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| This article first appeared in issue three of Buttons and Ballots, in December 1996 |
Throughout America's political history, a number of third parties have been associated chiefly with one state. Last month's Buttons and Ballots featured a profile of New York's American Labor party. The subject of this month's profile is a party with a related history, the Liberal Party.
Readers will recall that the American Labor Party was formed in 1936 as a way of allowing radicals of the left (old Socialists, etc.) to support Franklin Roosevelt without registering their support for the local Democratic machine. By 1944, however, a number of ALP leaders were complaining that the party had passed into Communist control. The formation of the Liberal Party in 1944 was a way of allowing liberals who were not Democrats to support various liberal candidates without having to work with Communists or with the Democratic machine. Leading the break away from the ALP were David Dubinksy and other unionists of the needle trades. Another famous Liberal Party founder was Reinhold Niebuhr, the theologian.
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The Liberal party did form a base for many of New York's union members, for older former Socialists, and for young intellectuals of a liberal bent. The party's independence in elections may be seen by some of the candidates they have regularly supported. The Liberal party repeatedly endorsed the Republican Jacob Javits for the U.S. Senate; in 1980 Javits failed to get the Republican nomination but ran as the Liberal nominee (losing, however). In 1960 the party offered its support to presidential candidate John F. Kennedy, and provided him the margin of victory in New York and arguably in the electoral college itself. In 1980 the party declined to endorse major party nominees Carter or Ford, and supported instead John Anderson's independent candidacy. Unlike the ALP, however, the Liberal Party did not support the Progressive party nominees in 1948 and 1952 (Henry Wallace and Vincent Hallinan); they endorsed instead the Democratic standard-bearers Truman and then Stevenson.
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In races for governor of New York the Liberal party has generally endorsed the Democratic nominee. In 1954 the party provided the margin of victory to Averell Harriman, who won by a margin of only 11,125 votes. Harriman won 264,093 on the Liberal line. In 1966 the party showed its independence by nominating Franklin Roosevelt, Jr. for governor, declining to support the moderate Republican Nelson Rockefeller or Democrat Frank O'Connor. The former president's son won more than half a million votes, but in the vast state of New York those votes made up only 8.4 percent of the total.
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In mayoral races the Liberals endorsed John Lindsay, the Republican, in the 1965 race, and provided him the margin of victory. Four years later the Republicans declined to renominate Lindsay, but Lindsay won anyway running as the Liberal candidate.
In recent decades the Liberal party has grown considerably weaker, now typically winning less than 100,000 votes for its nominees. It will be interesting to see if the decline of the Liberal party proves irreversible.
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Of all the Liberal party buttons that are available, collectors seem to concentrate on items from presidential races. These include, for example, buttons for Roosevelt, Stevenson, Kennedy, Johnson, and Anderson. Liberal party buttons often include one or two bells (as in the Liberty bell). Liberal party buttons often include the ballot line as well--saying something like "Vote Roosevelt, Row F." This refers to the fact that in its earliest history, the Liberal party candidates were in the sixth row on the ballot. As they improved their vote-getting, they soon came to occupy higher rows, including at various times rows C and D.
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There are at least some collectible items out there for such well-known Liberal party nominees as Lindsay for mayor, for Robert Kennedy and Daniel Patrick Moynihan for the U.S. Senate, and for Franklin Roosevelt, Jr. for governor. There are also Liberal party campaign items for the very local candidates, such as Rudolph Halley who was elected to City Council in 1951 without support from either of the major parties. The litho at the top of this page, next to the FDR button, dates from 1945 and supports the Liberal Party candidates for mayor of New York, controller, and president of city council.
While it may not always be easy to identify the very local Liberal party items, collectors of New York locals do have one great advantage over collectors of other states' items. There is a carefully indexed newspaper, the New York Times, which is available at thousands of libraries nationwide. It's not always so easy to look up information on Nebraska candidates from the 1940s, for example!
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Liberal Party buttons provide historical importance, relative scarcity for many items, and prices that have remained low even for the uncommon buttons. Keep your eyes open for these fascinating pieces of third-party history.
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| © 1997 by Stephen Cresswell |
Sources: Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections; Encyclopedia of Third Parties in the United States; Jon D. Curtis, "American Labor, Liberal, Conservative, and Right to Life Parties," Bull Moose, Winter 1994; "New York's U.S. Senators," compiled by Robert A. Cutter, which includes losing candidates; available from APIC.