David Bergland

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = David Bergland

|image = David Bergland.jpg

|caption = Bergland in 1976

|office = 4th and 12th Chair of the
Libertarian National Committee

|term_start = 1998

|term_end = 2000

|predecessor = Steve Dasbach

|successor = Jim Lark

|term_start1 = 1977

|term_end1 = 1981

|predecessor1= Ed Crane

|successor1 = Alicia Clark

|birth_name = David Peter Bergland

|birth_date = {{birth date|1935|6|4}}

|birth_place = Mapleton, Iowa, U.S.

|death_date = {{death date and age|2019|6|3|1935|6|4}}

|death_place = Kennewick, Washington, U.S.

|party = Libertarian

|spouse = Sharon Ayres

|alma_mater = Long Beach City College
University of California, Los
Angeles
University of Southern California

}}

David Peter Bergland (June 4, 1935 – June 3, 2019) was an American politician who was the United States Libertarian Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 1984 presidential election,[http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/david-bergland.html David Bergland – Libertarian] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407232233/http://www.theadvocates.org/celebrities/david-bergland.html |date=April 7, 2008 }}, Advocates for Self-Government{{Cite news |url=https://oklahoman.com/article/2064080/united-sovereign-libertarian-votes-pursued-in-state/ |title=United Sovereign, Libertarian Votes Pursued in State |last=Greiner |first=John |date=April 9, 1984 |access-date=June 6, 2019}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/09/04/libertarians-pick-candidate-for-president/347d85a3-8d8d-4f2c-a98b-07025300256d/ |title=Libertarians Pick Candidate For President |last=Reid, T.R. |author-link=T.R. Reid |date=September 4, 1983 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=June 6, 2019}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/28/us/libertarian-asking-less-government.html |title=Libertarian Asking Less Government |last=Goodman |first=Walter |date=September 28, 1984 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 6, 2019}} and also served twice as the chair of the Libertarian National Committee.

Background

Bergland was born June 4, 1935, in Mapleton, Iowa, the son of Gwendolyn (née McCalman) and Cedores P. Bergland.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7BVAAAAYAAJ&q=Gwendolyn++Bergland |title=The candidates: Volume 1 of U.S. Presidential Candidates and the Elections: A Biographical and Historical Guide |last=Havel |first=James T. |date=1996 |publisher=Macmillan Library Reference USA |pages=43|isbn=978-0028646237 }}

Political campaigns and activities

A resident of California and a lawyer, Bergland ran unsuccessfully for office several times, always as a Libertarian.{{Cite magazine |last=Doherty, Brian |author-link=Brian Doherty (journalist) |date=June 7, 2019 |title=David Bergland, R.I.P. |url=https://reason.com/2019/06/07/david-bergland-r-i-p/ |magazine=Reason.com |access-date=June 12, 2019}} In 1974, he ran as a write-in candidate for California Attorney General. In 1978, Bergland ran for the California state senate district 36, receiving 5.8% of the vote to finish third out of the three candidates on the ballot.{{Cite web |url=http://www.joincalifornia.com/election/1978-11-07 |title=JoinCalifornia – 11-07-1978 Election |website=JoinCalifornia.com}}

Bergland received the party's vice-presidential nomination in the 1976 presidential election, sharing the ticket with Roger MacBride.{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/06/15/archives/libertarian-party-confirms-its-presidential-campaign.html |title=Libertarian Party Confirms Its Presidential Campaign |last=Associated Press |author-link=Associated Press |date=June 15, 1976 |work=The New York Times |access-date=June 6, 2019}} The MacBride/Bergland ticket received 172,553 votes (0.2%).

He served as the party's national chair from 1977 to 1981, and from 1998 to 2000.

In 1980, Bergland ran for the United States Senate, finishing third of five with 202,410 votes (2.4%).

Bergland received the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination in the 1984 presidential election. He and his running mate, Jim Lewis, received 228,111 votes (0.3%).

He managed the 2000 Libertarian presidential campaign of Harry Browne. Bergland endorsed the Free State Project in January 2006.{{cite web |url=http://freestateproject.org/about/endorsements#bergland |title=David Bergland's endorsement of the Free State Project |access-date=2008-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041011134630/http://www.freestateproject.org/about/endorsements/#bergland |archive-date=2004-10-11 |url-status=dead }}

Views

In the 1980s, Bergland wrote a book entitled, Libertarianism in One Lesson ({{ISBN|0975432648}}).{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-02-09-9702090209-story.html |title=On Libertarians |last=Hill |first=A. J. |date=February 9, 1997 |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 6, 2019}} The book explained the libertarian philosophy and touched on issues including the government as a nature of coercion, how libertarianism developed in America and how it is different from both liberalism and conservatism, the contention that taxation is theft, support of a foreign policy of non-intervention, free trade with other countries, gun rights, and criminal justice reform, opposition to drug and alcohol prohibition, public education, and Social Security.{{Cite web |url=https://www.docslides.com/test/libertarianism-in-one-lesson-by-david-bergland-fifth-edition |title=Libertarianism in One Lesson By David Bergland Fifth Edition 1990 ... |date=June 21, 2016 |website=DocSlides}}

Death

Bergland died on June 3, 2019, in Kennewick, Washington, one day short of his 84th birthday, of prostate cancer.{{Cite news|url=http://ballot-access.org/2019/06/04/david-bergland-rip-1984-libertarian-party-candidate-for-president/|title=David Bergland, RIP: 1984 Libertarian Party Candidate for President|author=Winger, Richard|author-link=Richard Winger|date=June 4, 2019|access-date=June 5, 2019|website=Ballot Access News}}

References

External links

[http://www.freetalklive.com/files/bergland.mp3 Downloadable audio interview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606102329/https://www.freetalklive.com/files/bergland.mp3 |date=2019-06-06 }} with Free Talk Live
{{C-SPAN|65795}} (David Bergland)

{{s-ttl|title=Libertarian nominee for Vice President of the United States|years=1976}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Libertarian National Committee|years=1977–1981}}

{{s-ttl|title=Libertarian nominee for President of the United States|years=1984}}

{{s-ttl|title=Chair of the Libertarian National Committee|years=1998–2000}}

Category:1935 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:1976 United States vice-presidential candidates

Category:Candidates in the 1984 United States presidential election

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American people of Norwegian descent