Constitution Party (United States, 1952)

For the contemporary third party formed in the 1990s, see Constitution Party (United States).

The Constitution Party, or the Christian Nationalist Party or America First Party in some states, was a loosely organized far-right third party in the United States that was primarily active in Texas, founded in 1952 to support former General Douglas MacArthur for president and drafted other prominent politicians for presidential elections, or attempted to.^[1] The party gave its support or presidential nominations to other right-wing presidential candidates or military figures until its dissolution sometime in the 1970s.

Constitution Party
Founded	1952 (1952)
Dissolved	1970s (1970s)
Ideology	Christian right Paleoconservatism
Political position	Far-right
Politics of United States Political parties Elections

History

1952 presidential election

The party held its founding convention in Chicago, Illinois during which Republican representatives Howard Buffett and Ralph W. Gwinn attempted to convince the attendees to rejoin the Republican party, but were unsuccessful.^[2] Both the chairman, Percy L. Greaves, and co-chairman, Suzanne Stevenson, resigned after anti-Semitic remarks by Upton Close.^[3] The party was anti-communist and Tyrone Lee Wertz, chairman of the Pennsylvania affiliate, criticized the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson II, for not having stances on communist infiltration.^[4]

During the 1952 presidential election, they nominated Douglas MacArthur for president and Senator Harry F. Byrd for vice president, albeit without permission from either candidate; Byrd later tried unsuccessfully to prevent his name from appearing on the Texas ballot.^[5] The party initially planned to only attempt to have electoral college electors vote for MacArthur and Byrd without any plans of seeking ballot access, but later decided to place them onto ballots and the ticket received 17,205 votes in the general election.^[6][7] In 1953, the party's affiliate in Ohio voted at a statewide meeting to ask MacArthur to become its chairman, but he declined the offer.^[8]

1956 presidential election

By 1956, the party had state affiliates in New York, Colorado, Pennsylvania, California, Texas, and Illinois.^[9] On August 28, 1956, the party gave its nomination to former Commissioner of Internal Revenue T. Coleman Andrews and former Representative Thomas H. Werdel who also appeared on ballots as States' Rights and Independent candidates and received 107,929 votes in the general election with 14,589 votes coming from the Constitution ballot line in Texas.^[10]

On September 8, the Texas affiliate gave its gubernatorial nomination to Senator W. Lee O'Daniel, but he was not allowed onto the ballot as he had participated in the Democratic primary where he came in third place.^[11][12] However, he ran as a write-in candidate and received 110,234 votes in the general election. Later, during the 1958 elections, the Texas-based Constitution Party would run more candidates than the Republican Party of Texas.^[13]

1960 presidential election

On July 30, 1960, 125 Texas delegates voted at a meeting to ask for equal radio time during the debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. The delegates also criticized Senator Barry Goldwater for endorsing Nixon.^[14] On August 8, the Texas-based Constitution Party nominated Charles L. Sullivan for president and retired Marine Corps Brigadier General Merritt B. Curtis for vice president while another ticket composed of Merritt B. Curtis and Curtis B. Dall ran in Washington.^[15] Sullivan and Curtis received 18,162 votes from Texas and Curtis and Miller received 1,401 votes in Washington.^[16]

During the 1962 Texas gubernatorial election Jack Carswell was given the gubernatorial nomination and he participated in a debate against Jack Cox and John Connally.^[17] In the lieutenant gubernatorial election the party's nominee, Roy R. Brown, withdrew from the election and endorsed Bill Hayes, the Republican nominee.^[18]

1964 presidential election

In 1963, the party offered its presidential nomination to Senator Strom Thurmond, but he declined.^[19][20] During the 1964 presidential election members of the party left to support Senator Goldwater in the Republican presidential primary while those who stayed criticized him for being too flexible and not conservative enough. Governor George Wallace was offered the keynote address at the convention and the party's presidential nomination, but declined both offers.^[21][22][23]

Joseph B. Lightburn, who had served as the chairman of the West Virginia affiliate in 1952 and served as mayor of Jane Lew, West Virginia for two terms, and Theodore Billings of Colorado were given the party's presidential and vice presidential nominations and received 5,061 votes.^[24][25][26]

1968 presidential election

In 1967, the Louisiana and Florida affiliates held rallies and petition drives in support of Wallace if he were to run for president.^[27][28] During the 1968 presidential election the party supported the American Independent Party's candidates Governor George Wallace and General Curtis LeMay, but in North Dakota Richard K. Troxell and Merle Thayer were given the presidential and vice presidential nominations and received 34 votes.^[29][30][31] George Wallace was on the ballot in fifty states receiving 9,901,118 votes for 13.53% of the popular vote and winning five states for 45 electoral votes along with one North Carolina "faithless elector".

Platform

The party was staunchly anti-communist and supported Senator Joseph McCarthy's investigations as well Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to prevent the entry of immigrants that were sympathetic to communism. It was isolationist with its support for the Bricker Amendment to limit American foreign involvement, ending all foreign aid, withdrawing from the United Nations, and its opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War.^[32][33]

The party was in favor of racial segregation, supported repealing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and opposed the income tax.^[34][35][36] They criticized Eisenhower's administration as too left-wing and were opposed to the continuation of New Deal policies.^[37]

References

1. "Official Ballot". The Wentzville Union. October 24, 1952. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Levitas, Daniel (20 January 2004). The Terrorist Next Door. Macmillan. ISBN 9781429941808.
3. "Constitution Party Goes Anti-jewish; Top Leaders Resign". 20 March 2015.
4. "Constitution Party Hits Candidates On Red Issue". Altoona Tribune. October 2, 1952. p. 13. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Byrd Spurns The Bait". Standard-Speaker. September 5, 1952. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Constitution Party Backs M'Arthur, Byrd; Hopes to Woo Electors' Votes". Chattanooga Daily Times. September 1, 1952. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "1952 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org.
8. "Ohioans Ask McArthur To Be Head Of Party". The Cincinnati Enquirer. August 3, 1953. p. 4. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Diamond, Sara (8 September 1995). Roads to Dominion: Right-wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. Guilford Press. ISBN 9780898628647.
10. "Andrews Drafted By Constitution Party". The Shreveport Journal. August 29, 1956. p. 1. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "O'Daniel Ruled Out in Texas". The Shreveport Journal. September 12, 1956. p. 21. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "O'Daniel Accepts Constitution Party Nomination". The Odessa American. September 9, 1956. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "GOP Has Fewer Candidates Than Constitution Party". El Paso Herald-Post. October 10, 1958. p. 23. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "Third Party Tees Off". Fort Lauderdale News. July 31, 1960. p. 30. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
15. Diamond, Sara. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States, p. 87.
16. "1960 presidential election results".
17. "Constitution Party Candidate Quits". The Austin American. October 19, 1962. p. 13. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Constitution Party Candidate Quits". Valley Morning Star. September 27, 1962. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "Constitution Party To Try To Draft Thurmond As Presidential Candidate". The Index-Journal. October 15, 1963. p. 9. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Sen. Thurmond Declines Draft For President". The Index-Journal. October 21, 1963. p. 10. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
21. "Right wing party favors Wallace; Constitution group labels Goldwater too flexible". New York Times. July 19, 1964. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
22. "Constitution Party Meeting In Houston Favors Wallace". The Odessa American. July 5, 1964. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
23. "'True' Conservatives To Meet In Houston". The Orlando Sentinel. July 19, 1964. p. 22. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "Constitution Party Nominees Visit Here". Tyler Morning Telegraph. October 10, 1964. p. 16. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
25. "Constitution Party Nominee Makes Pitch". Hartford Courant. August 26, 1964. p. 7. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
26. "1964 Presidential General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org.
27. "State Group Plans Rally For Wallace". The Shreveport Journal. August 2, 1967. p. 13. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Move Afoot To Put Wallace On State 3rd Party Ticket". The Shreveport Journal. December 6, 1967. p. 10. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
29. "Constitution Party To Support Wallace". The Corpus Christi Caller-Times. May 10, 1968. p. 8. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
30. "Richard K. Troxell, 1968 Constitution Party Presidential Nominee, Dies". January 2, 2020.
31. "Constitution Party Is on State Ballot For General Election". The Bismarck Tribune. September 25, 1968. p. 3. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
32. "Tells About Constitution Party". The Des Moines Register. September 16, 1956. p. 21. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
33. "Delaware Constitution Party". The Morning News. April 20, 1966. p. 5. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
34. "Constitution Party Candidate Favors End Of Income Tax". El Paso Times. June 1, 1960. p. 22. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
35. "Constitution Party". The Montgomery Advertiser. July 10, 1955. p. 11. Archived from the original on March 7, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
36. "Constitution Party Spokesman Assails Civil Rights Movement". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. July 24, 1965. p. 8. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
37. "Texas Constitution Party Plans State Covvention". The Austin American. September 12, 1954. p. 27. Archived from the original on March 8, 2020. Retrieved March 8, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.