John Anderson

John B. Anderson

Interment Location Visited  
Arlington, VA December 5, 2023  

Photographed December 5, 2023.

In the 1980 presidential election, incumbent Jimmy Carter withstood a primary challenge from Senator Ted Kennedy. His fortunes in the general election were not as good. Carter received support from 41.0% of the voting populace, which was distributed such as to net him victory in only six states and Washington, D.C., leading to an electoral college landslide victory for former Governor Ronald Reagan. Also in that mix was Congressman John Bayard Anderson, whose Independent run as a liberal Republican resonated with 5.7 million at the ballot box. Although 6.6% was not a historically strong showing for a candidate outside the two major U.S. political parties, it demonstrated there was a sizeable number of Americans who were displeased with the Carter Administration but not enough so to support the brand of conservatism preached by Reagan.

Anderson was elected to the first of ten consecutive terms in the House of Representatives in 1960, serving Illinois’s 16th district. Anderson was a Republican and was initially “in lockstep” with the orthodoxy put forth by his party’s most conservative members, such as Senator Barry Goldwater. Over time, Anderson’s stances softened and though he remained a fiscal conservative, he came to look more favorably on the kind of liberal social programs he fought against during much of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s White House tenure. His Washington Post obituary lists his “signature legislative achievement” as giving the decisive vote that moved the Fair Housing Bill out of committee and to the House floor for a vote in the wake of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination and the riots that followed. During the ensuing floor debate, Anderson declared, “We are not simply knuckling under to pressure or listening to the voices of unreasoning fear and hysteria if we seek to do that which we believe in our hearts is right and just. I legislate today not out of fear, but out of a deep concern for the America I love,” a sentence that is shortened and paraphrased on his tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery. “We do stand at a crossroad. We can continue the Gadarene slide into an endless cycle of riot and disorder, or we can begin the slow and painful ascent toward that yet-distant goal of equality of opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race or color.” The Fair Housing Bill and other components of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 were passed in the house by a 250-172 vote on April 10, 1968. Having already been amended and approved by the Senate, the legislation was signed into law by President Johnson the following day.

Photographed December 5, 2023.
Photographed December 5, 2023.

In Anderson’s 1978 re-election bid he battled with a former fundamentalist minister who was backed by multiple conservative political action committees. Though he staved off the challenge, it was increasingly apparent that Anderson and the mainstream Republican Party were on divergent paths. He reflected in 2002, “I was almost destined to make the decision, which I did in 1980, that rather than continue to fight a local war with right-wing conservatives, I would bring my broader viewpoint on where the Republican Party should be positioning itself as we entered the decade of the ’80s.” Anderson ran for the White House in 1980, initially as a Republican candidate. But that April, as Ronald Reagan marched toward the GOP nomination, Anderson refocused his efforts as an Independent. A Washington Post article from that month says, “Anderson has built his success so far around what he calls ‘the Anderson Difference’ — a willingness to take firm, sharp stands on such controversial questions as gasoline taxes and gun control (which he favors) and the MX missile system (which he opposes). Paradoxically, his position on the economy is not as distinct, because it consists of a complex mixture of orthodox Republican conservatism and liberal activism.” Anderson polled as high as 26% during the campaign, and he qualified to take the stage at the first presidential debate of the general election in September. President Carter, unwilling to share the stage with Anderson, did not participate. Anderson’s support shrank as the election drew nearer, and he did not qualify for the second debate on October 28th. When the election was over, Anderson had garnered 5,719,850 popular votes and none in the electoral college.


Fast Facts

Born: February 15, 1922 in Rockford, Illinois

Spouse: Keke Machakos Anderson (m. 1953-2017)

Military Rank: Staff Sergeant — U.S. Army

Primary Political Affiliation: Republican Party

House Tenure: 1961-1981

Died: December 3, 2017 in Washington, D.C.

Age: 95

Interment: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

"I am running for president as an Independent because I believe our country is in trouble. I believe that all of us are going to have to begin to work together to solve our problems. If you think that I am a spoiler, consider these facts: do you really think that our economy is healthy? Do you really think that 8 million Americans being out of work and the 50% unemployment among the youth of our country are acceptable? Do you really think that our Armed Forces are really acceptably strong in those areas of conventional capability where they should be? Do you think that our political institutions are working the way they should, when, literally, only half of our citizens vote? I don't think you do think that. And therefore, I think you ought to consider doing something about it, and voting for an Independent in 1980."
- John B. Anderson
in his concluding remarks at the September 21, 1980 presidential debate against former Governor Ronald Reagan at the Baltimore Convention Center

Sources Consulted and Further Reading

Kenderdine, Anne. “John B. Anderson, fiery independent candidate in 1980 presidential race, dies at 95.” Washington Post. December 4, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-b-anderson-fiery-third-party-candidate-in-1980-presidential-race-dies-at-95/2017/12/04/dd25dfda-d92a-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html.

Mason, Jim. “America’s politics can be better. John Anderson’s 1980 presidential campaign shows how.” Chicago Sun-Times. February 28, 2022. https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/2/28/22954818/john-anderson-presidential-campaign-1980-politics-partisanship-civility-jim-mason-op-ed.

PBS NewsHour. “Anderson vs. Reagan: The first 1980 presidential debate.” YouTube video, 1:00:40. September 26, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVj2llCwJtE.

Pine, Art, John M. Berry, and Peter Behr. “The Candidates and the Economy.” Washington Post. April 19, 1980. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1980/04/20/the-candidates-and-the-economy/798ab87e-cd99-4344-8c9d-2b41246cb26f/.

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