Roger Lea MacBride (August 6, 1929 – March 5, 1995) was an American lawyer, political figure, and writer. After working as a lawyer early in his career, he inherited the estate of

Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...

. He wrote several books in her ''

Little House on the Prairie The ''Little House on the Prairie'' books comprise a series of American children's novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder (b. Laura Elizabeth Ingalls). The stories are based on her childhood and adulthood in the Midwestern United States, Americ ...

'' series and initiated the development of its television adaptation. In politics, MacBride served a single term as a Republican member of the

Vermont House of Representatives The Vermont House of Representatives is the lower house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The House comprises 150 members, with each member representing around 4,100 citizens. Representatives a ...

in the 1960s. When serving as a Republican

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

in Virginia in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, he defected from his pledged vote and became a

faithless elector In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...

, casting a vote for the Libertarian Party's inaugural ticket of John Hospers for president and Tonie Nathan for vice president. Four years later, the party nominated him as their presidential candidate.

Background

MacBride was born in 1929 in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

, the son of Elise Fairfax (Lea) and William Burt MacBride, an editor.Saxon, Wolfgang (March 8, 1995
"Roger MacBride, 65, Libertarian And 'Little House' Heir, Is Dead"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved June 15, 2011. He called himself "the adopted grandson" of a family friend, writer and libertarian

political theorist A political theorist is someone who engages in constructing or evaluating political theory, including political philosophy. Theorists may be academics or independent scholars. Ancient * Aristotle * Chanakya * Cicero * Confucius * Mencius * ...

Rose Wilder Lane, whom he met when he was 14 years of age. Lane, daughter of

, noted author of the ''Little House'' series of books, designated MacBride as her "political disciple,"

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...

, and sole

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

. MacBride was a graduate of

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Law career

MacBride worked for

White & Case White & Case LLP is a global white-shoe law firm based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the firm has 46 offices in 31 countries worldwide. History The firm was founded on May 1, 1901, when two Wall Street lawyers, Justin DuPratt White, 31, a ...

, a law firm on

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

, for several years before opening a small practice in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. By the mid-1970s, MacBride had relocated to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and was no longer practicing law full time.

Writing and television producing career

MacBride was designated by Rose Wilder Lane as her heir. He gained control of her literary estate on her death in 1968. In 1971 he published '' The First Four Years''. In 1974 he edited and published Laura Ingalls Wilder's letters to her husband Almanzo as ''West From Home''. He approved the creation of the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

in the 1970s. He was the credited author of a fictionalized series on the life of Rose Wilder Lane. He was author of record for three additional ''Little House'' books and launched the ''Rocky Ridge Years'' series of

children's novels Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, describing Lane's Ozark childhood. He published two books on

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

, ''The American Electoral College'' and ''Treaties versus the Constitution'', and authored a Libertarian Party

manifesto A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...

: ''A New Dawn for America: The Libertarian Challenge''. In the 1970s, MacBride co-created the television series ''Little House on the Prairie'' and served as a co-producer for the show.

Political career

Vermont politics

MacBride was elected to the

in 1962 and served one term.Lawyer Politicians in Virginia: Roger Lea MacBride (1929–1995)

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

. Retrieved July 25, 2012. While in the state legislature, he proposed the abolition of the state college system. Running as a Goldwater Republican, he made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican Party nomination for

Governor of Vermont The governor of Vermont is the head of government of the U.S. state of Vermont. The officeholder is elected in even-numbered years by direct voting for a term of two years. Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold guberna ...

in 1964.

1972 electoral vote

MacBride was the treasurer of the Republican Party of Virginia in 1972 and one of the party's electors when

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

won the popular vote for his second term as president of the United States. MacBride, however, as a "

," voted for the nominees of the Libertarian Party: presidential candidate John Hospers and vice-presidential candidate Tonie Nathan. In doing so, MacBride made Nathan the first woman in U.S. history to receive an

Electoral College An electoral college is a body whose task is to elect a candidate to a particular office. It is mostly used in the political context for a constitutional body that appoints the head of state or government, and sometimes the upper parliament ...

vote. Political pundit David Boaz later commented in ''

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

'' magazine that MacBride was "faithless to Nixon and Agnew, anyway, but faithful to the

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

principles Rose Wilder Lane had instilled in him."Boaz, David "Roger Lea MacBride, 1929–1995", ''

'', March 1995, p. 13.

1976 presidential campaign

After casting his electoral vote in 1972, MacBride gained favor within the fledgling Libertarian Party, which had been founded the previous year. As the Libertarian presidential nominee in 1976, he achieved ballot access in 32 states, campaigning on a platform of support for a

free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...

system, a return to the

gold standard A gold standard is a backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...

, the abolition of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

, an end to

corporate welfare Corporate welfare refers to government financial assistance, Subsidy, subsidies, tax breaks, or other favorable policies provided to private businesses or specific industries, ostensibly to promote economic growth, job creation, or other public b ...

, the abolition of the FCC, a foreign policy of

non-interventionism Non-interventionism or non-intervention is commonly understood as "a foreign policy of political or military non-involvement in foreign relations or in other countries' internal affairs". This is based on the grounds that a state should not inter ...

, and the abolition of

victimless crime A victimless crime is an illegal act that typically either directly involves only the perpetrator or occurs between consenting adults. Because it is consensual in nature, whether there involves a victim is a matter of debate. Definitions of vi ...

s. MacBride and his

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

David Bergland received 172,553 (0.2%) popular votes but no electoral votes. His best performance was in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, where he received 6,785 votes, or nearly 5.5%.

Republican Liberty Caucus

MacBride rejoined the Republican Party in the 1980s and helped establish the

Republican Liberty Caucus The Republican Liberty Caucus (RLC) is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of Individual freedom, individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party (United States), Republi ...

, a group promoting

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

principles within the Republican Party. He chaired this group from 1992 until his death in 1995.

Personal life and death

MacBride married Susan Ford. They then adopted a baby whom they named Abigail MacBride. MacBride died of heart failure at his home in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, on March 5, 1995, at the age of 65. He willed his estate, including the rights to the ''Little House'' franchise, to his daughter.Margolis, Rick (June 1, 2001
"Settlement on 'Little House' Books"
''

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

''. Retrieved July 26, 2012. In 1999, this was challenged by the public library system of Wright County, Missouri, containing the Laura Ingalls Wilder Library in Wilder's hometown of

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

; they contended that her will gave her daughter ownership of the literary estate for her lifetime only, and that all rights should have reverted to the library after Rose Wilder Lane's death in 1968.Langton, James (November 29, 1999)
"Library claims rights to `Little House' books"
''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

''. Retrieved July 26, 2012. The estate was estimated to be worth around $100 million at the time. In 2001, a settlement was reached in which the Wright County library system was paid $875,000, but control of the estate remained with the MacBride family. In an obituary for MacBride, David Boaz wrote: "In some ways he was the last living link to the best of the Old Right, the rugged-

individualist Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote realizing one's goals and desires, valuing independence and self-reliance, and a ...

, anti-

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

, anti- interventionist spirit of Rep. Howard Buffett, Albert Jay Nock, H. L. Mencken, Isabel Paterson, and

Lane In road transport, a lane is part of a roadway that is designated to be used by a single line of vehicles to control and guide drivers and reduce traffic conflicts. Most public roads (highways) have at least two lanes, one for traffic in eac ...

Partial bibliography

* Series on the early life of Rose Wilder ** ''Little House on Rocky Ridge'' (1993) ** ''Little Farm in the Ozarks'' (1994) ** ''In the Land of the Big Red Apple'' (1995) ** ''On the Other Side of the Hill'' (1995) ** ''Little Town in the Ozarks'' (1996) ** ''New Dawn on Rocky Ridge'' (1997) ** ''On the Banks of the Bayou'' (1998) ** ''Bachelor Girl'' (1999) * ''A New Dawn for America: the Libertarian Challenge''

References

External links

* (previous page of browse report, under 'MacBride, Roger Lea, 1929–' without '1995')
Interview with Roger Lea MacBride
about ''Little House on Rocky Ridge'', ''All Abut Kids! TV Series'' #143 (1993)
Interview with Roger Lea MacBride
about ''The Little Farm in the Ozarks'', ''All About Kids! TV Series'' #186 (1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Macbride, Roger 1929 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American children's writers American legal writers American male non-fiction writers American political writers Candidates in the 1976 United States presidential election Deaths from congestive heart failure in the United States Faithless electors Harvard Law School alumni Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees Republican Party members of the Vermont House of Representatives Monetary reformers New York (state) lawyers Politicians from New Rochelle, New York Princeton University alumni Television producers from New York (state) Vermont lawyers Virginia lawyers Virginia Libertarians Virginia Republicans Writers from New Rochelle, New York Writers from Vermont Writers from Virginia 20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly Politicians from Miami Beach, Florida