Nobody for President was a

parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

campaign for the

1976 United States presidential election 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 ...

, as well as the 1980, 1984, and 1988 presidential elections.

Wavy Gravy Hugh Nanton Romney Jr. (born May 15, 1936), known as Wavy Gravy, is an American entertainer and peace activism, activist best known for his role at Woodstock, as well as for his hippie persona and counterculture of the 1960s, countercultural be ...

, master of ceremonies for the

Woodstock Festival Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

and official clown of the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

, is believed to have nominated Nobody at the Yippie national convention outside the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

in 1976. Another of those responsible, Arthur Hoppe (a syndicated columnist for the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'') claims to have distributed "several thousand" Nobody for President

campaign button A campaign button is a pin used during an election as political advertising for (or against) a candidate or political party, or to proclaim the issues that are part of the political platform. In the United States, political buttons date as far ba ...

s and to have written "dozens of columns extolling Nobody's virtues". It was the second time the Yippies had nominated an ineligible candidate for the Presidency, following the nomination of a boar named Pigasus eight years prior. The organizers of the campaign staged a

ticker-tape parade A ticker-tape parade is a parade event held in an urban setting, characterized by large amounts of shredded paper thrown onto the parade route from the surrounding buildings, creating a celebratory flurry of paper. Originally, actual ticker tap ...

down a boulevard in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

, with motorcycle police flanking a convertible limousine occupied by nobody.PHOTO: Nobody For President, Curtis Spangler and Wavy Gravy, October 12, 1976
(photo credit: James Stark) ''HeadCount.org'' The campaign's slogans included "Because Nobody Is In Washington Right Now, Working For You", "Nobody's Perfect", and "Nobody Should Have Too Much Power".Nobody for President.org
contains a detailed timeline of these events

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite book , last = Bogad , first = Larry , title = Electoral Guerrilla Theatre: Radical Ridicule and Social Movements , publisher = Taylor & Francis Ltd , location = London , year = 2005 , isbn = 0415332249 , page=32 {{cite book , last = Urgo , first = Joseph , title = Novel Frames , publisher = University Press of Mississippi , location = Jackson , year = 1991 , isbn = 0878055304 , page
198
, url = https://archive.org/details/novelframesliter00urgo_0/page/198 {{cite book , last = Hoppe , first = Arthur , title = Having a Wonderful Time , publisher = Chronicle Books , location = San Francisco , year = 1995 , isbn = 081181145X , page
100
, url = https://archive.org/details/havingwonderfult00hopp/page/100 {{cite book , last = Sumano , first = Ajahn , title = Questions from the City, Answers from the Forest , publisher = Quest Books , location = Wheaton , year = 1999 , isbn = 0835607747, page=78 {{cite news, newspaper=

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

, volume=317, title=None , issue=7679–7682 , year=1990 , publisher=Economist Newspaper Ltd. Election campaigns 1976 United States presidential election American political satire Yippies

See also

References