On this day 136 years ago, Norman Mattoon Thomas was born in Marion, Ohio. Being the first of six kids, Norman was always held to a high standard.…
Posts published in “Third Party History”
Legendary newspaper editor William Allen White, a man who advised Presidents and rubbed shoulders with some of the world’s greatest statesmen in a career that spanned five decades, waged one of the most fascinating and extraordinary political campaigns in the country, nearly toppling his major-party rivals in a bid to become governor of Kansas in 1924.…
Despite winning both major party nominations in 1981 — the first New York City mayor to do so — Mayor Ed Koch announced that he would wage a full-scale campaign for re-election against minor-party opposition.…
On this day 130 years ago: Floyd Bjørnstjerne Olson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to an immigrant working class family. He spent his early life working odd jobs that ended up pushing him into the arms of the Industrial Workers of the World, where he began being introduced to more radical ideas of politics, while perusing a law degree.…
The following is excerpted from Darcy G. Richardson’s new “The Lowest Ebb: Norman Thomas and America’s Minor Parties in 1944,” available at Amazon and other booksellers.…
As Americans head to the polls later today, it’ll be interesting to see if a genuine dark-horse candidate — somebody running outside the duopoly, someone nobody expected nor even heard of, for that matter — could startle the pundits with an unexpectedly strong showing.…
On this day 133 years ago, Henry Agard Wallace was born. Wallace would gain a very longstanding legacy in US Political History thanks to the ruling political establishments demonization of his politics.…
On this day 155 years ago Hiram Johnson was born to Annie De Montfredy and 1 term representative Grove Lawrence Johnson. While Hiram spent a lot of his time in public life as a member of the Republican Party, he has a large impact on the minor party political sphere that should not be overlooked as well.…
On this day 103 years ago, ecologist Barry Commoner was born. Commoner was not primarily known for his political activism, but his primary job as a cellular biologist influenced his political outlook in regards to the rising concerns regarding the environment.…