Curtis Bernard Gans (June 17, 1937 – March 15, 2015) was an American activist, writer, and expert on American voting patterns.
With
Allard K. Lowenstein, Gans in 1967 started and headed the
Dump Johnson movement. Based on opposition to the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, the movement, which was considered quixotic at first, grew strong and was instrumental in setting in motion events which eventually persuaded president
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...
that continuing his campaign to be re-nominated for the presidency by his party would be difficult and divisive and uncertain of success. Johnson withdrew his candidacy, an unusual event in American politics for a sitting president who had desired re-election.
Gans studied turnout and voting patterns for more than three decades. He co-founded and was director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate, formerly housed at
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
in Washington, D. C.
Gans was commonly sought out by major American publications as an expert on voting patterns and was sometimes called on by the
US State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
's Foreign Press Center to brief foreign reporters during the runup to American elections.
Additionally, he served as a consultant to the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, the National Committee for an Effective Congress, and managed a number of political campaigns.
[ In 2015, he died at the age of 77 of lung cancer.]
Bibliography
Books
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Selected articles
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References
External links
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Transcript of 2000 interview with Gans
by ABC News
by CNN
by PBS News
2015 deaths
1968 United States presidential election
Lyndon B. Johnson
American University faculty
American political scientists
Psephologists
Activists from Washington, D.C.
Writers from Washington, D.C.
1937 births
Deaths from lung cancer in Maryland
Writers from Brooklyn
Activists from Brooklyn
Activists from New York (state)
Psephology
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