Prohibition Party

File:National Prohibition Convention 1892.jpg

In 1868 and 1869, branches of the International Organisation of Good Templars, a global temperance organization, passed resolutions supporting the creation of a political party in favor of alcoholic prohibition. From July 29 to 30, 1868, the sixth National Temperance Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio, and passed a resolution supporting temperance advocates to enter politics. On May 25, 1869, the Good Templars branch in Oswego, New York, called a meeting to prepare for the creation of a political party in favor of prohibition. Jonathan H. Orne was chosen as chairman and Julius A. Spencer as secretary of the meeting and a committee consisting of John Russell, Daniel Wilkins, Julius A. Spencer, John N. Stearns, and James Black was created to organize a national party.{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0007/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Five of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318012352/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0007/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=5}}

On September 1, 1869, almost five hundred delegates from twenty states and Washington, D.C., met at Farwell Hall in Chicago and John Russell was selected to serve as the temporary chairman and James Black as president of the convention.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40595153/lancaster_intelligencer/ |title=Hon. James Black Dead |date=December 20, 1893 |work=Lancaster Intelligencer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215070201/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40595153/lancaster_intelligencer/ |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |url-status=live |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com}} The party was the first to accept women as members and gave those who attended full delegate rights."Give the Ladies a Chance: Gender and Partisanship in the Prohibition Party, 1869–1912". Journal of Women's History 2: 137Gillespie, J. David. Challengers to Duopoly: Why Third Parties Matter in the American Two-Party System. 2012. p. 47 Former anti-slavery activist Gerrit Smith, who had served in the House of Representatives from 1853 to 1854 and had run for president in 1848, 1856, and 1860 with the Liberty Party nomination, served as a delegate from New York and gave a speech at the convention. The organization was referred to as either the National Prohibition Party or the Prohibition Reform Party.{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0008/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Six of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318013033/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0008/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=6}}{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0011/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Nine of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318014001/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0011/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=9}}

On December 9, 1871, a national convention was called for February 22, 1872, to nominate a presidential and vice presidential candidate.{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0020/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Eighteen of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318015008/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0020/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=18}} Chairman Simeon B. Chase, U.S. Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, Gerrit Smith, Mayor Neal Dow (a former mayor of Portland, Maine), and John Russell were proposed as presidential nominees while Henry Fish, James Black, John Blackman, Secretary Gideon T. Stewart, Julius A. Spencer, and Stephen B. Ransom were proposed for the vice presidential nomination.{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0025/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Twenty Three of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318021022/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0025/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=23}} Black and Russell were given the presidential and vice presidential nominations. The first platform of the organization included support for alcoholic prohibition, the direct election of Senators, bimetallic currency (based on silver as well as gold), low tariffs, universal suffrage for both men and women of all races, and increased foreign immigration.{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0026/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Twenty Four of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318021803/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0026/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=24}}{{Cite news |url=https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0027/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |title=Page Twenty Five of Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318021909/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:gdc:dcmsiabooks:br:ie:fh:is:to:ry:of:pr:00:bl:ac:briefhistoryofpr00blac:briefhistoryofpr00blac_0027/full/pct:100/0/default.jpg |archive-date=March 18, 2020 |page=25}}{{Cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/dcmsiabooks.briefhistoryofpr00blac/?sp=8&r=-0.851,0.572,2.702,1.136,0 |title=Brief history of prohibition and of the prohibition reform party |author=James Black|website=Library of Congress }}

In 1876, the organization's name was changed to the National Prohibition Reform Party. However, in 1881, Frances Willard, R. W. Nelson, A. J. Jutkins, and George W. Bain formed the Home Protection Party, which was more pro-women's suffrage than the Prohibition Party, but later rejoined the party at the 1882 convention and the organization was renamed to the Prohibition Home Protection Party. However, at the 1884 national convention the organization was renamed to the National Prohibition Party.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yctAAAAYAAJ&q=prohibition+reform+party&pg=PA167 |title=The Evolution of Prohibition in the United States of America |last=Cherrington |first=Ernest Hurst |year= 1920 |publisher=American issue Press |page=166 |isbn=9780722227930 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=24whszLht_QC&q=prohibition+reform+party&pg=PA1118 |title=The Encyclopedia of Social Reform |last=Bliss |first=William Dwight Porter |date=1897 |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |page=1118 |via=Google Books}}

[[File:1884 Prohibition Party Convention.png|thumb|right|1884 National Prohibition Convention in Lafayette Hall,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]]

In 1879, Frances Willard became the president of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and although it had remained non-partisan in the 1876 and 1880 presidential elections, Willard advocated for a resolution under which the organization would pledge its support to whichever party would support alcoholic prohibition. Willard's attempts in 1882 and 1883 were unsuccessful, but she was successful in 1884 after her opponents left to join Judith Foster's rival Non-Partisan WCTU.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upLgBQAAQBAJ&q=decline+of+the+national+prohibition+party&pg=RA1-PA255 |title=Women's Rights in the United States: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Issues, Events, and People |last=Wayne |first=Tiffany K. |date= 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=254 |isbn=9781610692151 |via=Google Books}} During the 1884 presidential election the organization sent its resolution to the Republican, Democratic, Greenback, and Prohibition parties and only the Prohibition Party accepted. At the Woman's Christian Temperance Union's 1884 national convention in St. Louis the organization voted 195 to 48 in favor of supporting the Prohibition Party and would continue to support the Prohibition Party until Willard's death in 1898.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yctAAAAYAAJ&q=prohibition+reform+party&pg=PA167 |title=The Evolution of Prohibition in the United States of America |last=Cherrington |first=Ernest Hurst |date=1920 |publisher=American issue Press |page=172 |isbn=9780722227930 |via=Google Books}}

During the 1884 election, the party nominated John St. John, the former Republican governor of Kansas, who, with the support from Willard and the WTCU, saw the party poll 147,482 votes for 1.50% of the popular vote. However, the party was accused of spoiling the election due to Grover Cleveland's margin of victory over James G. Blaine in New York being less than John's vote total there.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40627955/the_garnett_review/ |title=John P. St. John Is Gone |date=September 7, 1916 |work=The Garnett Review |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216002041/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40627955/the_garnett_review/ |archive-date=December 16, 2019 |url-status=live |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1888, the party's presidential nominee, Clinton B. Fisk, was accused of being a possible spoiler candidate that would prevent Benjamin Harrison from winning, but Harrison won the election even though he lost the national popular vote.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40823812/the_times/ |title=The Prohibition Candidate |date=June 3, 1888 |work=The Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220014631/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40823812/the_times/ |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |url-status=live |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}

From January to February 1892, Willard met with representatives from the Farmers' Alliance, People's Party, National Reform Party, and the remainder of the Greenback Party in Chicago and St. Louis in an attempt to create a fusion presidential ticket, but the organizations were unable to agree to a platform.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=upLgBQAAQBAJ&q=decline+of+the+national+prohibition+party&pg=RA1-PA255 |title=Women's Rights in the United States: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Issues, Events, and People |last=Wayne |first=Tiffany K. |date= 2014 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=255 |isbn=9781610692151 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vI5GYDT7bZ8C&q=National+Prohibition+Party |title=Profits, Power, and Prohibition |last=Rumbarger |first=John J. |date=1989 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=85 |isbn=9780887067822 |via=Google Books}} The People's Party would later fuse with the Democratic Party in the 1896 presidential election.

The party suffered a schism at the 1896 Prohibition convention between the "narrow gauger" faction which supported having only an alcoholic prohibition plank in the party's platform and the "broad gauger" faction which supported the addition of free silver and women's suffrage planks. After the narrow gaugers successfully chose the presidential ticket and the party platform, the broad gaugers, led by former presidential nominee John St. John, Nebraska state chairman Charles Eugene Bentley, and suffragette Helen M. Gougar, walked out and created the breakaway National Party, nominating a rival ticket with Bentley as president and James H. Southgate as vice president.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40744272/the_topeka_state_journal/ |title=St. John Bolts |date=May 29, 1896 |work=The Topeka State Journal |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191218080730/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40744272/the_topeka_state_journal/ |archive-date=December 18, 2019 |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} The Prohibition party ticket of Joshua Levering and Hale Johnson had the worst popular vote performance since Neal Dow's 10,364 votes in 1880, but still outperformed the National Party's 13,968 votes. Following the 1896 election most of the members of the National Party became disillusioned with that party and returned to the Prohibition Party, but those who remained reformed into the Union Reform Party and supported Seth H. Ellis and Samuel Nicholson during the 1900 presidential election,{{Cite news |url=https://www.nga.org/governor/john-pierce-st-john/ |title=Gov. John Pierce St. John}} while the official Prohibition Party ticket of John G. Woolley and Henry B. Metcalf took 1.5% and third place in the national popular vote.

At the same time, the Prohibition Party's ideology broadened to include aspects of progressivism. The party contributed to the third-party discussions of the 1910s and sent Charles H. Randall to the 64th, 65th, and 66th Congresses (1915–21) as the representative of California's 9th congressional district; on April 6, 1917, Randall was one of 50 representatives who voted against U.S. entry into World War I.{{cite web | url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/65-1/h10 | title=To Adopt S. J. Res. 1, (43 STAT-1, April 16, … – House Vote #10 – Apr 5, 1917 }} Democrat Sidney J. Catts of Florida, after losing a close Democratic primary, used the Prohibition line to win election as Governor of Florida in 1916; he remained a Democrat.

During the 1916 presidential election, the party attempted to give its presidential nomination to former Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, but he declined the offer via telegram.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jb8VUKAZqpUC&q=National+Prohibition+Party&pg=PA324 |title=Page 69 Others: Fighting Bob La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-party Politics in the 1920s |last=Richardson |first=Darcy |date=2008 |page=69 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9780595481262 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46941835/the-johnson-city-comet/ |title=May Select William J. Bryan |date=May 25, 1916 |work=The Johnson City Comet |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319091852/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46941835/the-johnson-city-comet/ |archive-date=March 19, 2020 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}} At the national convention the presidential nomination was given to former Indiana Governor Frank Hanly, but an attempt to make his nomination unanimous was defeated by Eugene W. Chafin, who had served as the presidential nominee in 1908 and 1912, and had supported giving the nomination to former New York Governor William Sulzer.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46544289/the-journal-and-tribune/ |title=Hanly And Landrith |date=July 22, 1916 |work=The Journal and Tribune |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200312001600/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46544289/the-journal-and-tribune/ |archive-date=March 12, 2020 |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=March 19, 2020 }} Virgil G. Hinshaw wrote to John M. Parker in an attempt to fuse the Prohibition and Progressive parties, but it failed; the Progressives did not nominate a presidential candidate and later disbanded.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46544851/the-capital-journal/ |title=Prohibitionists Refuse To Fuse |date=July 17, 1916 |work=The Capital Journal |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200312002119/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/46544851/the-capital-journal/ |archive-date=March 12, 2020 |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=March 19, 2020 }}

On February 4, 1918, the Prohibition affiliate in California voted in favor of merging with the National Party, which was created by pro-war defectors from the Socialist Party of America in 1917.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47103872/the-cincinnati-enquirer/ |title=In California Votes For Merger With Nationalists |date=February 5, 1918 |work=The Marlow Review |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200322003251/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47103872/the-cincinnati-enquirer/ |archive-date=March 22, 2020 |page=11 |via=Newspapers.com}}

File:American Prohibition Flag design ca 1915.svg

On January 16, 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment, which prohibited "intoxicating liquors" in the United States, was ratified by the requisite number of states. Although it was suggested that the organization should be disbanded due to national alcoholic prohibition being achieved, the committee leaders changed the focus of the organization to support the enforcement of prohibition. In 1921, the organization petitioned for any non-citizens who violated the Eighteenth Amendment to be deported and for citizen violators to lose their right to vote. At the 1924 national convention the party approved a platform with only two planks, namely, supporting religion in public schools and the assimilation of immigrants.{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SElEAAAAMAAJ&q=National+Prohibition+Party&pg=PA9 |title=Guide to the Microfilm Edition of Temperance and Prohibition Papers |date= 1977 |publisher=University of Michigan |page=48 |via=Google Books}}

During the 1928 presidential election, some members of the party, including Chairman D. Leigh Colvin and former presidential nominee Herman P. Faris, considered endorsing Republican Herbert Hoover rather than running a Prohibition candidate and risk allowing Al Smith, who supported ending prohibition, to be elected. However, the party chose to nominate William F. Varney due to its feeling that Hoover was not strict enough on prohibition, although the affiliate in California gave Hoover an additional ballot line and in Pennsylvania the affiliate did not file presidential electors.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jb8VUKAZqpUC&q=National+Prohibition+Party&pg=PA324 |title=Page 324 Others: Fighting Bob La Follette and the Progressive Movement: Third-party Politics in the 1920s |last=Richardson |first=Darcy |date=2008 |page=324 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=9780595481262 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40693474/statesman_journal/ |title=Prohis Select William Varney |date=July 13, 1928 |work=Statesman Journal |url-status=live |page=1 |via=Newspapers.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191217103933/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/40693474/statesman_journal/ |archive-date=December 17, 2019 }}{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,927759,00.html | magazine=Time | title=National Affairs: Men of Principle | date=September 10, 1928 | access-date=May 22, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121025157/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,927759,00.html | archive-date=November 21, 2010 }} However, the party became critical of Hoover after his victory, and during the 1932 presidential election D. Leigh Colvin stated that "The Republican wet plank, supporting the repeal of Prohibition, means that Mr. Hoover is the most conspicuous turncoat since Benedict Arnold."{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753371,00.html | magazine=Time | title=National Affairs: In Cadle Tabernacle | date=July 18, 1932 | access-date=May 22, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027064413/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,753371,00.html | archive-date=October 27, 2010 }} Hoover lost the election, but national prohibition was repealed in 1933, with the 21st Amendment during the Roosevelt administration.

In 1950, when the party was $5,000 in debt, Gerald Overholt was selected to be the party's chairman. During the 1952 presidential election, Overholt and Stuart Hamblen, the presidential nominee, spent $70,000 and the party's debt was increased to $20,000. During the 1954 elections, the affiliates in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Indiana, and Michigan lost their ballot access although the party remained successful in Kansas, where the Prohibition sheriff of Jewell County was reelected, and in California, where the attorney general nominee received over 200,000 votes.{{Cite news |url=https://ia800503.us.archive.org/BookReader/BookReaderImages.php?zip=/28/items/PartisanProphetsAHistoryOfTheProhibitionParty1854-1972/prohibition_jp2.zip&file=prohibition_jp2/prohibition_0034.jp2&scale=2&rotate=0 |title=Page 57 Partisan prophets; a history of the Prohibition Party, 1854–1972}}

In 1977, the party changed its name to the National Statesman Party, but Time magazine suggested that it was "doubtful" that the name change would "hoist the party out of the category of political oddity" and it changed its name back to the Prohibition Party in 1980.{{cite magazine | url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947954,00.html | magazine=Time | title=Americana: Time to Toast the Party? | date=November 7, 1977 | access-date=May 22, 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022141157/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947954,00.html | archive-date=October 22, 2010 }}

The Prohibition Party experienced a schism in 2003, as the party's prior presidential candidate, Earl Dodge, incorporated a rival party called the National Prohibition Party in Colorado.{{cite web |last=Pitkin |first=Ryan |url=http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A5584 |title=Beyond Bush, Kerry & Nader |publisher=Creative Loafing Charlotte |date=October 13, 2004 |access-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616214637/http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid:5584 |archive-date=June 16, 2011 }}The National Prohibitionist, 6/2003, p. 1 An opposing faction nominated Gene C. Amondson for president and filed under the Prohibition banner in Louisiana. Dodge ran under the name of the historic Prohibition Party in Colorado,{{Cite book |url=https://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Results/Abstract/pdf/2000-2099/2004AbstractBook.pdf |title=Official Publication of the Abstract of Votes Cast for the 2003 Coordinated, 2004 Primary, and 2004 General |publisher=Colorado Secretary of State |year=2004 |pages=88–89 |access-date=April 28, 2024}} while the Concerns of People Party allowed Amondson to run on its line against Dodge.The National Prohibitionist, 11/2004, p. 1. Amondson received 1,944 votes, nationwide, while Dodge garnered 140.

{{multiple image

| align = right

| direction = vertical

| width = 200

| header =

| image1 = Prohibition presidential candidates home states.svg

| alt1 =

| caption1 = States of residence of every Prohibition presidential nominee

| image2 = Prohibition Party ballot access (2016).svg

| alt2 =

| caption2 = Prohibition ballot access during the 2016 presidential election

}}

One key area of disagreement between the factions was over who should control payments from a trust fund dedicated to the Prohibition Party by George Pennock in 1930.{{cite web |url=http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/01/15/internal-prohibition-party-battle-has-court-hearing-on-january-16/ |title=Internal Prohibition Party Battle Has Court Hearing on January 16 |publisher=Ballot Access News |date=January 15, 2007 |access-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202091622/http://ballot-access.org/2007/01/15/internal-prohibition-party-battle-has-court-hearing-on-january-16/ |archive-date=February 2, 2016 }} The fund pays approximately $8,000 per year, and during the schism these funds were divided between the factions.{{cite web |url=http://www.ballot-access.org/2006/030106.html#13 |title=Ballot Access News – March 1, 2006 |access-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923181902/http://www.ballot-access.org/2006/030106.html#13 |archive-date=September 23, 2015 }} Dodge died in 2007, allowing the dispute over the Pennock funds to finally be resolved in 2014.{{cite web|url=http://independentpoliticalreport.com/2014/10/prohibition-party-now-to-receive-full-pennock-trust-income/|title=Prohibition Party Now to Receive Full Pennock Trust Income|date=October 19, 2014|access-date=July 12, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223203222/http://independentpoliticalreport.com/2014/10/prohibition-party-now-to-receive-full-pennock-trust-income/|archive-date=February 23, 2017}} The party is reported as having only "three dozen fee-paying members".[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/11/prohibition-party-2016-election-ballots-jim-hedges "A sobering alternative? Prohibition party back on the ticket this election"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007022804/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/11/prohibition-party-2016-election-ballots-jim-hedges |date=October 7, 2016 }}, The Guardian, May 11, 2016.

In 2015, the party rejoined the board of the Coalition for Free and Open Elections and became a qualified political party in Mississippi.{{Cite news |url=http://ballot-access.org/2015/10/25/prohibition-party-rejoins-board-of-coalition-for-free-open-elections/ |title=Prohibition Party Rejoins Board of Coalition for Free & Open Elections |date=October 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221203717/http://ballot-access.org/2015/10/25/prohibition-party-rejoins-board-of-coalition-for-free-open-elections/ |archive-date=December 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=http://ballot-access.org/2015/12/11/prohibition-party-now-a-qualified-party-in-mississippi/ |title=Prohibition Party Now a Qualified Party in Mississippi |date=December 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405081337/http://ballot-access.org/2015/12/11/prohibition-party-now-a-qualified-party-in-mississippi/ |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |url-status=live}} In the 2016 election, the party nominated James Hedges and qualified for the ballot in three states, Arkansas, Colorado, and Mississippi; he earned 5,514 votes becoming the most successful Prohibition presidential candidate since 1988.

The party met via telephone conference in November 2018 to nominate its 2020 presidential ticket. Bill Bayes of Mississippi, the vice presidential nominee during the 2016 presidential election, was given the nomination on the first ballot over Adam Seaman and Phil Collins. C.L. Gammon of Tennessee was given the vice presidential nomination without opposition.{{Cite web|url=http://ballot-access.org/2018/11/14/prohibition-party-nominates-national-ticket-for-2020/|title=Prohibition Party Nominates National Ticket for 2020 | Ballot Access News|date=November 14, 2018 }} Bayes resigned as the nominee, accusing some party activists of sabotaging his run because they opposed his views.{{Cite web|url=https://politics1.com/parties.htm|title=Politics1 – Director of U.S. Political Parties|first=Ron|last=Gunzburger|website=politics1.com}} Another telephone conference call was held, during which Gammon was given the presidential nomination and Collins was given the vice presidential nomination.{{cite web |last1=Makeley |first1=Jonathan |title=Prohibition National Committee Meets, Gammon and Collins Selected as Presidential Ticket |url=https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2019/04/prohibition-national-committee-meets-gammon-and-collins-selected-as-presidential-ticket |publisher=Independent Political Report |access-date=April 27, 2019 |language=en |date=April 15, 2019}} However, Gammon withdrew from the nomination in August 2019 due to health problems, and another telephone conference was held that selected Collins for the presidential nomination and Billy Joe Parker for the vice presidential nomination.{{Cite web|url=https://independentpoliticalreport.com/2019/08/prohibition-nominates-new-ticket-selects-new-chairman/|title=Prohibition Party Nominates New Ticket, Selects New Chairman|first=Jonathan|last=Makeley|date=August 24, 2019}} In 2024, the party nominated businessman Michael Wood for President, and John Pietrowski for Vice President.

File:Wood 2024 ballot access.svg

The Prohibition Party has nominated a candidate for president in every election since 1872 and is thus the longest-lived American political party after the Democrats and Republicans.

{{hidden begin|toggle=left|title=House electoral history}}

{{hidden end}}

File:The Drunkard's Progress - Color.jpg supporting the temperance movement, January 1846]]

• Joseph E. Anderson (1873–1937), Illinois state legislator and most recent Prohibition Party member of the Illinois General Assembly.{{cite news|title=Jos. E. Anderson, Ex-Legislator, Dies in Hospital|date=March 23, 1937|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|page=23|access-date=August 23, 2022|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/354948122/}}
• Frances Estill Beauchamp (1860–1923), Kentucky state chair; secretary, national committee
• Marie C. Brehm, first legally qualified woman ever to be nominated for vice president{{cite web |url=http://www.prohibitionists.org/History/votes/votes.html |title=Prohibitionists Historical Vote Record |website=Prohibitionists.org |access-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170241/http://www.prohibitionists.org/History/votes/votes.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}
• Benjamin Bubar Jr., member of the Maine House of Representatives (1939–44)
• Sidney Johnston Catts, 22nd Governor of Florida (1917–21)
• Samuel Dickie, Chairman of the Prohibition Party (1887–99) and the 9th Mayor of Albion, Michigan (1896–97)
• Neal Dow, mayor of Portland, Maine (1851–52; 1855–56)
• Clay Freeman Gaumer, member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Vermilion County during the 35th General Assembly.
• Saxe J. Froshaug, member of the Minnesota Senate (1911–15)
• John R. Golden, member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Ford County during the 45th General Assembly.{{cite book|title=Illinois Blue Book 1913–1914|page=410}}
• Harvey W. Hardy, mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska (1877–79)
• Frank Hanly, 26th Governor of Indiana (1905–09)
• James Hedges, Tax Assessor for Thompson Township, Pennsylvania (2002–07) and first elected Prohibitionist in the 21st century.
• John H. Hoeppel, U.S. Representative from California, 1933–1937.{{cite book |last=Grossman |first=Mark |title=Political Corruption in America: An Encyclopedia of Scandals, Power, and Greed |url=https://archive.org/details/politicalcorrupt0000gros |url-access=registration |quote=John H. Hoeppel. |year=2003 |publisher=ABC-CLIO, Inc. |location=Santa Barbara, California |isbn=1-57607-060-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/politicalcorrupt0000gros/page/161 161]–162}}
• Nicholas L. Johnson, member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Kane County during the 46th General Assembly.{{cite book|title=Illinois Blue Book 1913–1914|page=411}}
• James Lamont, member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Winnebago County during the 35th General Assembly.{{cite book|title=Illinois Blue Book 1913–1914|page=390|access-date=February 10, 2023|url=http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/bb/id/26041}}
• John St. John, 8th Governor of Kansas (1879–83)
• Charles Hiram Randall, member of the California State Assembly (1911–12) and Representative from California's 9th congressional district (1915–21)
• Frank S. Regan (1862–1944), member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Winnebago County during the 41st General Assembly.{{cite book|title=Illinois Blue Book 1913–1914|page=402}}
• Susanna M. Salter, first female mayor in the United States (1887–88){{cite web |url=http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/susanna-madora-salter/12191 |title=Susanna Madora Salter –Kansapedia |date=April 2010 |publisher=KSHS |access-date=January 30, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304050032/http://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/susanna-madora-salter/12191 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 }}
• Daniel R. Sheen (1852–1926), member of the Illinois House of Representatives from Peoria County during the 44th General Assembly.Illinois Blue Book 1913–14, p. 408
• Green Clay Smith, Representative from Kentucky's 6th congressional district (1863–66) and 2nd Territorial Governor of Montana (1866–69)
• Emily Pitts Stevens, joined the Prohibition Party in 1882, and led the movement, in 1888, to induce the Woman's Christian Temperance Union to endorse that party.{{cite book|last1=Willard|first1=Frances Elizabeth|last2=Livermore|first2=Mary Ashton Rice|title=A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zXEEAAAAYAAJ|edition=Public domain|year=1893|publisher=Moulton|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_zXEEAAAAYAAJ/page/n690 686]–}}
• Oliver W. Stewart, Chairman of the Prohibition Party (1900–05) and member of the Illinois House of Representatives (1903–05)
• Frances Willard, one of the founders of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union"[https://web.archive.org/web/20120324044344/http://www.greatwomen.org/women-of-the-hall/search-the-hall/details/2/169-Willard Frances E. Willard]". National Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved on November 18, 2014.
• Alonzo Wilson (1868–1949), member of the Illinois House of Representatives from DuPage County during the 44th General Assembly.
• Josephus C. Vines, mayor of Brighton, Alabama (1905–06)

The Prohibition Party platform, as listed on the party's web site in 2024, includes the following points:{{Cite web|url=https://www.prohibitionparty.org/platform|title= Platform |website=Prohibition Party |language=en|access-date=February 7, 2019}}

• Consistent life ethic
• Right to life{{cite web |title=Platform |url=https://www.prohibitionparty.org/platform |publisher=Prohibition Party |access-date=January 20, 2025 |language=en |quote=We affirm that the right to life is sacred and divinely bestowed, beginning at conception and extending to natural death. ... we advocate for laws that fully protect unborn children, recognizing that both mother and child deserve protection, care, and dignity.}}
• Opposition to abortion{{efn|In 2024, the party adopted a moderate pro-choice stance. The platform has since reverted to its older, pro-life position.}}
• Opposition to capital punishment
• Opposition to physician-assisted suicide
• Opposition to alcohol advertising and nicotine marketing
• Imposition of restrictions and increased taxation for all non-medicinal drugs, including alcohol and tobacco
• Campaigns to promote temperance and teetotalism
• Opposition to pornography
• Blue laws prohibiting employers in all fields except public safety from requiring employees to work on the Sunday Sabbath
• Support for voluntary prayer in public schools
• Opposition to attempts to remove religion from the public square
• Recognition of the contributions of immigrants to the United States
• Prohibition on gambling and abolition of all state lotteries
• A "strict interpretation" of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution that includes a right to use arms for defense
• Opposition to testing on animals
• Prohibition on use of animals in sport
• Support for same-sex unions

• Abolition of the United States Federal Reserve and re-establishment of the Bank of the United States
• Strict laws against usury
• Right to work
• A fully funded Social Security system
• A Balanced Budget Amendment
• Increased spending on public works projects
• Opposition of government financial interference in, or aid to, commerce
• Free college education for all Americans
• Job training programs paid for by tariffs

• A non-interventionist foreign policy
• Eliminating conscription in times of peace
• Opposition to military action that violates Just War principles
• Fair trade
• Use of human rights considerations in determining most favored nation status
• A generous policy of asylum for people facing persecution or living in inhumane conditions

In 1867, John Russell became the first chairman of the Prohibition Party, with Earl Dodge serving the longest for twenty four years and Gregory Seltzer serving the shortest for one year.{{Cite web|url=http://www.prohibitionists.org/History/body_history.htm|title=Outline of History |website=prohibitionists.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311041640/http://prohibitionists.org/History/body_history.htm |archive-date= March 11, 2024 }}

{{hidden begin|toggle=left|title=Past chairmen}}

• 1867–1872: John Russell
• 1872–1876: Simeon B. Chase
• 1876–1880: James Black
• 1880–1884: Gideon T. Stewart
• 1884–1887: John B. Finch
• 1887–1899: Samuel Dickie
• 1900–1905: Oliver W. Stewart
• 1905–1908: Charles R. Jones
• 1908–1924: Virgil G. Hinshaw
• 1924–1925: B. E. P. Prugh
• 1925–1932: D. Leigh Colvin
• 1932–1947: Edward E. Blake
• 1947–1950: Virgil C. Finnell
• 1950–1953: Gerald Overholt
• 1953–1955: Lowell H. Coate
• 1955–1971: E. Harold Munn
• 1971–1979: Charles Wesley Ewing
• 1979–2003: Earl Dodge
• 2003–2005: Don Webb
• 2005–2009: Gene Amondson
• 2009–2013: Toby Davis
• 2013–2014: Gregory Seltzer
• 2014–2019: Rick Knox
• 2019–2020: Randy McNutt
• 2020–2023: Phil Collins
• 2023–Present: Zack Kusnir

{{hidden end}}

{{Commons category}}

{{Wikinews category|Prohibition Party (United States)}}

{{portal|Conservatism}}

• 19th-century newspapers that supported the Prohibition Party
• Alcohol during and after prohibition
• Law Preservation Party (New York branch of the Prohibition Party)
• List of political parties in the United States
• Scottish Prohibition Party
• Robert P. Shuler
• Social conservatism
• Temperance organizations

{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Black |first=James |year=1876|title=Is There a Necessity for a Prohibition Party? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fEwoAAAAYAAJ |location=New York |publisher=The National Temperance Society and Publication House |oclc=894214158 |access-date=January 30, 2016}}

• {{Cite journal |last=Andersen |first=Lisa |year=2012 |title=From Unpopular to Excluded: Prohibitionists and the Ascendancy of a Democratic-Republican System, 1888–1912 |journal=Journal of Policy History |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=288–318|doi=10.1017/S089803061200005X }}
• {{Cite book |title=Standard encyclopedia of the alcohol problem |publisher=American Issue Pub. Co. |year=1930 |editor-last=Cherrington |editor-first=Ernest Hurst |volume=1-5 |location=Westerville, OH |oclc=241280199}}
• {{Cite book |last=Colvin |first=David Leigh |url=https://archive.org/details/prohibitioninuni00colv |title=Prohibition in the United States: a History of the Prohibition Party, and of the Prohibition Movement |year=1926}}
• {{Cite book |last=McGirr |first=Lisa |title=The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State |year=2016 |publisher=National Geographic Books |isbn=9780393066951 |oclc=902661500}}
• {{Cite book |last=Pegram |first=Thomas R. |title=Battling demon rum: The struggle for a dry America, 1800–1933 |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |year=1998 |isbn=9781566632096 |location=Chicago |oclc=42790675 |url=https://archive.org/details/battlingdemonrum0000pegr |url-access=registration}}

• {{Official website}}
• [https://archive.org/details/PartisanProphetsAHistoryOfTheProhibitionParty1854-1972 Partisan prophets; a history of the Prohibition Party, 1854–1972], Roger C. Storms

{{Prohibition Party|state=expanded}}

{{American social conservatism}}

{{United States political parties}}

{{Prohibition}}

Category:1869 establishments in the United States

Category:Christian democratic parties in the United States

Category:Anti-abortion organizations in the United States

Category:Anti–death penalty organizations in the United States

Category:Conservative parties in the United States

Category:Political parties established in 1869

Prohibition

Category:Prohibition in the United States

Category:Prohibition parties

Category:Single-issue political parties

Category:Social conservative parties

Category:Temperance organizations in the United States