John Hospers, first Libertarian Party presidential candidate, turned 91 on June 9, 2009. Other presidential candidates in the general election who lived at least that long include Strom Thurmond (100), Ronald Reagan (93), Gerald Ford (93), Frank Zeidler (93), Darlington Hoopes (93), Roger Babson (91), Claude Watson (92). Thanks to Darcy Richardson for that list, which may be incomplete. UPDATE: Darcy also notes Benjamin Spock lived to be 94, Barry Commoner is still living and is 92, and Enoch Holtwick lived to 91.
Hospers is somewhat famous for having received one electoral vote from Virginia, in 1972. He and George Wallace are the only actual minor party or independent presidential candidates who have received an electoral vote in the last 60 years. U.S. Senator Harry Byrd also received electoral votes, but he was never an announced candidate for president, even though his name appeared on the ballot in a few states in 1956 (Byrd got his electoral votes in 1960).
Zeidler and Hoopes were Socialist Party presidential nominees; Babson, Holtwick and Watson were Prohibition Party presidential nominees. Spock was the Peoples Party nominee in 1972 and Commoner the Citizens Party nominee in 1980.
Wouldn’t that be the last 40 years, since George Wallace won electoral votes in 1968?
But I included George Wallace with Hospers.
John Hospers is a truly admirable character from our political history.
He deserved and deserves more than passing recognition: He was and is a philosophical giant.
The so-called “news” media preferred to ignore him, but his reputation is founded on more than his political fling: He was and is the author of textbooks on philosophy that have become standard reading in major universities.
Educated people and thinking people will forever honor the very great John Hospers.
It took a powerful lot of courage for him to risk his name as the candidate of the fledgling Libertarian Party. It was, in fact, reminiscent of what the brave men who signed the Declaration of Independence risked: their lives, their fortunes, their sacred honors.
Happy birthday to one of our American heroes.
Ah, I didn’t see that. My apologies. Guess I need to read a little more carefully.
I wholeheartedly agree with Michael Morrison’s comments and wish John Hospers a Happy 91st Birthday — and many more to come!
It seems that America’s third-party presidential aspirants are a hardy lot. Their longevity is astounding. In addition to the other nonagenarians mentioned above, a few others spring to mind, including Barry Commoner, the Citizens Party candidate for president in 1980, who is actually a year older than Mr. Hospers. Of course, there was also Dr. Benjamin Spock, the People’s Party candidate in ’72, who passed away six weeks before his ninety-fifth birthday in 1998.
The Prohibition Party’s Enoch A. Holtwick, who first ran for public office on the Prohibition ticket in 1912 and headed his party’s ticket in the Eisenhower-Stevenson rematch of 1956, lived to be ninety-one. The CP-USA’s Gus Hall also lived to be ninety, as did Thomas J. Anderson, the American Party’s presidential nominee in 1976.
Sadly, Eugene McCarthy, who at the age of 72 described himself as “middle age” and hoped to live as long as his father and grandfather, both of whom lived into their nineties, succumbed to Parkinson’s at the age of 89, a few months shy of his ninetieth birthday.
Hoping that the two major parties would eventually die out, I guess they all tried to outlive ’em.
President John Adams lived to age 91.
Happy Birthday to John Hosper, We at the American
Independent Party wish best wishes on reaching 91.
It was sad to hear of the passing of Eugene McCarthy. He was the only presidental candidate that proved that there was such a thing as a free lunch(or even dinner), at least to him. Since, I believe he never paid for a meal in his whole life. He just ate off every other persons plate at the table he sat at.
Sincerely, Mark Seidenberg, Vice Chairman, American
Independent Party of California.
No, President John Adams died before his 91st birthday.
John Adams was born October 30, 1735, and died the same day as Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1826.
If he had taken better care of himself, if he had just hung on four more months, then we wouldn’t be saying that STEVE RANKIN is WRONG AGAIN!
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.
And by the way, a President John Hospers wouldn’t have signed into law a Sedition Act.