The American Independent Party is a paleoconservative political party founded in 1967 to support George C. Wallace’s presidential campaign. It emphasizes Christian and Western identity, a small federal government, and rejects gay marriage, abortion rights, and liberalism. The party has fractured into different but related parties since its founding.
The American Independent Party is a paleoconservative American political party founded in 1967 in California by Elieen and Bill Shearer, in part to support the presidential campaign of George C. Wallace. Paleoconservatism is typically characterized as a right-wing political philosophy with anti-imperialist and anti-communist leanings and an emphasis on Christian and Western identity.
The Shearers believed that a new political party was needed because the leaders of the major Democratic and Republican parties had ignored the vision of the founding fathers by contributing to a large and powerful federal government, by imposing excessive taxes and by engaging in diplomatic politics that did not protect the interests of the country. The American Independent Party is represented by a blue eagle clutching a banner with the party’s name in its talons superimposed on a compass rose.
The party’s political platform emphasizes the importance of the Christian faith and the desire for a small, less powerful federal government. Party members believe that God is the supreme authority, who has granted man the inalienable rights described in the Declaration of Independence, and also who has imposed a number of duties on mankind. Gay marriage, abortion rights, liberalism are rejected, while limited federal government and taxation, gun rights and strict border controls are promoted. The party claims that all politicians and all governments should embrace the Christian faith because they are servants of God working for the good of the citizenry.
George C. Wallace was nominated as the presidential candidate of the American Independent Party with Curtis E LeMay for vice president in 1968. Wallace was the governor of Alabama known for his populist and pro-segregation political stance. The party was able to gain ballot status in California after a long and intense registration drive and a series of rallies Wallace held throughout the state. The ticket won about 7% of the vote in California and about 13% nationally in 1968. Wallace was also the party’s presidential candidate in 1972, but an assassination attempt left him crippled and he played no further role in the party .
The American Independent Party has fractured into different but related parties since its founding in the late 1960s. The initial split occurred in 1976, when the more moderate American Party dissolved, and it generally attracted support from northern conservatives. Party founder Bill Shearer joined the Populist Party in the early 1980s and later the Constitution Party, which he chaired from 1996 to 1999.
The party experienced a major schism over US foreign policy and Constitution Party influence during the 2008 presidential campaign with one faction supporting President Jim King and the other President Ed Noonan. Noonan’s supporters left to form the Independent Party of America.
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