A comprehensive analysis of America's most successful third party candidates. CTD looks at the political context and campaign strategies that propelled these candidates close to victory. . . .
Ex-president Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt helped create his Progressive "Bull Moose" party in 1912 because he was unsatisfied with the Republican party and Taft, its nominee for President. With Hiram Johnson as the Vice Presidential candidate, the Bull Moose ticket received 88 electoral votes - and more than four million popular votes - in the general election, the most ever by a "third" party candidate. Despite his electoral defeat, most of Roosevelt's agenda soon became law. (more)
Prior to running for president in 1968 (and again in 1972), George Wallace was Alabama's governor. The position helped him gain national notoriety when he blocked two black students from entering the University of Alabama in 1963. He campaigned against federal civil rights legislation and Washington bureaucrats, and his platform had widespread national appeal: his '68 campaign as an American Independent received 46 electoral votes, and nearly ten million popular votes. (more)
John Anderson was a Republican U.S. Representative from Illinois for ten consecutive terms before he campaigned as an Independent in the 1980 presidential election. His presence in the general election forced Reagan to the right, and, campaigning as a moderate Republican, Anderson won well over five million votes, although he did not capture any electoral votes. (more)
Texas billionaire Ross Perot had never held elected office before he ran for president in 1992, but that did not mitigate his influence on American politics. His campaign focused on two general themes: deficit reduction and Washington "outsiderism." His Reform party and the United We Stand movement mobilized millions of Americans. While Perot received nearly 20 million votes (20 percent of those who voted), he did not win a single electoral vote. (more)
"Third" Party Successes
