American Party (1969)

American Party
Chairman	Arly Pedersen
Founded	February 1, 1969
Headquarters	P.O. Box 612 Tooele, Utah 84074
Ideology	Paleoconservatism, nativism
Political position	Fiscal: Right-wing Social: Right-wing
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

The American Party was a conservative party in the United States. Originally called the American Independent Party, it was renamed in 1969 by representatives from 37 states. Following the 1972 election, the American Party split from the American Independent Party. Both of the parties have nominated candidates for the presidency and other offices, although the AIP has considered itself a California affiliate of the Constitution Party. In New York, the party ran a state ticket in 1974 under the name of Courage Party, because a state law there prohibits the use of the word "American" on the ballot. The American Party won its strongest finish in the 1972 presidential election; nominee John G. Schmitz carried 1,090,673 votes (3rd place).

In 1990, a small number of members of the party began The Christian Party, whose membership reportedly grew at a faster rate, but ultimately nothing came of it.^[1]

The American Party has failed to achieve ballot status in any state since 1996. The party's website disappeared sometime in 2008, and the party appears to be defunct, although in 2010 the Ohio party endorsed several Libertarian Party candidates.

The party had a Florida affiliate, the American Party of Florida, that appeared to carry on operations into June 2011, but became defunct after that and no longer is listed as a political party in Florida.

Presidential and Vice-presidential candidates

Sources for table:

• Ohio Elects the President (2000), pp. 143–174.
• American Party history at OurCampaigns.com
• James T. Havel, U.S. Presidential Candidates and the Elections, vol. 2

See also

Conservatism portal

References

External links

• parties at politics.com