Timeframe: 1968-2008
George Wallace announced on February 8, 1968 that he would run for president as the candidate of the American Independent Party; shortly afterward, he found a running mate, General Curtis E. LeMay, former Air Force chief of staff. His appeal was to racist Democrats in the South where many democratic candidates supported him. Outside the South various rightist groups helps, but it was his appeal to the dissatisfied that threatened to make serious inroads to the old party strength.
He offered an antifederal government, pro-state rights and a law-and-order platform with racism inside the wrapper. He derided intellectuals who he called "pointed heads," beatniks, the Supreme Court, bureaucrats, school busing, "national lbieral parties," pollsters, and the national news media. The party polled 10 million votes, or 13.5% of the total national vote, the highest percentage for a third party since 1924.
In 1972, with Rep. John Schmitz (R-Calif.) heading the ticket, the party received 1,080,670 votes. The remnants of the Wallace movement split in 1976; Lester Maddox (American Independent) and Thomas Anderson (American) polled 170,000 and 160,000 votes. At the present, the American Independent party still exists in some states, as California, where it is under the coalition of the U. S. Taxpayers Party at the present day.
