Third Parties: Ed Clark and the Libertarian Party Campaign of 1980
The Libertarian Party was officially formed on December 11, 1971 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The issues which gave rise to the founding of the party were concerns about the Nixon administration and its handling of the Vietnam War, the draft and the end of the gold standard. The party's first presidential candidate, was John Hospers, a philosophy professor, who actually received one electoral vote in the 1972 presidential election, despite receiving on 3,674 votes nationwide. The electoral vote was cast by Roger MacBride, a Virginia Republican "faithless elector" who was pledged to Richard Nixon, but who cast his ballot for the Libertarian ticket. McBride also voted for Theodora Nathan as Vice President, the first electoral college vote ever to be cast for a woman in a United States presidential election. Four years later MacBride himself would become the Libertarian nominee for President. This was the only time that the Libertarian Party received an electoral vote until the 2016 presidential election, when Texas Republican faithless elector Bill Greene, who was pledged to cast his vote for Donald Trump, instead cast his vote for the 1988 Libertarian Party presidential nominee, former Republican congressman Ron Paul.
The first Libertarian party presidential candidate to receive more than 1% of the popular vote in a presidential election was California lawyer Edward E. Clark, who accomplished the feat in the 1980 Presidential election. Clark had received his law degree from Harvard Law School and had joined the Republican Party where he was known as a a liberal Republican. He left the GOP for the newly formed Libertarian Party in 1971, in protest over President Richard Nixon's imposition of wage and price controls in 1971.
Clark ran for Governor of California in 1978, Clark as the Libertarian Party candidate, although he was shown on the ballot as an independent. He received 377,960 votes, 5.46% of the popular vote, losing to Democrat Jerry Brown, who won re-election with 56% of the vote. He ran for Governor in the same year as the successful Proposition 13 which limited property taxes, and the unsuccessful anti-gay Briggs Initiative (Proposition 6). Clark and the California Libertarian Party campaigned in support of Proposition 13 and in opposition to Proposition 6. The initiatives turned out more people to the polls who were inclined to support a libertarian candidate.
In 1979 Clark won the Libertarian Party presidential nomination at the party's convention in Los Angeles, California. That year he had published a book outlining his programs called A New Beginning. The book had an introduction by Eugene McCarthy. During the campaign, Clark ran as as a peace candidate. He called for large budget and tax cuts, and he tried to appeal to voters who were unhappy with the military draft and with the resumption of Selective Service registration. He also opposed the arms race with the Soviet Union.
During the campaign Clark received the endorsement of only one newspaper, that being the Peoria Journal Star of Peoria, Illinois. His campaign was not without its own speedbumps, including some dissatisfaction with the campaign expressed by libertarian theorist Professor Murray Rothbard. It led to a split within the Libertarian Party between a moderate faction led by Ed Crane (who sided with Clark) and a radical faction led by Rothbard. The moderate faction would eventually leave the party, walking out of the party convention in 1984.
In the 1980 presidential contest. Clark's running mate was a name that would later come to be well-known in subsequent political cycles. Clark ran on a ticket with David H. Koch of Koch Industries. The wealth Koch donated a large amount of his own money to the campaign, and as a result the Clark/Koch ticket was largely able to self-fund and pay for national television advertising. Below is a four minute video campaign ad for the Clark campaign that aired in 1980.
When the votes were counted, Clark finished fourth in the voting behind the winner Ronald Reagan, second place finisher incumbent President Jimmy Carter and third party candidate John Anderson. Clark received 921,128 votes (1.06% of the total nationwide). This was the highest number and percentage of popular votes a Libertarian Party candidate had ever received in a presidential race up to that point and has since been surpassed only by Gary Johnson in his two presidential campaigns in 2012 and 2016. Clark received his strongest support in Alaska, where he came in third place with 11.66% of the vote, finishing ahead of John Anderson and receiving almost half as many votes as Jimmy Carter did in the state. Clark's Libertarian vote percentage of 1.06% still ranks 2nd behind Johnson's 3.24% showing in 2016.
Ed Clark recently celebrated his 90th birthday. In 2000, won the Thomas Jefferson Award, the Libertarian Party's highest honor, presented to the Libertarian Party member whose lifetime achievements best exemplify outstanding leadership, character, and dedication to the goals of the Libertarian Party.
The first Libertarian party presidential candidate to receive more than 1% of the popular vote in a presidential election was California lawyer Edward E. Clark, who accomplished the feat in the 1980 Presidential election. Clark had received his law degree from Harvard Law School and had joined the Republican Party where he was known as a a liberal Republican. He left the GOP for the newly formed Libertarian Party in 1971, in protest over President Richard Nixon's imposition of wage and price controls in 1971.
Clark ran for Governor of California in 1978, Clark as the Libertarian Party candidate, although he was shown on the ballot as an independent. He received 377,960 votes, 5.46% of the popular vote, losing to Democrat Jerry Brown, who won re-election with 56% of the vote. He ran for Governor in the same year as the successful Proposition 13 which limited property taxes, and the unsuccessful anti-gay Briggs Initiative (Proposition 6). Clark and the California Libertarian Party campaigned in support of Proposition 13 and in opposition to Proposition 6. The initiatives turned out more people to the polls who were inclined to support a libertarian candidate.
In 1979 Clark won the Libertarian Party presidential nomination at the party's convention in Los Angeles, California. That year he had published a book outlining his programs called A New Beginning. The book had an introduction by Eugene McCarthy. During the campaign, Clark ran as as a peace candidate. He called for large budget and tax cuts, and he tried to appeal to voters who were unhappy with the military draft and with the resumption of Selective Service registration. He also opposed the arms race with the Soviet Union.
During the campaign Clark received the endorsement of only one newspaper, that being the Peoria Journal Star of Peoria, Illinois. His campaign was not without its own speedbumps, including some dissatisfaction with the campaign expressed by libertarian theorist Professor Murray Rothbard. It led to a split within the Libertarian Party between a moderate faction led by Ed Crane (who sided with Clark) and a radical faction led by Rothbard. The moderate faction would eventually leave the party, walking out of the party convention in 1984.
In the 1980 presidential contest. Clark's running mate was a name that would later come to be well-known in subsequent political cycles. Clark ran on a ticket with David H. Koch of Koch Industries. The wealth Koch donated a large amount of his own money to the campaign, and as a result the Clark/Koch ticket was largely able to self-fund and pay for national television advertising. Below is a four minute video campaign ad for the Clark campaign that aired in 1980.
When the votes were counted, Clark finished fourth in the voting behind the winner Ronald Reagan, second place finisher incumbent President Jimmy Carter and third party candidate John Anderson. Clark received 921,128 votes (1.06% of the total nationwide). This was the highest number and percentage of popular votes a Libertarian Party candidate had ever received in a presidential race up to that point and has since been surpassed only by Gary Johnson in his two presidential campaigns in 2012 and 2016. Clark received his strongest support in Alaska, where he came in third place with 11.66% of the vote, finishing ahead of John Anderson and receiving almost half as many votes as Jimmy Carter did in the state. Clark's Libertarian vote percentage of 1.06% still ranks 2nd behind Johnson's 3.24% showing in 2016.
Ed Clark recently celebrated his 90th birthday. In 2000, won the Thomas Jefferson Award, the Libertarian Party's highest honor, presented to the Libertarian Party member whose lifetime achievements best exemplify outstanding leadership, character, and dedication to the goals of the Libertarian Party.