Alton B. Parker

Infobox Politician
name = Alton Brooks Parker


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birth_date = May 14, 1852
birth_place = Cortland, New York
death_date = May 10, 1926
death_place =
constituency =
party = Democratic Party
spouse =
profession = Lawyer
religion =


footnotes =

Alton Brooks Parker (May 14, 1852 – May 10, 1926) was an American lawyer and judge and a U.S. presidential candidate in the 1904 elections.

Parker was born in Cortland, New York, and practiced law in Kingston, New York. He served as a justice of the Supreme Court of New York from 1885 to 1889, and as chief judge of New York Court of Appeals from 1898 to 1904. Parker was a protege of conservative Democratic politician David Bennett Hill.

Parker resigned as chief judge after receiving the 1904 Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. presidency. Parker was supported by conservative Bourbon Democrats, like former President Grover Cleveland, who had been alienated from the party in 1896 and 1900 due to the radicalism of the party's nominee, William Jennings Bryan, on economic issues. It was hoped that Parker could be acceptable to both factions since he was "sound" on economic issues, but had supported Bryan in 1896 as a good party man. These hopes were frustrated, however, as Parker had little appeal to Bryanites and carried only the Solid South. Division within his party over currency issues and the popularity of incumbent Theodore Roosevelt led to Parker's landslide defeat. Parker was unable to return to his former judicial position and practiced law for the rest of his life.

In author Irving Stone's 1943 book, "They Also Ran", about defeated presidential candidates, a chapter about Judge Parker mentioned that he is the only defeated presidential candidate in history never to have a biography written about him. Stone theorized that Parker would have been an effective president and the 1904 election was one of a few in American history in which voters had "two" first-rate candidates to choose from. Stone professed that Americans liked Roosevelt more because of his colorful style.

Parker later served as a temporary chairman and keynote speaker at the 1912 Democratic National Convention, which nominated Woodrow Wilson for President [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=58230 Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jun 25, 1912 ] ] .

Parker's birthplace, Cortland, New York, has a public elementary school named for him.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has a portrait of Judge Parker by Adolfo Muller-Ury (1862-1947) painted in 1904 and donated by Parker's wife in 1926 hanging at the Senate House State Historic Site at Kingston, New York.

Electoral history

New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge, 1897 [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=246349 Our Campaigns - NY Court of Appeals - Chief Judge Race - Nov 02, 1897 ] ] :
* Alton B. Parker (D) - 554,680 (50.94%)
* William J. Wallace (R) - 493,791 (45.34%)
* Theodore F. Cuno (Socialist Labor) - 20,854 (1.92%)
* Francis E. Baldwin (Prohibition) - 19,653 (1.81%)

1904 Democratic National Convention [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=58117 Our Campaigns - US President - D Convention Race - Jul 06, 1904 ] ] :
* Alton B. Parker - 679 (66.50%)
* William Randolph Hearst - 200 (19.59%)
* Francis M. Cookrell - 42 (4.11%)
* Richard Onley - 38 (3.72%)
* Edward C. Wall - 27 (2.64%)
* George Gray - 12 (1.18%)
* John Sharp Williams - 8 (0.78%)
* Robert E. Pattison - 4 (0.39%)
* George B. McClellan, Jr. - 3 (0.29%)
* Nelson Appleton Miles - 3 (0.29%)
* Arthur Pue Gorman - 2 (0.20%)
* Charles Arnette Towne - 2 (0.20%)
* Bird Sim Coler - 1 (0.10%)

United States presidential election, 1904:
* Theodore Roosevelt/Charles W. Fairbanks (R) - 7,630,457 (56.4%) and 336 electoral votes (29 states carried)
* Alton B. Parker/Henry G. Davis (D) - 5,083,880 (37.6%) and 140 electoral votes (17 states carried)
* Eugene V. Debs/Benjamin Hanford (Socialists) - 402,810 (3.0%)
* Silas C. Swallow/George W. Carroll (Prohibition) - 259,102 (1.9%)
* Thomas E. Watson/Thomas Tibbles (Populists) - 114,070 (0.8%)

New York United States Senate election, 1909 (Democratic caucus) [ [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=231003 Our Campaigns - NY US Senate - D Caucus Race - Mar 30, 1909 ] ] :
* James A. O'Gorman - 63 (62.38%)
* William F. Sheehan - 23 (22.77%)
* Isidor Straus - 5 (4.95%)
* Cady Herrick - 4 (3.96%)
* John D. Kernan - 3 (2.97%)
* Alton B. Parker - 1 (0.99%)
* William Sulzer - 1 (0.99%)
* Augustus Van Wyck - 1 (0.99%)

References

External links

* [http://www.archive.org/details/addaltonparker00parkrich "Address by Alton B. Parker, in memoriam David Bennett Hill; delivered at the joint meeting of the Senate and Assembly in the capitol at Albany, July 6, 1911"]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=QIoOAAAAYAAJ| "American Constitutional Government"; a 1922 adress by Judge Parker]