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 political ideology ...

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 territorie ...

, founded in 1971 by various individuals and state and local political parties, including the

Peace and Freedom Party The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) is a left-wing political party with affiliates and former members in more than a dozen American states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana and Utah, but none now have ballot status besides C ...

, 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 copie ...

(an American pediatrician and author of parenting books) as their candidate. The party also contested the

U.S. presidential election, 1976 The 1976 United States presidential election was the 48th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 1976. Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia defeated incumbent Republican President Gerald Ford from Michigan by a narrow ...

. 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 A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

, 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 The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a public research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Established in 1963, it is one of four universities in the University of Missouri System and its newest. Located on the former grounds of Bel ...

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

, having been where the party had held its conventions.

1972 election

The People's Party ran Dr.

for president and

Julius Hobson Julius Wilson Hobson (May 29, 1922March 23, 1977) was an activist and politician who served on the Council of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Board of Education. Early life Hobson was a native of Birmingham, Alabama, He wa ...

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 pregn ...

, legalized

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, a guaranteed

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...

, 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 peop ...

. 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 Cleve Andrew Pulley (born May 5, 1951), better known as Andrew Pulley, is an American former politician who ran as Socialist Workers Party (SWP) nominee for Vice President of the United States in 1972 and one of three nominees the party put forth ...

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 (pi (letter), Π in List of legal abbreviations, 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 co ...

. 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 #Names, 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 Vie ...

, 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