American Party (Texas)

The American Party of 1920 was a short-lived political party serving primarily as a personal vehicle of former Texas Governor James "Pa" Ferguson that existed from 1919 to 1922.

American Party
Leader	James E. Ferguson W. P. Sebastian
Founded	1919; 105 years ago (1919)
Dissolved	1922; 102 years ago (1922)
Preceded by	Democratic Party
Merged into	Democratic Party Republican Party
Ideology	Anti-prohibitionism Isolationism Populism
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

Formation

On August 14, 1919, Ferguson and a splinter group of Texas Democrats left the Democratic Party to form the American Party in response to efforts by Texas Democrats to strong-arm Ferguson off the primary ballot.^[1] Former State Senator William Petit Sebastian of Breckenridge was named the chairman of the new party at an organizing meeting in December 1919.^[2][3]

1920 election

In the 1920 presidential election, the American Party nominated Ferguson as its candidate for President and William J. Hough of New York as its candidate for Vice President. Initially, Ferguson and Hough had national aspirations, but ultimately only ended up on the ballot in Texas.^[4]

In that year's gubernatorial election, the party nominated Temple H. McGregor, a former member of the Texas Senate.^[1][5] The nominees for the remainder of the statewide slate were: J.W. Green of Montgomery County for Lieutenant Governor, B. D. Dshiel of Jacksonville for Attorney General, Joe A Broad of Hill County for Treasurer, Herbert A. Smith of Bell County for Railroad Commissioner, W. B. Riley of Hardeman County for Land Commissioner, William Blakeslee of Travis County for Comptroller, Fisher Alsup of Bell County for Superintendent, and H.B. Short for Associate Justice.^[6]

Ferguson's platform included opposition to the League of Nations, opposition to a national prohibition of alcohol, and a full pardon to Eugene V. Debs.^[7] Ferguson sought the support of Warren Harding and the Republican Party to convince its voters to vote for the American Party ticket and unite the anti-Democratic vote in Texas.^[8] The 1920 presidential election was won by Republican Party candidate Warren Harding. The Democratic nominee James M. Cox won in Texas, where the White majority voted solidly Democratic. Nationally, Ferguson was also surpassed by three other unsuccessful candidates:

• Eugene Victor Debs of the Socialist Party of America.
• Parley Parker Christensen of the United States Farmer–Labor Party.
• Aaron Sherman Watkins of the United States Prohibition Party.

Post-election and dissolution

Ferguson received 47,968 votes (9.9% of the vote in Texas, 0.2% nationwide). McGregor outpolled Ferguson, earning 69,380 votes (14.4%) in the concurrent four-way gubernatorial race. Though Ferguson and McGregor were unsuccessful in their respective candidacies, four candidates of the American Party won election to the Texas House of Representatives.^[4] They were Walter J. Kveton of Sealy, Otto F. Menking of Fayetteville, Henry Julius Neinast of Burton, and John Henry Wessels of La Grange.^[9]

Shortly after the start of the 37th Legislature, Nienast was expelled from the House for anti-draft actions in World War I.^[10]

On January 28, 1922, Ferguson dissolved the American Party in order to run for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in the 1922 election.^[8] Kveton and Wessels joined the Republican Party with Wessels winning reelection to the Texas House of Representatives^[11] and Kveton losing to Democratic Congressman James P. Buchanan in Texas's 10th congressional district.^[12] In 1924, a pro-KKK American Party, unrelated to the anti-KKK Ferguson's American Party, ran Gilbert Nations for President in that year's presidential election.^[13]

References

1. Ness, Immanuel; Ciment, James, eds. (2000). "American Party 1919-1920". The Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America. Vol. 1. Armonk, New York: Sharpe Reference. p. 153. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
2. "Senator Sebastian Will Be Honored with State Office, Is Pioneer Citizen". The Breckenridge Daily American. Vol. 5, no. 157. Breckenridge, Texas. p. 1. Retrieved March 27, 2024 – via University of North Texas. Because of condition sgrowing out of the Ferguson fight in Texas, Sebastrian at one time left the Democratic party and served as chairman of the American party organization in Texas.
3. "Names Committeemen: Waco Selected as Headquarters of American Party". San Antonio Express. Vol. 54, no. 352. December 23, 1919. p. 3. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
4. Richardson, Darcy G. Others: "Fighting Bob" La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-Party Politics in the 1920s. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse. pp. 76–82. ISBN 0595481264. Retrieved March 27, 2024.
5. "Another Richmond in the Field". The Houston Post. April 18, 1920. p. 34. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via The Portal to Texas History at the University of North Texas. the announcement of Mr. Temple H. McGregor for governor on the American party ticket
6. "American Ticket for State Named". Temple Daily Telegram. Vol. 13, no. 266. August 11, 1920. pp. 1 & 3. Retrieved March 27, 2024 – via University of North Texas.
7. "Texas Ex-Governor Candidate of New American Party". Richmond Times-Dispatch. Richmond, Virginia. April 22, 1920. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers at the Library of Congress.
8. Brown, Norman D. (1984). Hood, Bonnet, and Little Brown Jug: Texas Politics, 1921-1928. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. pp. 98–99. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
9. Reese, T. B.; Gransberry, C. R. (1921). "Members of the House of Representatives, Thirty-Seventh Legislature". Legislative Manual of the Thirty-Seventh Legislature (PDF). Austin, Texas: Texas State Legislature. pp. 245–249. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
10. "Lower House by 114-13 Unseats Neinast". The Houston Post. Vol. 36, no. 354. February 11, 1921. Retrieved March 28, 2024 – via University of North Texas.
11. "Republicans and Other Non-Democrats" (PDF). Texas Legislature. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
12. "Sample Ballot". The Giddings News. Vol. 34, no. 25. November 3, 1922. pp. 4–5. Retrieved March 28, 2024 – via University of North Texas.
13. "National Affairs: Nominees". Time. June 16, 1924. Retrieved March 27, 2024.