The Also Rans: Alf Landon
Unless I am mistaken, three men from Kansas have ran for President on the ticket of a major party: Dwight Eisenhower (who was born in Texas and was really a citizen of the world at the time), Bob Dole in 1996, and a governor of Kansas named Alfred Mossman Landon. I believe that he is also the only candidate for a major party who lived to be a centenarian.
Alf Landon was born on September 9, 1887 in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Marietta, Ohio and moved with his family to Kansas at age 17, graduating from the University of Kansas in 1908. He began working as a banker, but in 1912 he became an independent petroleum producer, fittingly enough in Independence, Kansas. During World War I, Landon served in the Army as a first lieutenant, working in chemical warfare. After the war he returned to the oil patch and by 1929 the oil industry had made him a millionaire.
Landon supported Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party in 1912. His involvement in politics landed him a job in 1922 as private secretary to Henry Allen, the Republican governor of Kansas. He later became considered as the leader of the liberal Republicans in the state. He was elected chairman of the Republican state central committee in 1928 and managed the Republican presidential and gubernatorial campaigns in Kansas in that year, both of which were successful.
Landon was elected Governor of Kansas in 1932. He was re-elected governor in 1934 – the only Republican governor in the nation to be re-elected that year. As governor, Landon was a fiscal conservative, reducing taxes and balancing the budget. But Landon was also seen as socially progressive. He supported parts of the New Deal and also supported the rights of labor unions.
In the 1932 presidential campaign, a rift developed between Landon and President Herbert Hoover. Osro Cobb of Arkansas, a friend of both men, tried unsuccessfully to bring about a reconciliation. Kansas was one of the states hardest hit by the depression, and this may have accounted for Landon wanting to distance himself from Hoover.
In 1936, Landon sought the Republican presidential nomination. At the Republican National Convention in 1936, Landon's campaign manager John Hamilton mobilized the younger elements of the party against the faction led by Herbert Hoover. Landon won the nomination on the first ballot. The convention selected Chicago newspaper publisher Frank Knox as his running mate. Knox would later become FDR's Secretary of the Navy.
Landon proved not to be a strong campaigner. He rarely traveled and seemed to be reluctant to attack Roosevelt. In the two months after his nomination he made no campaign appearances. Columnist Westbrook Pegler wrote mockingly of Landon: "Considerable mystery surrounds the disappearance of Alfred M. Landon of Topeka, Kansas. The Missing Persons Bureau has sent out an alarm bulletin bearing Mr. Landon's photograph and other particulars, and anyone having information of his whereabouts is asked to communicate direct with the Republican National Committee."
Landon did eventually launch an attack against FDR, doing so late in the campaign. Landon accused Roosevelt of a power grab with a goal of subverting the Constitution. He said: "The President spoke truly when he boasted... 'We have built up new instruments of public power.' He spoke truly when he said these instruments could provide 'shackles for the liberties of the people... and... enslavement for the public.' These powers were granted with the understanding that they were only temporary. But after the powers had been obtained, and after the emergency was clearly over, we were told that another emergency would be created if the power was given up. In other words, the concentration of power in the hands of the President was not a question of temporary emergency. It was a question of permanent national policy. In my opinion the emergency of 1933 was a mere excuse.... National economic planning—the term used by this Administration to describe its policy—violates the basic ideals of the American system.... The price of economic planning is the loss of economic freedom. And economic freedom and personal liberty go hand in hand."
In the election, the Republicans tried to persuade African-American voters to vote for Landon. The party targeted black churches and on October 28, 1936, the Republican national campaign organization in Maryland sent $5 checks to more than 400 African-American pastors in the state along with letters urging support of the churches' congregations. The strategy was unsuccessful as the Democrats received 71 percent of the African-American vote compared to the 29 percent for the Republicans. A minor public relations victory was achieved when Landon received the endorsement of track star Jesse Owens.
The result of the 1936 presidential election was a lopsided one. Landon received nearly 17 million votes, but he lost the popular vote by more than 10 million votes. He lost his home state Kansas and carried only Maine and Vermont for a total of 8 electoral votes to Roosevelt's 523. FDR's win was the most crushing electoral victory since the 1820 election.
Following his defeat, Landon finished out his term as governor of Kansas and returned to the oil industry. He did not seek elected office again. He tried to act as an elder statesman. For example going into the presidential campaign of 1940, he tried to bring about a compromise between the isolationist and internationalist viewpoints in foreign policy. Landon declined a position in Franklin Roosevelt's Cabinet because he made his acceptance contingent upon the President's promise not to seek a third term.
After war broke out in Europe in 1939 Landon spoke out against isolationists such as America First who supported the Neutrality Act. In 1941, however, he joined isolationists in arguing against lend-lease, although he did urge that Britain be given $5 billion outright instead. After the war, he backed the Marshall Plan, while opposing high domestic spending. After the communist revolution in China, he was one of the first to advocate recognition of China's communist government, and its admission to the United Nations, when this was still a very unpopular position in both major parties.
In 1961, he urged the U.S. to join the European Common Market. Later in the 1960s, he backed President Lyndon Johnson on Medicare and other Great Society programs. On December 13, 1966, Landon gave the first "Landon Lecture" at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Landon's lecture, titled "New Challenges in International Relations" was the first in a series of public issues lectures that continues to this day and has featured numerous world leaders and political figures, including seven U.S. presidents (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush).
Landon turned 100 on September 9, 1987 and his 100th birthday was recognized by President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, who extended their warmest wishes to him. Landon died in Topeka thirty-three days later on October 12, 1987. He is interred at Mount Hope Cemetery, in Topeka, Kansas.
His daughter, Nancy Landon Kassebaum, was a United States Senator from Kansas. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, she was re-elected in 1984 and 1990. Her second husband is her former senatorial colleague Howard Henry Baker, Jr., of Tennessee.
Alf Landon was born on September 9, 1887 in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Marietta, Ohio and moved with his family to Kansas at age 17, graduating from the University of Kansas in 1908. He began working as a banker, but in 1912 he became an independent petroleum producer, fittingly enough in Independence, Kansas. During World War I, Landon served in the Army as a first lieutenant, working in chemical warfare. After the war he returned to the oil patch and by 1929 the oil industry had made him a millionaire.
Landon supported Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party in 1912. His involvement in politics landed him a job in 1922 as private secretary to Henry Allen, the Republican governor of Kansas. He later became considered as the leader of the liberal Republicans in the state. He was elected chairman of the Republican state central committee in 1928 and managed the Republican presidential and gubernatorial campaigns in Kansas in that year, both of which were successful.
Landon was elected Governor of Kansas in 1932. He was re-elected governor in 1934 – the only Republican governor in the nation to be re-elected that year. As governor, Landon was a fiscal conservative, reducing taxes and balancing the budget. But Landon was also seen as socially progressive. He supported parts of the New Deal and also supported the rights of labor unions.
In the 1932 presidential campaign, a rift developed between Landon and President Herbert Hoover. Osro Cobb of Arkansas, a friend of both men, tried unsuccessfully to bring about a reconciliation. Kansas was one of the states hardest hit by the depression, and this may have accounted for Landon wanting to distance himself from Hoover.
In 1936, Landon sought the Republican presidential nomination. At the Republican National Convention in 1936, Landon's campaign manager John Hamilton mobilized the younger elements of the party against the faction led by Herbert Hoover. Landon won the nomination on the first ballot. The convention selected Chicago newspaper publisher Frank Knox as his running mate. Knox would later become FDR's Secretary of the Navy.
Landon proved not to be a strong campaigner. He rarely traveled and seemed to be reluctant to attack Roosevelt. In the two months after his nomination he made no campaign appearances. Columnist Westbrook Pegler wrote mockingly of Landon: "Considerable mystery surrounds the disappearance of Alfred M. Landon of Topeka, Kansas. The Missing Persons Bureau has sent out an alarm bulletin bearing Mr. Landon's photograph and other particulars, and anyone having information of his whereabouts is asked to communicate direct with the Republican National Committee."
Landon did eventually launch an attack against FDR, doing so late in the campaign. Landon accused Roosevelt of a power grab with a goal of subverting the Constitution. He said: "The President spoke truly when he boasted... 'We have built up new instruments of public power.' He spoke truly when he said these instruments could provide 'shackles for the liberties of the people... and... enslavement for the public.' These powers were granted with the understanding that they were only temporary. But after the powers had been obtained, and after the emergency was clearly over, we were told that another emergency would be created if the power was given up. In other words, the concentration of power in the hands of the President was not a question of temporary emergency. It was a question of permanent national policy. In my opinion the emergency of 1933 was a mere excuse.... National economic planning—the term used by this Administration to describe its policy—violates the basic ideals of the American system.... The price of economic planning is the loss of economic freedom. And economic freedom and personal liberty go hand in hand."
In the election, the Republicans tried to persuade African-American voters to vote for Landon. The party targeted black churches and on October 28, 1936, the Republican national campaign organization in Maryland sent $5 checks to more than 400 African-American pastors in the state along with letters urging support of the churches' congregations. The strategy was unsuccessful as the Democrats received 71 percent of the African-American vote compared to the 29 percent for the Republicans. A minor public relations victory was achieved when Landon received the endorsement of track star Jesse Owens.
The result of the 1936 presidential election was a lopsided one. Landon received nearly 17 million votes, but he lost the popular vote by more than 10 million votes. He lost his home state Kansas and carried only Maine and Vermont for a total of 8 electoral votes to Roosevelt's 523. FDR's win was the most crushing electoral victory since the 1820 election.
Following his defeat, Landon finished out his term as governor of Kansas and returned to the oil industry. He did not seek elected office again. He tried to act as an elder statesman. For example going into the presidential campaign of 1940, he tried to bring about a compromise between the isolationist and internationalist viewpoints in foreign policy. Landon declined a position in Franklin Roosevelt's Cabinet because he made his acceptance contingent upon the President's promise not to seek a third term.
After war broke out in Europe in 1939 Landon spoke out against isolationists such as America First who supported the Neutrality Act. In 1941, however, he joined isolationists in arguing against lend-lease, although he did urge that Britain be given $5 billion outright instead. After the war, he backed the Marshall Plan, while opposing high domestic spending. After the communist revolution in China, he was one of the first to advocate recognition of China's communist government, and its admission to the United Nations, when this was still a very unpopular position in both major parties.
In 1961, he urged the U.S. to join the European Common Market. Later in the 1960s, he backed President Lyndon Johnson on Medicare and other Great Society programs. On December 13, 1966, Landon gave the first "Landon Lecture" at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. Landon's lecture, titled "New Challenges in International Relations" was the first in a series of public issues lectures that continues to this day and has featured numerous world leaders and political figures, including seven U.S. presidents (Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush).
Landon turned 100 on September 9, 1987 and his 100th birthday was recognized by President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan, who extended their warmest wishes to him. Landon died in Topeka thirty-three days later on October 12, 1987. He is interred at Mount Hope Cemetery, in Topeka, Kansas.
His daughter, Nancy Landon Kassebaum, was a United States Senator from Kansas. Elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978, she was re-elected in 1984 and 1990. Her second husband is her former senatorial colleague Howard Henry Baker, Jr., of Tennessee.