Parley Parker Christensen (July 19, 1869 – February 10, 1954) was an American attorney and politician who was a Utah state representative, a

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

member, and the

Farmer–Labor Party The first modern Farmer–Labor Party in the United States emerged in Minnesota in 1918. The American entry into World War I caused agricultural prices and workers' wages to fall, while retail prices rose sharply during the war years. Consequent ...

's presidential nominee during the 1920 presidential election. He was a member of several third parties and chairman of the Illinois Progressive party.

Early life

Christensen was born on July 19, 1869, in

Weston, Idaho Weston is a city in Franklin County, Idaho, United States. The population was 511 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Logan, Utah-Idaho Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was first settled in 1865. The community was so named due to its loc ...

, to Peter and Sophia M. Christensen, and was taken by them to Newton, Utah. In 1890 he graduated from the University of Utah Normal School and University of Deseret, then became a teacher and principal in Murray and

Grantsville, Utah Grantsville is the second most populous city in Tooele County, Utah, Tooele County, Utah, United States. It is part of the Salt Lake City, Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population ...

. In 1897, he graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Law School and practiced law in Salt Lake City.

Early political career

From 1892 to 1895, he was superintendent of schools in

Tooele County, Utah Tooele County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 72,698. Its county seat and largest city is Tooele, Utah, Tooele. The county was created in 1850 and organ ...

. In 1895 he was secretary of the Utah constitutional convention that drafted a state constitution for submission to Congress. In the late 1890s he was city attorney of Grantsville, and in 1900 he was elected

county attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

of Salt Lake County. Between 1900 and 1904 Christensen was a Republican state officer, including party chairman. In 1902 he was defeated for renomination as county attorney, but in 1904 he was elected again to that office. Christensen unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

, and

1910 Events January * January 6 – Abé people in the French West Africa colony of Côte d'Ivoire rise against the colonial administration; the rebellion is brutally suppressed by the military. * January 8 – By the Treaty of Punakha, t ...

against incumbent Joseph Howell. From 1901 to 1906 he was prosecuting attorney for Salt Lake County. In 1906 he was cited to appear before a district court judge to show why he had not approved the issuance of a warrant for the arrest of

Joseph F. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith Sr. (November 13, 1838 – November 19, 1918) was an American religious leader who served as the sixth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). He was a nephew of Joseph Smith, founder of ...

, president of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

, "on a charge of sustaining unlawful relations with one of his five wives. From 1910 to 1912 he was a member of the

Utah House of Representatives The Utah House of Representatives is the lower house of the Utah State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Utah. The House is composed of 75 representatives elected from single member constituent districts. Each district cont ...

as a Republican. In the latter year, Christensen joined

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

's Progressive Party and ran as the Progressive candidate for the Utah House of Representatives. He lost, but two years later he was elected to that office as a Progressive; he served one term. He supported a number of reforms. Between 1915 and 1920, Christensen became "increasingly involved with various left-wing and labor groups" in Utah. He helped organize the Utah Labor Party in 1919, defended several radicals incarcerated at

Fort Douglas, Utah Fort Douglas (initially called Camp Douglas) was established in October 1862, during the American Civil War, as a small military garrison about three miles east of Salt Lake City, Utah. Its purpose was to protect the overland mail route and te ...

, charged with opposition to American involvement in World War I. He was president of the Popular Government League, organized in 1916, which argued for adopting the initiative and referendum in Utah.

Presidential campaign

In June 1920, Christensen was a delegate to the Chicago joint conventions of the Labor Party of the United States and the progressive Committee of Forty-Eight, whose leaders hoped to merge and to nominate a presidential ticket. The Farmer-Labor Party was the result, with Christensen as presidential nominee. He campaigned for nationalization of railroads and utilities, an eight-hour working day, a federal Department of Education, and an end to the

Espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

and Sedition Acts. In the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, he received 265,411 votes in nineteen states. Christensen did the best in

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and in

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

, where he came close to out-polling the Democratic candidate, James M. Cox.

Later life

He remained in Chicago after the convention and became chairman of the Illinois Progressive Party and its unsuccessful candidate for US Senator in 1926. In 1931 Christensen moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where he was elected to the city council in 1935. He joined the

End Poverty in California End Poverty in California (EPIC) was a political campaign started in 1934 by socialist writer Upton Sinclair (best known as author of ''The Jungle''). The movement formed the basis for Sinclair's 1934 California gubernatorial election, campaign f ...

crusade of

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

and the Utopian Society. Christensen had the endorsement of the End Poverty in California movement when he won the Los Angeles City Council District 9 seat in 1935 from the incumbent, George W. C. Baker. He held the seat for two years but did not run for re-election in 1937. Two years later, however, he was sent back to the council and held the post until 1949, when he was defeated by Edward R. Roybal. In the first years of his tenure, the 9th District covered the core of downtown Los Angeles, but later, it was shifted eastward to encompass an area with a heavily Hispanic population. In 1936, Christensen ran for Congress against incumbent Democrat Charles Kramer, but was defeated in the primary 57% to 30%.

Death

Christensen died at age 84 on February 9, 1954, in Queen of Angels Hospital, Los Angeles.

References

External links

*

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Parley Parker 1869 births Candidates in the 1920 United States presidential election 1954 deaths 20th-century American lawyers School superintendents in Utah American Unitarians Burials at Chapel of the Pines Crematory California Progressives (1924) Cornell Law School alumni District attorneys in Utah Illinois Farmer–Laborites Illinois Progressives (1924) Los Angeles City Council members Republican Party members of the Utah House of Representatives People from Cache County, Utah People from Franklin County, Idaho Utah Farmer–Laborites Utah Progressives (1912) Utah Republicans University of Utah alumni 20th-century members of the Utah Legislature