Alton B. Parker
Alton Brooks Parker (born May 14, 1852 in Cortland , New York , † May 10, 1926 in New York City ) was an American lawyer and the US presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in the election campaign of 1904.
Parker's office was in Kingston . He was considered a legal expert in his party in the Supreme Court of New York, of which he was a member from 1885 to 1897. Subsequently (1898–1904) he was presiding judge of the New York Court of Appeal . Parker was considered the protégé of the conservative Democratic politician David B. Hill ( Governor of New York 1885-1891, then US Senator ).
In 1904 he ran for the US presidency , with particular support from former President Grover Cleveland . The candidacy required the resignation of his previous public offices. However, between 1896 and 1900 there had been a fragmentation within the Democrats due to differing views on economic issues. By reaching an agreement on the presidential candidate Parker, the Democrats hoped to regain the unity they needed to win the upcoming election campaign. At the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis , Parker was elected Democratic candidate with 66.5 percent of the delegate's vote, ahead of William Randolph Hearst (19.59 percent); his running mate for the office of vice president was the 80-year-old Henry G. Davis , a former US senator from West Virginia .
The desired unit did not materialize, however. Parker failed to get all of the Democrats on his side. Disagreement within the party led to a crushing defeat against incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt ; Parker could only win the then democratic strongholds in the southern United States from Texas to Maryland . After that defeat, Parker was unable to regain his previous position in the country's judiciary. He worked exclusively as a lawyer in his previous law firm.
Parker died of a heart attack while driving through Central Park in New York.
Web links
- Alton B. Parker in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- '04: The Most Important Election Is Over
- Address by Alton B. Parker in memory of David Bennett Hill
- Literature by and about Alton B. Parker in the WorldCat bibliographic database
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Parker, Alton B. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Parker, Alton Brooks (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American lawyer and US presidential candidate 1904 |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 14, 1852 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cortland , New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 10, 1926 |
| Place of death | New York City |