Minor Party - United States

United States

In the United States are often known as third parties. Minor parties in the U.S. include the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, Constitution Party, and others that have less in influence than the major parties, which since the American Civil War (1861–1865) have been the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Since 1860, six presidential candidates other than Republicans and Democrats have received over 10% of the popular vote, although one of them was a former president, Theodore Roosevelt.

Third-Party Presidential Candidates, 1832-1996
Third-party candidates who received more than the historical average of 5.6 percent of the popular vote are listed below, three of which were former presidents (follow links for more information on their time as president).
Year Candidate Popular Vote % Electoral Votes Outcome in Next Election
1996 Reform H. Ross Perot 8.4 0 Did not run; endorsed Republican candidate George W. Bush
1992 Independent H. Ross Perot 18.9 0 Ran as Reform Party candidate
1980 Independent John B. Anderson 6.6 0 Did not run
1968 American Independent George C. Wallace 13.5 46 Won 1.4 percent of the popular vote
1924 Progressive Robert M. La Follette 16.6 13 Returned to Republican Party
1912 Progressive ("Bull Moose") Theodore Roosevelt 27.4 88 Returned to Republican Party
1912 Socialist Eugene V. Debs 6 0 Won 3.2 percent of the popular vote
1892 Populist James B. Weaver 8.5 22 Endorsed Democratic candidate
1860 Constitutional Union John Bell 12.6 39 Party dissolved
1860 Southern Democrats John C. Breckinridge 18.1 72 Party dissolved
1856 American ("Know-Nothing") Millard Fillmore 21.5 8 Party dissolved
1848 Free Soil Martin Van Buren 10.1 0 Won 4.9 percent of the vote
1832 Anti-Masonic William Wirt 7.7 7 Endorsed Whig candidate
Percentages in bold are those over 10% in elections since 1860.

Read more about this topic:  Minor Party

Famous quotes related to united states:

    In the United States all business not transacted over the telephone is accomplished in conjunction with alcohol or food, often under conditions of advanced intoxication. This is a fact of the utmost importance for the visitor of limited funds ... for it means that the most expensive restaurants are, with rare exceptions, the worst.
    John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)

    In one notable instance, where the United States Army and a hundred years of persuasion failed, a highway has succeeded. The Seminole Indians surrendered to the Tamiami Trail. From the Everglades the remnants of this race emerged, soon after the trail was built, to set up their palm-thatched villages along the road and to hoist tribal flags as a lure to passing motorists.
    —For the State of Florida, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)

    The House of Lords, architecturally, is a magnificent room, and the dignity, quiet, and repose of the scene made me unwillingly acknowledge that the Senate of the United States might possibly improve its manners. Perhaps in our desire for simplicity, absence of title, or badge of office we may have thrown over too much.
    M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)

    Falling in love with a United States Senator is a splendid ordeal. One is nestled snugly into the bosom of power but also placed squarely in the hazardous path of exposure.
    Barbara Howar (b. 1934)

    Hollywood ... was the place where the United States perpetrated itself as a universal dream and put the dream into mass production.
    Angela Carter (1940–1992)