David Peter Bergland (June 4, 1935 – June 3, 2019) was an American politician who was the

United States Libertarian Party The Libertarian Party (LP) is a Political parties in the United States, political party in the United States. It promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, Laissez-faire capitalism, ''laissez-faire'' capitalism, and Limited government, limiti ...

's nominee for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

in the 1984 presidential election,David Bergland – Libertarian
, Advocates for Self-Government and also served twice as the chair of the

Libertarian National Committee The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) controls and manages the affairs, properties, and funds of the United States Libertarian Party. It is composed of the party officers, five at-large representatives elected every two years at the national co ...

Background

Bergland was born June 4, 1935, in Mapleton, Iowa, the son of Gwendolyn (née McCalman) and Cedores P. Bergland.

Political campaigns and activities

A resident of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and a lawyer, Bergland ran unsuccessfully for office several times, always as a

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 ...

. In 1974, he ran as a

write-in candidate A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

for

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...

. In 1978, Bergland ran for the

California state senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

district 36, receiving 5.8% of the vote to finish third out of the three candidates on the ballot. Bergland received the party's vice-presidential

nomination Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In ...

in the 1976 presidential election, sharing the ticket with

Roger MacBride 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. He wrote several books in her ''Little Hou ...

. The MacBride/Bergland ticket received 172,553 votes (0.2%). He served as the party's national chair from 1977 to 1981, and from 1998 to 2000. In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, Bergland ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, finishing third of five with 202,410 votes (2.4%). Bergland received the Libertarian Party's

presidential nomination In United States politics and government, the term presidential nominee has two different meanings: # A candidate for president of the United States who has been selected by the delegates of a political party at the party's national convention ...

in the 1984 presidential election. He and his running mate, Jim Lewis, received 228,111 votes (0.3%). He managed the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Libertarian presidential campaign of Harry Browne. Bergland endorsed the

Free State Project The Free State Project (FSP) is an American political migration movement founded in 2001 to recruit at least 20,000 libertarians to move to a single low-population state to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas. New Hampshire was s ...

in January 2006.

Views

In the 1980s, Bergland wrote a book entitled, ''Libertarianism in One Lesson'' (). The book explained the

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 ...

philosophy and touched on issues including the government as a nature of coercion, how libertarianism developed in America and how it is different from both

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

and

conservatism Conservatism is a Philosophy of culture, cultural, Social philosophy, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, Convention (norm), customs, and Value (ethics and social science ...

, the contention that taxation is theft, support of a foreign policy of non-intervention,

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...

with other countries, gun rights, and criminal justice reform, opposition to drug and alcohol

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

, and

Social Security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

Death

Bergland died on June 3, 2019, in

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

, one day short of his 84th birthday, of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

References

External links

Downloadable audio interview
with Free Talk Live * (David Bergland) , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergland, David 1935 births 2019 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 1976 United States vice-presidential candidates Candidates in the 1984 United States presidential election American male non-fiction writers American people of Norwegian descent American political writers California lawyers California Libertarians Libertarian National Committee chairs Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees Libertarian Party (United States) vice presidential nominees Long Beach City College alumni Politicians from Huntington Beach, California Politicians from Long Beach, California People from Mapleton, Iowa Writers from Santa Cruz, California United States Army soldiers University of California, Los Angeles alumni USC Gould School of Law alumni Writers from Long Beach, California Writers from Orange County, California 20th-century American lawyers