Congressman ran quixotic campaign
JOHN B. ANDERSON, 1922 – 2017
John B. Anderson, whose independent 1980 presidential bid helped propel Ronald Reagan to the White House, dies at 95.
John B. Anderson, a former Illinois congressman whose eloquent and quixotic 1980 presidential campaign as an independent helped propel Ronald Reagan to the White House, has died at his home in Washington. He was 95.
His death Sunday was confirmed by his daughter, Diane Anderson.
A 10-term congressman, Anderson waged an independent campaign in 1980 against President Carter and his Republican challenger Reagan. Anderson received 7% of the vote — enough, observers believed, to tilt the election.
In his later years, Anderson became a lecturer and spokesman for political reform, drawing attention every four years as he was called on to discuss other third-party presidential candidates.
Born Feb. 15, 1922, in Rockford, Ill., John Bayard Anderson was the son of Swedish immigrants who ran a grocery store.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Illinois in 1942 and a law degree in 1946. In World War II, he was awarded four battle stars in the Army field artillery in Europe.
Anderson practiced law in Rockford until 1952, when he joined the United States foreign service. While getting his picture taken for his passport, Anderson met Keke Machakos, the State Department photographer. The first picture did not turn out, so she called him in for a second. They began dating and married the next year.
Anderson’s political career began with a successful 1956 campaign for state’s attorney — the local prosecutor — in Winnebago County, Ill. In 1960, as a Republican, he was elected to an open congressional seat representing Illinois’ 16th District, a GOP heartland in northwest Illinois.
Anderson arrived in Washington at the start of the Kennedy administration, pledging to oppose such liberal Democratic notions as Medicare and federal aid for education. GOP leaders trotted out their persuasive colleague for party “truth squads” to rebut the programs of the Kennedy administration.
By the late ’60s, Anderson was less recognizable as a conservative Republican. He remained mostly in line with his party on economic matters but broke with the GOP by voting for a bill that outlawed racial discrimination in housing, supporting the Equal Rights Amendment, criticizing wasteful defense spending and backing restrictions on guns and nuclear weapons. He spoke out against the Vietnam War and was among the first Republicans to call for President Nixon’s resignation during the Watergate scandal.
Colleagues described him as brilliant, principled and hard working, but also arrogant, overly serious and sanctimonious.
In 1979, at age 57, Anderson began campaigning for president as a moderate Republican. He called for restoring the “vital center that can bind our nation and society together.”
From the beginning, the little-known congressman conceded that his was a long-shot campaign. Anderson’s hope in the primary race for the GOP nomination was that his conservative opponents would divide the party’s right, making his share of the left-center look large.
The GOP presidential field at that point included Reagan, Texas Gov. John B. Connally, future Reagan running mate George H.W. Bush, Kansas Sen. Bob Dole and Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker.
Anderson became a favorite among liberal voters who were disenchanted with Carter yet also dissatisfied with other Democrats. Actor Paul Newman offered to make commercials for Anderson, and TV producer Norman Lear took out newspaper ads touting his candidacy. Anderson became a darling of columnists, who praised his intelligence, eloquence and integrity.
After losing primaries in six states — but winning nearly 60 delegates — Anderson withdrew from the Republican field to continue his candidacy as an independent. For Anderson’s campaign to remain viable, however, he had to get on the ballot in all 50 states, and Democrats were challenging his inclusion in court because they worried he would steal votes from Carter.
Carter’s campaign dismissed Anderson as appealing only to the “wine and cheese set” of educated Northeastern liberals.
By the time Reagan and Carter debated five weeks later, Anderson had dropped in the polls and was not invited, a slight he called “absolutely crushing.”
Although Anderson insisted throughout his campaign that he would draw support evenly from Reagan and Carter, the fears of the Democratic camp came true: Anderson’s National Unity Party finished with just under 7% of the popular vote — 5.7 million votes — compared with Reagan’s 51% and Carter’s 41%.
After leaving politics, he practiced law and held various visiting professorships. He also wrote books and editorials about the American economy, the need for televised presidential debates and political reform.
Anderson is survived by his wife; son John Jr.; daughters Eleanora, Diane, Karen and Susan; and 11 grandchildren.