The People's Party was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, founded in 1971 by various individuals and state and local political parties, including the Peace and Freedom Party, Commongood People's Party, Country People's Caucus, Human Rights Party, Liberty Union, New American Party, New Party (Arizona), and No Party. The party's goal was to present a united anti-war platform for the coming election. The People's Party fielded candidates for the presidency two times. First in

U.S. presidential election, 1972 The 1972 United States presidential election was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election, presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 7, 1972. Incumbent Republican Party (United States), Republican President Richard ...

with Dr.

Benjamin Spock Benjamin McLane Spock (May 2, 1903 – March 15, 1998) was an American pediatrician and left-wing political activist whose book '' Baby and Child Care'' (1946) is one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century, selling 500,000 copies ...

(an American pediatrician and author of parenting books) as their candidate. The party also contested the U.S. presidential election, 1976. The presidential candidate this time was Margaret Wright. Dr. Spock was the Party's candidate for vice president. After the election, the party moved to become a loose coalition, but was soon defunct, with most of its founding parties also dissolved. The party's papers are now in the ''Western Historical Manuscript Collection'' of the University of Missouri–St. Louis,

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, having been where the party had held its conventions.

1972 election

The People's Party ran Dr.

for president and Julius Hobson for vice president in the 1972 U.S. presidential election. The party platform included free medical care, legalized

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pre ...

, legalized marijuana, a guaranteed minimum wage, the withdrawal of American troops from all foreign countries,Eric Pace
"Benjamin Spock, World's Pediatrician, Dies at 94"
''The New York Times'', March 17, 1998 a guaranteed

maximum wage A maximum wage, also often called a wage ceiling, is a legal limit on how much income an individual can earn. It is a prescribed limitation which can be used to effect change in an economic structure, but its effects are unrelated to those of minim ...

, and promoting toleration of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

. Dr. Spock and the People's Party received 78,759 votes (0.10%). In 1976, Spock was the party's vice presidential candidate.

Greer v. Spock

In 1972, Spock, Hobson,

Linda Jenness Linda Jenness (born 1941) was a Socialist Workers Party candidate for president of the United States in the 1972 election. She received 83,380 votes (vs. 47,169,911 for Richard Nixon), making her the 4th most voted for candidate.In Arizona, Pima ...

(Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate), and Socialist Workers Party vice presidential candidate Andrew Pulley wrote to Major General Bert A. David, commanding officer of Fort Dix, asking for permission to distribute campaign literature and to hold an election-related campaign meeting. On the basis of Fort Dix regulations 210-26 and 210-27, General David refused the request. Spock, Hobson, Jenness, Pulley, and others then filed a case that ultimately made its way to the United States Supreme Court (424 U.S. 828—Greer, Commander, Fort Dix Military Reservation, et al., v. Spock et al.), which ruled against the

plaintiffs A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...

. Greer v. Spock was, according to Professor Joshua E. Kastenberg, part of the Burger Court's jurisprudence of insulating the military from non-mainstream political influences. As Spock and his contemporaries had been outspoken against the United States involvement in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

, there was a fear that he would influence soldiers to refuse to comply with orders to deploy into combat.

1976 election

In 1976 the People's Party ran Margaret Wright as president and Spock this time as vice president after

Maggie Kuhn Margaret Eliza "Maggie" Kuhn (August 3, 1905 – April 22, 1995) was an American activist known for founding the Gray Panthers movement, after she was forced to retire from her job at the then-mandatory retirement age of 65. The Gray Panth ...

declined the spot. The People's Party received 49,016 votes (0.06%).http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1976&minper=0&f=0&off=0&elect=0

Presidential tickets

References

{{Historical left-wing third party presidential tickets (U.S.) Political parties established in 1971 Defunct political parties in the United States Defunct democratic socialist parties in the United States Defunct social democratic parties in the United States 1971 establishments in the United States