Edward Walter Bergonzi

Edward Walter Bergonzi, October 1, 1946 (New Jersey?) -

VP candidate for Workers League Party (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Edward Winn (1937-1995)
Popular vote: 3,825  (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Workers League Party was formed in 1966. Many members had come from the Socialist Workers Party but did not share the pro-Castro views of the SWP. 1984 was the first time the League entered the arena of Presidential politics although they had run candidates for other offices in the 1970s. Most of their activity was centered in the region of the industrial Rust Belt which in 1984 was in the midst watching the industrial age being transformed into the information age, displacing thousands of workers.

The Workers League Party could be characterized as Trotskyite, international in outlook, and hard line in not working with mainstream parties. In some ways they filled the void left by the Socialist Labor Party in presenting an uncompromising Marxist (and anti-Stalinist) alternative for voters in 1984.

Presidential candidate Edward Winn was a bus mechanic for the NYC Transit Authority. VP nominee Ed Bergonzi of Chicago was only on the ballot in Minnesota and Ohio, one of three running mates for Winn although Helen Halyard appeared to be the official choice.

They called for nationalization of the banking system and redistribution of the assets in order to fight unemployment and restore cuts to social programs, 30 hour work week with 40 pay, $100 billion public works program, socialized medicine, elimination of the CIA and FBI, and US withdrawal from NATO.

The Workers League Party attained ballot status in six states. The Party earned a total of 10,801 votes in the US (0.01%). The Winn/Bergonzi combination accounted for 3,825 of those votes, 0.08% of the total in Ohio (the League's strongest showing in 1984) and 0.01% in Minnesota.

Election history: none

Other occupations: union activist, antiwar activist, teacher

Notes:
Also lived in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Jean Tilsen Brust

Jean Tilsen Brust, August 31, 1921 (Elgin, Minn.) - November 24, 1997 (St. Paul, Minn.)

VP candidate for Independent (aka Workers League Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Edward Winn (1937-1995)
Popular vote: 2,632 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Workers League Party was formed in 1966. Many members had come from the Socialist Workers Party but did not share the pro-Castro views of the SWP. 1984 was the first time the League entered the arena of Presidential politics although they had run candidates for other offices in the 1970s. Most of their activity was centered in the region of the industrial Rust Belt which in 1984 was in the midst watching the industrial age being transformed into the information age, displacing thousands of workers.

The Workers League Party could be characterized as Trotskyite, international in outlook, and hard line in not working with mainstream parties. In some ways they filled the void left by the Socialist Labor Party in presenting an uncompromising Marxist (and anti-Stalinist) alternative for voters in 1984.

Presidential candidate Edward Winn was a bus mechanic for the NYC Transit Authority. VP nominee Jean Brust was only on the ballot in Illinois, one of three running mates for Winn although Helen Halyard appeared to be the official choice. Brust was a veteran of the Party and counted among the founding members. Winn and Brust were listed as "Independent."

They called for nationalization of the banking system and redistribution of the assets in order to fight unemployment and restore cuts to social programs, 30 hour work week with 40 pay, $100 billion public works program, socialized medicine, elimination of the CIA and FBI, and US withdrawal from NATO.

The Workers League Party attained ballot status in six states. The Party earned a total of 10,801 votes in the US (0.01%). The Winn/Brust combination in Illinois accounted for 2,632 of those votes, 0.05% of the total for that state.

Election history:
1976 - US House of Representatives (Minn.) (Workers Party) - defeated
1978 - US Senate (Minn.) (Workers Party) - defeated

Other occupations: defense plant worker (WWII), meat packinghouse worker, teacher, union activist, author

Buried: ?

Notes:
Her husband Bill Brust (1919-1991) ran as the Workers League candidate for Minnesota Governor in
 1986.
Daughter of Jewish immigrants who had fled Russia.
Had originally been a member of the Socialist Workers Party until 1964.
The Workers League was called the Workers Party on the Minnesota ballot in the 1976-1978 races.

Helen Betty Halyard

Helen Betty Halyard, November 24, 1950 -

VP candidate for Workers League (aka Workers League Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Edward Winn (1937-1995)
Popular vote: 4341 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

The Workers League (aka Workers League Party) was formed in 1966. Many members had come from the Socialist Workers Party but did not share the pro-Castro views of the SWP. 1984 was the first time the League entered the arena of Presidential politics although they had run candidates for other offices in the 1970s. Most of their activity was centered in the region of the industrial Rust Belt which in 1984 was in the midst of experiencing the industrial age being transformed into the information age, displacing thousands of workers.

The Workers League Party could be characterized as Trotskyite, international in outlook, and hard line in not working with mainstream parties. In some ways they filled the void left by the Socialist Labor Party in presenting an uncompromising Marxist (and anti-Stalinist) alternative for voters in 1984.

Presidential candidate Edward Winn was a bus mechanic for the NYC Transit Authority. VP nominee Helen Halyard of Hamtramck, Mich. had been a member of the Workers League since 1971. At age 33 during the 1984 campaign she was under the Constitutionally mandated age of 35 to hold the office she was seeking. As the candidates themselves would admit, the 1984 run was more about building the party than winning.

They called for nationalization of the banking system and redistribution of the assets in order to fight unemployment and restore cuts to social programs, 30 hour work week with 40 hour pay, $100 billion public works program, socialized medicine, elimination of the CIA and FBI, and US withdrawal from NATO.

The team was one of the few in US history where both nominees were African American and as such they were frequently asked to comment on the parallel Democratic Party primary Presidential run of Jesse Jackson. "We will never capitulate to any capitalistic candidates," Winn declared, "including Jesse Jackson." Al Sharpton was also included in their roster of capitalistic politicians. This was also in reaction to some other parties on the Left (e.g. Workers World Party) willing to endorse Jackson in the event he gained the nomination. Actually quite a bit of disdain was cast in the direction of the Workers World Party and the Socialist Workers Party.

The Workers League Party attained ballot status in six states, but Halyard was only listed as the VP in half of them, perhaps due to her age or the other two names were considered early filing stand-ins. The Party earned a total of 10,801 votes in the US (0.01%). The Winn/Halyard combination accounted for 4341 of those votes with the percentages being: New Jersey 0.05%, Pennsylvania 0.04%, and Michigan 0.01%.

Halyard remains active to this day in the Socialist Equality Party (the Workers League Party changed their name in the mid 1990s).

Election history:
1974 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Workers League Party) - defeated
1976 - US House of Representatives (NY) (Workers League Party) - defeated
1982 - US Senate (Mich.) (Workers League Party) - defeated
1985 - Mayor of Detroit, Mich. (Nonpartisan) - primary - defeated
1989 - Mayor of Detroit, Mich. (Nonpartisan) - primary - defeated
1992 - US President (Workers League Party) - defeated
1994 - US House of Representatives (Mich.) (Independent) - defeated
1996 - US House of Representatives (Mich.) (Socialist Equality Party) - defeated

Other occupations: Assistant National Secretary for Socialist Equality Party, Workers League Party Presidential Elector 1988

Notes:
Winner of the 1976 race was Charles Rangel.
Winner of the 1985 and 1989 races was Coleman Young.
A competitor and fellow runner up in the 1989 race was John Conyers.
Competitors in the 1996 race included John Conyers (winner) and Willie Mae Reid.
Wikipedia and some other secondary sources state Halyard was the 1988 Workers League VP
 nominee but primary sources all show Barry Porster as the 1988 VP.

Grace Wagner Pierce

Grace Wagner Pierce, May 9, 1926 (Coatsville, Penn.) - October 5, 2008 (Dover, Del.)

VP candidate for National Unity Party of Kentucky (1984)

Running mate with nominee: John Bayard Anderson (1922-2017)
Popular vote: 1486 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Attempting to build upon his significant independent run for President in 1980, John B. Anderson formalized the name National Unity Party in Dec. 1983 and sought to forge a mainstream alternative to the American political party duopoly. In Apr. 1984 he announced he would run for President only if his party could register enough voters in ten states. But the momentum and money wasn't there. Some pundits felt the rise of Democratic Sen. Gary Hart in the primaries preempted potential political foot soldiers who otherwise would have been drawn to the National Unity Party.

Before Anderson dropped the idea of running for President in 1984 his supporters had managed to find him a place on the Kentucky ballot, where his name remained during the election although there was no campaign.

His running mate was National Unity Party Vice-Chair Grace W. "Bubbles" Pierce of Dover, Del. Pierce had served on Anderson's campaign in 1980 as an environmental advisor. It isn't clear if Pierce was originally entered as a "stand-in" VP while Anderson would search for someone who was more of a national name or not, but early in his campaign some commenters guessed he would select a woman as his running mate. Later in the year the Democratic ticket included Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the first time one of the major parties ever had a female running mate.  By my count the third parties all across the political spectrum had already selected women VPs about 50 times between 1884 and 1980, so the mainstream parties were a little slow.

Anderson said in Aug. 1984 that if he was running which he wasn't but if he was he would call for a 25% cut in the defense budget, develop solar and photovoltaic energy, place a $10-per-barrel import tax on oil, and promote disarmament. He eventually endorsed Mondale. His 1980 VP nominee Patrick Lucey acted as the go-between to negotiate the endorsement.

For her part Pierce did not campaign either. She spent the 1984 election season (and the rest of her life) as a tireless and effective environmental activist working to save Delaware's coastal ecology.

In Kentucky the Anderson/Pierce ticket, without campaigning and officially out of the race, placed 5th out of 9 with 1479 votes (0.11%). They also picked up a few write-in votes in other states.

By the 1988 election the National Unity Party had evaporated.

Election history:
1972 - Delaware State Senate (Republican) - primary - defeated
1974 - Delaware House of Representatives (Republican) - defeated
198- - Slaughter Beach (Del.) Town Council.

Other occupations: DuPont employee, pharmacy co-manager, President of the Junior Board of Kent General Hospital, President-board member-lobbyist for the Delaware Audubon Society, President of the Delaware Federation of Republican Women, delegate at the 1968 Republican convention, Vice-Chair of the National Unity Party

Buried: Lakeside Cemetery (Dover, Del.)

Notes:
Later in life was known as Grace W. Pierce-Beck.
Her motto was "Not blind opposition to progress but opposition to blind progress."
Episcopalian
Originally wanted to be a dancer or choreographer.

Ferris E. Alger

Ferris E. Alger, January 15, 1913 (Des Moines, Iowa) - May 15, 1997 (Bucks County, Penn.)

VP candidate for Big Deal Party (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Gerald Baker (1932-2012)
Popular vote: 892 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Cedar Falls, Iowa resident and typewriter salesman, political gadfly and perennial candidate Gerald "Jerry" Baker originally set his sights on the Presidency in 1979 and made an effort to run in the 1980 Democratic Party primaries. When that did not pan out he had a brief campaign as an independent but dropped out. Then as early as September 1980, he was already planning his 1984 project.

Baker officially launched his second run for the Presidency in April 1984. His running mate was a man frequently touted as America's smartest person, Ferris E. Alger. They ran under the name Big Deal Party. Said Baker, "Teddy Roosevelt called his administration the 'Square Deal,' and Harry Truman called his the 'Fair Deal.' Roosevelt's was the 'New Deal.' In a half-humorous sense, I'll call our candidacy the 'Big Deal.' That name might be unusual enough to attract some national media attention that we wouldn't get otherwise, and maybe some write-in votes in states where we can't get on the ballot." An alternative reason given by Baker was that when he told people he had an IQ of 154 they would respond with, "Big deal."

Before the campaign had started, in a letter to the editor published Feb. 21, 1984 in the Northern Iowan, Baker mentioned Alger and provided some biographical information about the future ticket: "I talked with Alger, now age 71 and living in Pennsylvania, on the phone last Saturday. He and I both belong to 'The Thousand,' an organization whose members all have IQs in the 99.9th percentile, or 150 on the Stanford-Binet. Alger, however, also belongs to the 'Mega Society,' whose 20 members have 'one in a million' IQs. His measured IQ is 'one in a hundred million,' and may be the highest in the U.S."

Campaigning mostly in Iowa but also in Minnesota, Kansas and Missouri, Baker's main message was not allowing the arms race to spin out of control. He also addressed the more local issues of agricultural loans and soil conservation.

Alger made a campaign stop in Iowa late in the campaign, promoting a reduction and stricter international control of nuclear weapons. He described his participation in the Big Deal Party as "sort of a lark." He had not actually met Baker until late Oct. 1984 and told the press the standard bearer was "something of a character."

Only on the ballot in Iowa, the Baker/Alger ticket earned 892 popular votes, 0.07% of the state total placing 5th out of 8.

Election history: none

Other occupations: physicist, engineer, glassblower, antinuclear activist, aircraft designer, lecturer, cotton picker, inventor

Buried: Trinity Episcopal Cemetery (Solebury, Penn.)

Notes:
Lived in an orphanage from age 9-11
IQ score of 197 on the Stanford-Binet scale
Enjoyed classic cars.
"I've had to fight every step of the way. I have been cheated of credit and compensation for discoveries worth several million dollars. The establishment can forgive a man for anything except being right."--Ferris Alger 1985

Raymond L. Garland

 Above, Garland ; Below, Lowery

Raymond L. Garland, January 9, 1939 (Amboy, Ill.) - October 17, 2019 (Sycamore, Ill.)

VP candidate for United Sovereign Citizens (aka Sovereign Citizens aka United Sovereign Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Arthur James Lowery (1925-1999)
Popular vote: 825 (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Arthur "Ajay" Lowery operated a tax protestor newspaper out of Clinton, Ark. called The Justice Times which railed against the IRS and called for a more Biblical foundation for government. He attempted to gain primary ballot access in Wisconsin as a member of the Constitution Party but was denied. His general election effort was undertaken as part of the United Sovereign Citizens.

His running mate Raymond L. Garland of Illinois was something of an anti-IRS celebrity du jour after being famously acquitted in a jury trial of tax crimes in 1983. What made this case remarkable was that non-lawyer Garland served as his own attorney.

Some quotes from Lowery shortly before the election:

The circus we have been watching the last nine months has exposed some of the greatest incompetence in our history, and that applies to both Mondale and Reagan ... People are searching for a real vote, particularly the youth of America. I spent a lot of time at the university in Jonesboro. It is amazing how they reacted when they realized I was neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

The question is not "where's the beef?" The question is who's the boss. We are the sovereigns under God. They've reversed the order of things. We must return to the principles that made this nation great.

We cannot avoid paying taxes but the Constitution prohibits the government from assessing a direct tax ... The IRS was breaking the law when they tricked the people to accept the withholding tax. Once Congress gives us the laws that are in accordance with the Constitution, then these 30 million people will come back and give their consent to be governed.

It is a pseudo, outlaw government we have today. No one can refute it. It is fact. It is there. It's like a runaway toboggan running down hill, and people have got to stop it.

Lowery produced a campaign spoken-word LP album entitled I Will Not Be Swayed on his Honor And Glory Records label. According to the liner notes it included entries like: "The IRS Has Become a Modern Day Gestapo," "Cut The Thievin' Hands Off The IRS," "Federal Debt Sky Rocketing," "America Arise," "Taxanity," "The Supreme Sovereignty of God," "Land of Liberty," and "Money Game." It can easily be found online [I try not to fill this blog with links because maintaining them would be too labor intensive and I rival The Dude for laziness] 

Lowery told the press, "Independents like me will get far more votes than ever before. If I can get 10 percent of the votes in Arkansas, I can build a national constituency next election." But it didn't quite work out that way.

The Lowery/Garland ticket did manage to attain ballot status in one state-- Arkansas, where they placed dead last out of ten entries with 822 votes (0.09%). Three write-in votes were also recorded in Georgia. No doubt they earned other write-ins elsewhere but they were not recorded.

Election history: none

Other occupations: soldier (US Army), General Electric factory worker, management consultant, insurance salesman, entrepreneur, tax reform advocate, day care worker, lecturer

Buried: Mt. Carmel Cemetery (Sycamore, Ill.)

Notes:
Catholic
Cigar smoker and teller of corny Dad jokes (two traits I share, wish I could have interviewed him)

Liberty Valance

 Above: Liberty Valance played by Lee Marvin; Below: Nathan Burdette played by John Russell

Liberty Valance

VP candidate for Power Party (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Nathan Burdette
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

James Combs, a political science professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana, noted that all kinds of characters were filing with the FEC to run for President. "Then 1984 came along and I decided just for the Hell of it to run Nathan Burdette."

Burdette is also a character-- but a fictitious one. In the John Wayne film Rio Bravo (1959) Burdette is the villainous and corrupt cattle dealer played by John Russell (1921-1991).

Linus D. Combs, the professor's pet dog, served as campaign treasurer which should give you an idea on how serious an effort this was.

The political engine for this run was called the Power Party after a quote from Burdette in the film, "Every man should have a little taste of power before he's through."
 
Combs presented some arguments in favor of electing Burdette: He was experienced in finance and capitalism and he supported ethic diversity by employing people of different cultures.

The professor had high hopes for the campaign. "I think he'll win a landslide. Once the people get his message that every man should have a little taste of power before he's through, they'll see it's not something Reagan and Mondale have to offer. Indeed, my faith in the American people will be destroyed forever if Nathan loses."

Although not exactly officially deemed a running mate, Combs felt Liberty Valance, the title character played by Lee Marvin (1924-1987) in the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) (also with John Wayne) would be the ideal Vice-President. 

The following year John Russell went on to play the totally evil Marshal Stockburn in Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider. In 1984 Marvin was in his second-to-last film Dog Day (which, by the way, was really bad-- and I'm saying that as a Marvin fan!). I cannot locate any recorded reaction by either one of these actors about the Presidential candidacy of the Burdette/Valance ticket.

Election history:
18--? - Delegate to Territorial Convention of generic Southwestern location - defeated [i.e defeeted]

Other occupations: outlaw, mercenary, gambler, gunslinger

Buried: ?

Notes:
Pocket Money (1972) is my favorite Lee Marvin film, along with Iceman Cometh (1973)

George Robert Weaver

George Robert Weaver, August 25, 1928 (Kansas City, Mo.) - June 29, 2007 (Tulsa, Okla.)

VP candidate for Independent (1984, 1988)

Running mate with nominee: Earl Edward Black (b. 1933)
Popular vote (1984, 1988): ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote (1984, 1988): 0/538

The campaign (1984, 1988):

E.E. Black ran for President in 1980 (no record of a running mate was found in that one) and was back again in 1984 and 1988. He worked at the APCO gas station in Caney, Kan. He was running because "I just want to go for the big one."

His platform was a culturally conservative one. He advocated a four year freeze on immigration and a $100 reward "to any U.S. citizen that turns in an illegal alien." Black was no friend of Gay rights: "Being Gay is nothing but a nasty habit." Election ballots should only be printed in English: "The Constitution wasn't written in Chinese or whatever."

He also promised to put an end to what he terms "those wild parties they have up there" in Washington DC. "There'll be few of them. I hear they have a lot of parties up there on taxpayers' money, and I'll cut that out."

He also proposed a monthly federal lottery to fund Social Security and unemployment programs. He would stop all foreign aid. He also wanted to build more prisons.

Black's running mate was George Weaver, also of Caney, who was touted as "a veteran, and a truck driver with over 1 1/2 million miles on the road." When a reporter asked Black if they could speak to Weaver during the last weeks of the campaign the response was, "Naw, he's working. He's operating  a lathe. They got him on a training program right now for two or three weeks. Then they are going to put him on the night shift."

E.E. did have some national exposure, including an appearance with David Letterman. He attempted to raise campaign funds by selling souvenirs such as copies of his platform and special drinking cups.

The only difference I can see between the 1984 and 1988 campaigns is that Black had much more attention from the press in the earlier case. In both instances he was running strictly as a write-in and the total number of popular votes was never really tabulated. 

Election history: none

Other occupations: soldier, truck driver, lathe operator

Buried: ?

Notes:
Since Black and Weaver were from the same state there would have been a Constitutional problem in the event they had won.

Douglas Glenn Adams

 Above: Adams as Beecher; Below: the real Beecher

 Below: the real Twain

Above: McLinn as Twain meeting the Pope; Below: a button from McLinn's 1980 campaign

Douglas Glenn Adams, April 12, 1945 (DeKalb, Ill.) - July 24, 2007 (Jackson, Calif.)

VP candidate for Anti-Doughnut Party (aka Anti-Do-Nothing Party) (1984)

Running mate with nominee: William McLinn (1943-1989)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

William Lewis McLinn was an actor and former congressional staff member who had developed a one-man show starting in 1975 centered on impersonating Mark Twain (1835-1910). He had run for President as Twain in 1980 but apparently without a VP. From what I can piece together, McLinn sought to be ordained as a minister in the 1980s and while attending the Pacific School of Religion he met professor Douglas G. Adams. McLinn's solo act morphed into a political ticket for 1984 as Adams had a teaching method that included impersonating Twain's contemporary figure Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887). Thus the Twain/Beecher team running on the Anti-Doughnut Party hit the campaign trail. As it turns out Adams was distantly related to Beecher.

Henry Ward Beecher was a celebrity figure in his day and an ardent abolitionist and political activist. Twain attended a Beecher sermon and commented on the flamboyant preaching, "sawing his arms in the air, howling sarcasms this way and that, discharging rockets of poetry and exploding mines of eloquence, halting now and then to stamp his foot three times in succession to emphasize a point." Twain also said of Beecher, "Mr. Beecher is a remarkably handsome man when he is in the full tide of sermonizing, and his face is lit up with animation, but he is as homely as a singed cat when he isn't doing anything."

Beecher's reputation was tarnished as a result of an alleged sexual scandal in 1875. Later in life he approached Twain for help in publishing his memoirs but died of a stroke before the project got off the ground. Twain commented on the scandal in a letter, "What a pity that so insignificant a matter as the chastity or unchastity of an Elizabeth Tilton could clip the locks of this Samson and make him as other men, in the estimation of a nation of Lilliputians creeping and climbing about his shoe-soles."

The Anti-Doughnut Party was a metaphor for anti-bribery. Twain claimed it dated back to his boyhood episodes but he revived it around the turn of the century, long after Beecher died.

Adams appears to have been somewhat active in the electioneering, but most of the focus was on McLinn posing as Twain running for President. Many of Twain's thoughts were used as an indirect way of addressing America in the mid-1980s, an example of the old saying "The more things change the more they stay the same." Some McLinn/Twainisms:

I am in favor of anything and everything anybody is in favor of. There could be no broader platform than mine.

I was born modest, but it wore off.

Perpetual peace. We cannot have it on any terms I suppose. But we can reduce the world's war strength down to where it ought to be. Then we can all have peace that is worthwhile. And when we want a war, anybody can afford it.

On Congress: I had never seen a body of men with tongues so handy and information so uncertain. They would talk for a week without getting rid of an idea.

To kill has been one of the chiefest ambitions of the human race ... now they are improving their weapons of slaughter.

On Theodore Roosevelt: I think the President is clearly insane in several ways, and insanest upon war and its supreme glories. I think he longs for a big war wherein he can spectacularly perform as chief general and chief admiral, and go down in history as the only monarch of modern times that served both offices at the same time.

More on Roosevelt: The President is easily the most astonishing event in American history-- if we except the discovery of the country by Columbus. He is far and away the most formidable disaster that has befallen the country since the Civil War-- and also the the most admired and the most satisfactory. The vast mass of the nation loves him, is frantically fond of him, even idolizes him ... And here we may go and elect him for another term.

On Democrats: Good and motherly old benevolent National Asylum for the Helpless.

More on Democrats: Now I suppose I should say the Republicans will win unless they commit some very bad blunder, and blundering is the prerogative of the Democrats.

The best among us will do the most repulsive things the moment we are smitten with a presidential madness.

I have tried all sorts of things and that is why I want to try the great position of ruler of a country. I have been in turn reporter, editor, publisher, author, lawyer and burglar. I have worked my way up, and wish to continue to do so.

I do not care what the opposition say of me just so long as they do not tell the truth.

Twain himself actually wrote a short tongue-in-cheek essay tossing his hat in the ring in 1880. McLinn ran for President a third time in 1988 as Twain but it seems it was more low key and without a running mate. Sadly he died as a result of AIDS in Sept. 1989. Several other Mark Twain impersonators would run for President in subsequent elections.

Election history: none

Other occupations: professor of Christianity and the Arts at Pacific School of Religion, minister, author, playwright

Buried: ?

Notes:
Washington trivia connection!!! Adams was the summer pastor in 1974 at Richmond Beach United Church of Christ, just north of Seattle (now in present-day Shoreline, Wash.). I have driven by that church hundreds of times in the past 1982-2006.

William Hay III

 Tom Snyder interviews O'Leary

William Hay III

VP candidate for Surprise Party (1984)

Running mate with nominee: John O'Leary (b. ca1947)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Musician and writer John O'Leary of New Haven, Conn. announced his 1984 run for President in May 1980. That's right, before the Nov. 1980 election took place, making him probably the earliest Presidential candidate for 1984. His tongue-in-cheek campaign did have a point he said, "I think there is a possibility I won't be elected. But one thing I can do is attract people to the political process, particularly the cynics, people that are like I used to be."

He also told the press: "I want people to see how absurd the political process is. I don't think it's wrong, necessarily, just crazy." In 1980 he voted for Commoner/Harris of the Citizen's Party.

O'Leary's running mate was his friend William Hay III, a stockbroker in New York. They made an effort to be listed on the Connecticut ballot but apparently failed.

Under the banner of the Surprise Party (no relation to Gracie Allen's political party of the same name in 1940), O'Leary ran with the slogan: "Ask not what money can do for you; ask what you can do for money."

A music video with the same title of O'Leary's book, The Running Game, was produced for the election giving the candidate a chance to promote his writing and his music career.

On his blog in 2009 O'Leary reflected: "It began as a sociological experiment of sorts, to test the premise that any American citizen can—and has the right to—run for US President, even a rock musician. In fact, I immediately discovered that it doesn't cost a dime to run for national office. (It costs a tad more to win, however.)"

Meanwhile, William Hay III remains one of the more mysterious third party VP nominees for now.

Election history: none

Other occupations: stockbroker

Notes:
O'Leary can be found on Youtube singing a great song entitled When the Clown Becomes the King in 2019.

Charles Oliver Southern

Charles Oliver Southern, February 20, 1920 (Cincinnati, Ohio) - June 13, 1998 (Cincinnati, Ohio)

VP candidate for Independent (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Thomas M.J. Jones (1908-1994)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Thomas M.J. Jones, a 76-year old retired postal worker from Delhi Township in the Cincinnati region ran for President as an independent write-in.

Jones wanted to cut the defense budget in favor of social programs. He also felt marijuana should be legalized "because people are going to break their necks to raise it and make money, and the government could get a cut of the profits."

The running mate in this campaign was a former co-worker of Jones' named Charles Southern also of Cincinnati, "But I haven't asked him yet. He doesn't know." Southern was most likely the same as the Republican African American political figure who was active in that community. This is complicated by the fact that Charles Southern Jr. (b. 1948) also lived in Cincinnati so apologies if I am confusing father and son.

Jones had realistic expectations about the outcome: "I got a few friends I'll get write-in votes from but I don't expect to win. I know I can't make it because it's a money game. I don't have $20 million to spend on a campaign. I think all that money could be better spent anyway."

Being residents of the same state would have posed a Constitutional complication in the event the Jones/Southern ticket had won.

Election history: none

Other occupations: soldier (WWII), engineer for General Electric, member of the Avondale Community Council, Board of Directors Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, President of the Lincoln-Douglass Republican Club, co-founder Greater Cincinnati Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery (Cincinnati, Ohio)

Notes:
Trained to be a pilot at Tuskegee, Alabama.
Ham radio buff.
Buried in the same cemetery as Samuel Fenton Cary (1814-1900) VP candidate for Greenback Party
 1876. Also with Salmon P. Chase, Joseph Hooker, and George Pendleton.

Boomer "Red" Wolf

Boomer "Red" Wolf

VP candidate for Independent (1984)

Running mate with nominee: Woofer D. Coyote (ca1979-1985)
Popular vote: ? (0.00%)
Electoral vote: 0/538

The campaign:

Woofer D. Coyote was coyote/bulldog/German shepherd mix owned by Al Hamburg (1932-2014) of Torrington, Wyoming. Woofer was also registered with the FEC. Hamburg's thesis statement for the campaign: "Helping Woofer D. Coyote to run as President is my way of helping wildlife make their own protest against man's technology severing his dependence on nature as people pursue more comfort and wealth at the expense of wildlife and nature while forgetting that each plant and creature is linked in a chain that is also man's life line."

Boomer "Red" Wolf, the VP nominee, was an 80% wolf/20% dog mix owned by Norman Sholes of Sparks, Nevada. Hamburg explained, "Woofer had hoped to find a lady running mate as he supports the ERA and was a little disappointed when I told him that Boomer Wolf was a male, but I told Woofer that all other jobs on hs White House staff will be given to females."

There were obstacles. Sholes attempted to place Boomer on the ballot as an independent for Vice-President in the Missouri primary but was refused. In addition, Boomer was not allowed to campaign in Wyoming because it was illegal to own a dog-wolf cross that was more than half wolf.

Missouri Secretary of State James Kirkpatrick told both Hamburg and Sholes that, in the words of the press, the "requirements in the U.S. Constitution precluded animals from becoming president." Try as I might, I cannot find that part of the Constitution.

Hamburg pointed out that although Woofer was born about 1979, in dog years he was 35 and thus met the age qualification for President.

Hamburg himself was something of a perennial candidate in Wyoming since at least 1972 running for the US House, US Senate, and Governorship usually as a Democrat. In 1988 he was among the Presidential candidates for the Peace and Freedom Party and later that year he was the New Alliance Party opponent to incumbent US Rep. Dick Cheney. His erratic behavior and use of high publicity gimmicks frequently landed him in trouble on and off the campaign trail, including a felony conviction on a charge of forging names for the 1988 US House filing petition (he said he was framed). Less than a month before he died in 2014, Hamburg had lost the Democratic primary for US Senate.

He was also a military veteran (Korea and Vietnam) turned peace activist. In 1984 he encouraged acts of civil disobedience to thwart the placement of additional nuclear missiles in Wyoming. After Woofer's novelty began to wear off, Hamburg himself filed with the FEC for President running as a Democrat-- so the dog and owner were competitors for the same office! In 1984 Hamburg was also running in the Democratic primary for US Senate. And if that wasn't enough he made news when he tried to run a five-foot long bull snake named Sandra Snakey in the 1984 Democratic primary for the US House.

Woofer was killed in July 1985 after being hit by a car. Assuming his VP was still alive at the time, Boomer "Red" Wolf would have assumed the Presidency in the event they had won and the nation would have certainly been spared the Iran–Contra scandal.

Election history: none

Other occupations: dog

Notes:
Woofer Coyote is not connected with Woofer the Psychic Dog, the title character of a superb play from the same era written by Bryan Willis.