African American Candidates For President of The United States - Impact of African American Presidential Candidates

Impact of African American Presidential Candidates

The results of African American presidential campaigns have ranged from winning the presidency to ending before primary voting began. However, all of the candidates have had a political impact by making sure their voices were a part of the national debate and gaining some attention from their party’s establishment. Chisholm paved the way for African American and female candidates. Her goal was to make the Democratic Party more responsive to the people. When describing her reasons for running Chisholm said, “I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that…I am the candidate of the people of America.” In the 1972 primary, Chisholm won more than 430,000 votes in fourteen states and 28 delegates at the Democratic Convention in Miami. Chisholm provided a boost to George McGovern, the eventual Democratic nominee, when she campaigned for him after the convention. Chisholm’s candidacy inspired many women and African Americans to make a difference in politics. As the first African American and woman to run for the nomination of a major party, Chisholm paved the way for Jesse Jackson Sr. who would be the next major African American candidate to run. For future candidates, Chisholm advised, “the next campaign by a woman or black must be well prepared, and well financed; it must be planned long in advance, and it must aim at building a new coalition.”

Jackson seemed to follow Chisholm’s advice in his 1984 run for president. His 1984 campaign sought to bring together a “Rainbow Coalition” of African Americans, Hispanics, the poor, the elderly, family farmers, and women that would challenge the conservative policies of president Ronald Reagan. Jackson placed third out of ten candidates for the Democratic nomination with more than 3 million primary votes. He won primaries or caucuses in four states and the District of Columbia. Jackson’s campaign made enormous progress by building on Chisholm’s legacy. His 1984 campaign registered nearly 2 million voters of all racial backgrounds. By registering so many new voters, Jackson expanded the Democratic Party’s base. He also inspired African American voters. Exit polls showed that nearly 12% of all Black voters were participating for the first-time. Jackson’s campaign won him a speaking slot at the 1984 Democratic Convention, which provided a national platform for him to present his agenda. In his 1988 campaign, Jackson increased his support to 6.9 million primary votes and won 9 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Sharpton and Moseley Braun followed Jackson’s campaign when they ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004. Moseley Braun, having already made history as the only African American woman elected to the United States Senate, became the most visible female candidate to run for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. She advocated for expanding opportunity and encouraged women to seek positions of power. “Now is the time for Democrats to renew hope that we will leave for the next generation in even better shape than we found it,” Moseley Braun said, “And a woman can lead the way.” Though Moseley Braun ended her campaign in January 2004, she earned a speaking slot at the Democratic Convention in Boston where she had a national platform to advocate for equal rights.

Sharpton’s 2004 campaign also focused on equal rights. In describing why he was running, Sharpton said, “ I think if we stand up for workers’ rights, stand up for a peace plan worldwide, stand up for the constitutional rights of every American, those people will come back, and those people are the majority of Americans.” Like Moseley Braun, Sharpton’s campaign allowed him to participate in the early nationally televised Democratic Party primary debates, and earned him a speaking slot at the 2004 Democratic Convention, the same year future president Barack Obama gained national attention for his convention speech.

On the Republican side, Keyes first ran for the nomination in 1996 seeking to force his party to focus on social issues such as abortion. Keyes garnered a lot of free media during this campaign. The number of primary votes Keyes received increased from his 1996 campaign (471,716) to his 2000 campaign (914,548) but his vote total decreased in his 2008 primary run (58,977).

African American presidential candidates have a variety of reasons for joining the race. Some candidates run to because they think they can win. Others run to influence the national debate by advocating for specific policy proposals. African American candidates seek to inspire their community to participate in the electoral process and hold elected officials accountable. Some run for a combination of these reasons. Above all, African Americans run, like all candidates, to make their voices heard. Regardless of their reasons for running, these candidates have broken down barriers for other African Americas, Latino, and women. In less than four decades, African American presidential candidates have increased their support from Chisholm winning 430,000 primary votes to Obama being elected president with more than 69 million.