec. of Commerce should he win. She had been in his campaign's "Shadow Cabinet" and his advisor on employment and labor issues.

Although Wikipedia states "Commoner did not garner more than one percent in any state, the party received enough support to be the first minor party to qualify for federal matching funds (about $157,000) for the 1984 election," in fact the Party did win more than 1% in Oregon (1.15%), Vermont (1.09%), and DC (1.05%). I always love zinging Wikipedia on these details.

The Commoner/Hanson ticket earned 0.10% of the popular vote in Kentucky and 0.20% in Ohio. Nationally Commoner finished in 5th place with 0.27%.

Election history: none.

Other occupations: employment researcher, Director of the Franz Bader Gallery in Washington D.C., Chair of the Board for Washington Review of the Arts

Buried: ?

Notes:
Born Wretha Frances Whittle, married George A. Wiley 1961-1973, Bruce Hanson 1976-1996.

Angela Yvonne Davis

 Washington State Voters Pamphlet: 1980 (above), 1984 (below)

Angela Yvonne Davis, January 26, 1944 (Birmingham, Ala.) -

VP candidate for Communist Party USA (aka People Before Profits Party aka Independent) (1980, 1984)

Running mate with nominee (1980, 1984): Gus Hall (1910-2000)
Popular vote (1980): 44,933 (0.05%)
Popular vote (1984): 36,386 (0.04%)
Electoral vote (1980, 1984): 0/538

The campaign (1980):

In the course of gathering the story of the typical third party Vice-Presidential candidate I usually have to scrape and dig to find even the most meager nuggets of data and information. But in the case of Angela Davis my challenge will be to sift through mountains of history and try to focus on her two runs as VP for the CPUSA.

Among the third party VPs for 1980 and 1984 Davis was easily the one who arrived as the most widely recognized national figure, and among the most controversial. It was a rare instance of the running-mate being better known than the Presidential nominee, in this case Gus Hall. She had been identified with the Black Panther Party, anti-war activity, Communist groups and countries, feminism, and prison reform. In a highly publicized criminal case, she had been held in prison 1970-1972 on three felony charges regarding her purchase of firearms that were later used in a Marin County, Calif. courtroom takeover that resulted in four deaths, including the judge. For a brief time Davis was on the Ten Most Wanted List when she became a fugitive. After her capture and subsequent trial she was eventually found not guilty.

The 1980 CPUSA platform included support of the ERA, transfer of money from the military to schools and hospitals and mass transit, outlawing the KKK and the Nazis, opposition to the draft, not allowing American companies to close plants and move out of the country, six-hour workday with 8-hour wages, and ratification of SALT II.

On the ballot in close to 30 states, the Hall/Davis ticket placed 6th nationally. Davis helped the Party gain a little more publicity than usual. It always amazes me how the CPUSA really outdid other third parties in terms of campaign buttons, stickers, and pamphlets. The major source of their electioneering funds was assumed to originally be in the form of rubles but we'll never know the exact amount or percentage of contributions from the CCCP because the CPUSA has hardly been transparent about these sort of things.

Strongest popular results were in: District of Columbia 0.21%, Illinois 0.20%, Arkansas and Hawaii 0.15% each, Alabama and New York 0.12% each. 

The campaign (1984):

Four years later the CPUSA offered the same Hall/Davis team. In this Orwellian year they spent more energy campaigning against President Reagan than they did in promoting their own agenda. In some ways they were giving a backhanded endorsement to the Mondale/Ferraro Democratic ticket.

Describing Reagan as a "nuclear madman," Davis told the press, "We understand millions of people are not going to vote for the Communist Party this time around. We are working primarily to defeat Reagan, a mouthpiece for the military-industrial complex that is willing to risk the sake of our planet for profits."

Hall added, "As the election approaches, Reagan's now calling for peace. He used to be a lousy actor, but now he's getting good at it." Davis said, "We do have problems with Mondale, who vacillates and thinks the way to win is by courting people who ordinarily would be in the Republican constituency. But if we do not defeat Reaganism this year, there is a possibility of nuclear holocaust."

This would be the final Presidential campaign for the CPUSA. Davis' star power presence on the ballot probably helped slow the rate of decline, but the popular votes were diminishing. More importantly, changes taking place in the soon to be former Soviet Union would shake the philosophical foundation of the American party and cut off financial support. Also, many of the idealistic young Leftists of the 1970s had become materialistic Yuppies of the 1980s. For a second time, Reagan won in a landslide.

The CPUSA finished in 8th place nationally. On the ballot in almost a dozen states they finished strongest in: Alabama 0.32%, Hawaii 0.24%, Maine 0.23%, Arkansas 0.17%, and District of Columbia 0.12%.

Election history: none

Other occupations: teacher, lecturer, author

Notes:
When skyjacker Garrett Brock Trapnell took control of a jet in 1972 he not only demanded money, he wanted Angela Davis released from prison and he wanted a pardon from President Nixon among other things. Instead he was made an involuntary guest of the Crowbar Hotel. During the 1980 election he was incarcerated in Marion and ran for President with VP and fellow convicted skyjacker Martin Joseph McNally under the Nationalist Christian Democratic Party.