John Anderson, liberal Republican and 1980 third-party presidential candidate, has died at 95

John Anderson, independent presidential candidate, is dead at 95
(Image credit: Graham Turner/Keystone/Getty Images)

John B. Anderson was a 10-term Republican congressman from Illinois, decorated World War II veteran, lawyer, and skilled orator, but he will be remembered most for his third-party presidential run in 1980, when his National Unity ticket earned 7 percent of the vote and helped deliver a landslide for Ronald Reagan. Anderson died Sunday at his home in Washington, daughter Diane Anderson confirmed Monday. He was 95.

Anderson, born in 1922 to Swedish immigrants, won an open House seat in 1960, entering Congress as a conservative Republican opposed to President John F. Kennedy's agenda. By the end of the decade, he was known as a fiscal conservative and social liberal, and he left the Republican Party for good in 1980 after quitting the GOP primaries to run as an independent. His campaign, and erudite speeches, attracted what President Jimmy Carter's campaign dismissed as the Northeastern liberal "wine and cheese set." Paul Newman offered to make campaign ads for Anderson and TV producer Norman Lear promoted his campaign in newspaper ads.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.