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 party in the United States that promotes civil liberties, non-interventionism, ''laissez-faire'' capitalism, and limiting the size and scope of government. The party was conceived in August 1971 at m ...

'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 of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

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 ...

Background

Bergland was born June 4, 1935, in

Mapleton, Iowa Mapleton is a city in Monona County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,165 at the time of the 2020 census. History Mapleton was platted in 1857 when the railroad was extended to that point. It was named from its location near the Maple R ...

, 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, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

. 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's duty is to ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section ...

. 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, Cal ...

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 the ...

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, writer, and television producer. He was the presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party in the 1976 election. MacBride became the first presidenti ...

. 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 grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

, Bergland ran for the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

, finishing third of five with 202,410 votes (2.4%). Bergland received the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in the 1984 presidential election. He and his running mate, Jim Lewis, received 228,111 (0.3%). He managed the

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Libertarian presidential campaign of

Harry Browne Harry Edson Browne (June 17, 1933 – March 1, 2006) was an American writer, politician, and investment advisor. He was the Libertarian Party's Presidential nominee in the U.S. elections of 1996 and 2000. He authored 12 books that in total hav ...

. 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 (New Hampshire was selected in 2003) in order to make the state a stronghold ...

in January 2006.

Views

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

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

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 and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

and

conservatism Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

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

non-intervention Non-interventionism or non-intervention is a political philosophy or national foreign policy doctrine that opposes interference in the domestic politics and affairs of other countries but, in contrast to isolationism, is not necessarily opposed t ...

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

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 ...

public education State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

, and

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, 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 specificall ...

Death

Bergland died on June 3, 2019, one day short of his 84th birthday, of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

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 20th-century American politicians 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 Non-interventionism People from Huntington Beach, California People from Long Beach, California People from Mapleton, Iowa People from Santa Cruz, California United States Army soldiers University of California, Los Angeles alumni USC Gould School of Law alumni Writers from California 20th-century American lawyers