The American Party of 1924 was a short-lived

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ideological or p ...

National convention

It met in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

in June 1924, with 27 delegates present. Anti-Catholic activist former judge Gilbert O. Nations was nominated on the first ballot 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 Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, with 20 votes to 7 for Pennsylvania Governor

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

, whose supporters announced that he had declined the party's nomination, insisting that he preferred to work within the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa * Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

. Former California congressman

Charles Hiram Randall Charles Hiram Randall (July 23, 1865 – February 18, 1951), known as Charles Randall, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the California State Assembly and the Los Angeles City Council. He was the first council member to face a ...

was nominated for vice-president, with 16 votes to 10 for Georgia congressman

William D. Upshaw William David Upshaw (October 15, 1866 – November 21, 1952) served eight years in Congress (1919–1927), where he was such a strong proponent of the temperance movement that he became known as the "driest of the drys." In Congress, Upshaw ...

; Upshaw supporters announced that he planned to seek the Democratic nomination for that office, and (failing that) to seek re-election to Congress. There were also calls for a merger with the

Prohibition Party The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...

; more than one delegate was also a delegate to the Prohibition national convention scheduled to be held in the same city in a few days. (The Prohibition Party would reject the call for merger, nominating its own slate instead.) Randall later declined to run, in order to concentrate on a race for Congress in California on both the American and Prohibition party tickets; and the national committee selected Leander L. Pickett, a former member of the Prohibition Party in Kentucky, as the vice-presidential nominee. The

party platform A political party platform (US English), party program, or party manifesto (preferential term in British & often Commonwealth English) is a formal set of principle goals which are supported by a political party or individual candidate, in order ...

adopted called for

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

looking to outlaw war; for

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

of foreign-language newspapers, prohibiting "foreign schools" from disseminating foreign propaganda, and restriction of

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

; for the limitation of excessive wealth; for more stringent laws against

polygamy Crimes Polygamy (from Late Greek (') "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, sociologists call this polygyny. When a woman is marr ...

, white slavery and

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

; for more effective laws against

election fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of ...

; and for stricter law enforcement, especially of

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 alcoholi ...

. The convention called for establishments of organizations in all state, of a national executive committee, and of a national committee composed of one man and one woman from each state.

Ku Klux Klan

The American Party of 1924 was tagged as the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cat ...

party; although its leaders denied this, they did announce that "counsels of the 'invisible empire' would be needed in the coming campaign, and would be given first consideration in all deliberations". Pickett would be particularly outspoken in denouncing national political figures who had denounced the Klan.

Election results

The party was only on the ballot in

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

,Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections
1924 Presidential General Election Results – Pennsylvania
/ref> and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

. Its total vote in these seven states was 23,393, or only 0.08 percent of the votes polled in all forty-eight states, with the majority coming from Washington and Pennsylvania.

References

{{United States political parties 1924 establishments in Ohio Defunct political parties in the United States Defunct far-right political parties in the United States Political parties established in 1924