American Vegetarian Party

The American Vegetarian Party was a United States political party formed on July 28, 1947. The party held conventions and nominated candidates for President and Vice-President in several national elections, although they never seriously pursued ballot access or official recognition as a political party by election officials.

Historical Vegetarian Party presidential tickets

1948

* John Maxwell (Vegetarian Party presidential nominee) - Maxwell was born in England, and thus determined to be ineligible.
* Daniel J. Murphy (1948 Vegetarian Party vice-presidential nominee)

Alyda Vandale also contributed to the Party

1952

* Daniel J. Murphy (Vegetarian Party presidential nominee)
* Symon Gould (1952 Vegetarian Party vice-presidential nominee)

1956

* Herbert M. Shelton (Vegetarian Party presidential nominee)
* Symon Gould (1956 Vegetarian Party vice-presidential nominee)

1960

* Symon Gould (1960 Vegetarian Party presidential nominee)
* Chistopher Gian-Cursio (1960 Vegetarian Party vice-presidential nominee)

1964

* Symon Gould (nominated as 1964 Vegetarian Party candidate for presidential; however, Mr. Gould died in 1963)
* Abram Wolfson (1964 Vegetarian Party vice-presidential nominee)

Modern efforts to revitalize the Vegetarian Party

The "Vegetarian Summerfest 2004" (the 30th annual conference of the North American Vegetarian Society) in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, held July 21-24, 2004, brought longtime peace activist and Green Party member Bob Auerbach to initiate efforts at organizing a new national political party under the name "Vegetarian Party." Unlike the American Vegetarian Party in the 1960s, which tended to be supportive of United States military action, the organizers of the new Vegetarian Party opposed war and supported nonviolence.

In 2002 and 2004, Auerbach ran as the Green congressional nominee from Maryland's 5th district. While the Vegetarian Party does not intend to be a rival of the Green Party, it seems likely that the Vegetarian Party will work as part of a coalition with the Green Party and other third parties in order to support candidates in local and state elections.

Political parties in the United States are formally organized under state election laws, so it is not clear how active the new Vegetarian Party will be electorally. Nevertheless, there has been some discussion among vegetarians of running a presidential ticket again, possibly as soon as 2008.

External links

* [http://www.ivu.org/history/societies/americanvu.html The American Vegetarian Union]