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Wilbur Mills's 1972 Democratic presidential campaign
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| Contributor | Chronicler |
| Last Edited | Chronicler Jun 21, 2024 02:31pm |
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| Category | News |
| Author | Chronicler |
| News Date | Friday, June 21, 2024 08:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Wilbur R. Mills, today a mostly forgotten Arkansas politician, was a highly influential member of the US House during his brief campaign for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 1972. He represented Arkansas in the US House from 1939 to 1977 and was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee from 1958 to 1974. As Mills grew in his role, Presidents Johnson and Nixon both consulted with him on budget issues, and Nixon even considered appointing him Secretary of the Treasury. By 1971, Mills was calling himself the second most powerful man in Washington. Already by this time, his addictions to alcohol and womanizing were undermining his psyche, but they wouldn't become public and bring his career to an end until after the election.
In mid-1971, Mills's constituents began to press Mills to run for president in 1972. He ignored their efforts, telling a news reporter "You don't need a title to run things in Washington" (Salisbury [NC] Post, 4/25/1971). Even with his ongoing refusal to run, many uncommitted Southern Democrats gave him their initial support; a Christian Science Monitor analysis of Democrats in each state reported that he had the support of AR, LA, MS, AL, and TN, which had 182 delegate votes, placing him fifth in the race (Evansville Courier and Press, 12/30/1971).
The Mills campaign got off to a rocky start in early 1972. A Memphis newspaper completed an analysis of how often members of Congress missed votes; of a six-state Mid-South area, Bill Alexander missed 39% of all roll call votes, followed by Mills with 36%, then US Senator Pryor who missed 27% (Hope [AR] Star, 1/20/1972). The state of Florida (where Mills stood a strong chance) chose not to list Mills on its primary ballot because he was not an announced candidate, but Massachusetts listed him anyway (Santa Cruz Sentinel, 2/9/1972). Members of the Arkansas legislature wondered if Mills was worried about getting the presidential nomination and losing to Nixon, ending his career because he couldn't also run for re-election to the US House, so a bill started its way through the legislature to allow a candidate to run for two different offices at the same time (El Dorado Times, 2/9/1972). Democrats listed Mills on the ballot in Nebraska and Wisconsin, and Democrats in New Hampshire had initiated a write-in effort for him (Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 2/12/1972).
Entering the Race
Mills finally bowed to pressure and entered the race on February 11, 1972. He was a rather irregular Democrat for 1972. His strengths were that he had written 2/3 of the income tax legislation then in place, had a track record of helping Democrats draft financial bills, but his other stands were generally unknown (Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, 2/12/1972). With his entry, Florida added his name to its ballot (Miami Herald, 2/15/1972).
Mills immediately left for New Hampshire. At a news conference in Concord, Mills said that he had "no idea how much money is being spent by people who want to nominate him," but he hoped it would "be enough" to cover all the campaign costs. Since it was a draft movement, he believed the campaign should do all the work while he returned to the House (remembering that he had missed so many votes in 1971) (Charlotte News, 2/16/1972). Back in DC, Mills drafted innovative legislation that would reduce the payroll tax that had been proposed, with a hike in income taxes on the highest incomes as a tradeoff (Lynchburg Daily Advance, 2/24/1972).
Mills also brought out a plan for national health insurance. At that time, the Nixon administration was actually working on a plan and had discussed the details with Mills. After a series of congressional hearings, Mills announced an outline of his plan. He planned to cover employed people with group policies that would meet national standards. The program was to be an extension of workmen's compensation insurance. The federal government would cover unemployed people, a program element that was not included in Nixon's proposal (Bastrop Daily Enterprise, 3/3/1972). The Mills campaign was running television ads in New Hampshire the days before the primary, explaining how to write in his name (Idaho Statesman, 3/5/1972). The ad campaign spent $140,000 in the state, but Mills was being listed as one of he "nuisance candidates" by party faithful in the state (Lafayette [IN] Journal and Courier, 3/6/1972). Mills finally made a second visit to NH two days before the primary and held a rally in Manchester (Memphis Press-Scimitar, 3/6/1972). He told the audience that anyone seeking the presidency "needs to have his head examined," an unusual statement for a candidate. He promised to make a larger effort in Massachusetts and Rhode Island (Victoria Advocate, 3/6/1972).
New Hampshire votes
New Hampshire voters weren't overly impressed with Mills. He only won 4% of the vote; Muskie led with 46%, followed by McGovern with 37% and Yorty with 6%. Hartke and Coll trailed Mills. In a press conference afterwards, Muskie complained about his competitors; regarding Mills, he said that the press had not questioned anyone about the source of the "lavish" Mills write-in campaign (Wilmington Morning News, 3/9/1972).
Later Primaries
One problem with the Mills campaign was that he didn't want a head-to-head race with George Wallace. He skipped the Georgia caucus (although he still won a delegate there) and made only a minimal effort in Florida (getting 0.4% of the vote for a ninth place finish). He then entered into a month's long drought in which other candidates gained media attention as primaries came and went. At a function in North Carolina (a state where Mills would not appear on the ballot), honoring US Rep. L.H. Fountain, Mills said that the nation is "travelling on a collision course with reality." The US was "missing today much of that zeal, that energy, that vital momentum which has carried us through the challenges of the past." His anticlimactic solution was to reduce foreign aid (Rocky Mount Telegram, 3/21/1972). Tennessee Democrats looking for someone to stop a Wallace victory in the primary approached Mills, who declined to make a push there (Ithaca Journal, 3/28/1972).
Not having to worry about money for his campaign gave Mills the freedom to campaign where he wanted and when he wanted. He didn't make an effort in Wisconsin, where supporters had worked hard to get his name on the ballot; on primary day, he placed second from last with 0.08%. He managed to find time to campaign in Massachusetts two weeks before its primary, holding an event in Boston on April 12 and saying that he expected "a good vote... I want to win" (Ithaca Journal, 4/13/1972). As primary day in MA neared, most of the field of 12 Democrats appearing on the ballot abandoned the state for the larger pool of delegates up for grabs in Pennsylvania. Only McGovern and Mills remained there in the days leading up to the primary. Mills engaged in heavy television and radio advertising that emphasized his plan to increase Social Security benefits for seniors (Boston Globe, 4/26/1972). Voters weren't interested, however; they gave Mills 3% of their vote. His Massachusetts vote (19,441) was half of his nationwide primary total (37,401). In the remainder of the primary season, Mills never again reached 1% of the Democratic vote.
Having lost interest in campaigning after only a half-hearted effort in Massachusetts, Mills replaced his campaign staff. On May 11, he appointed Patrick McGahn as campaign manager. Believing that no candidate would win a majority of the delegates, Mills would stand as a compromise candidate (El Paso Times, 5/12/1972). Several newspapers carried an AP story about this announcement, none of which inquired why Democrats would choose someone to head their party who wasn't devoting his time to actually winning. He held many events around the nation, often trying to recruit support from people already chosen as DNC delegates pledged to other candidates. Newspaper coverage of these events often didn't mention that he was seeking the presidential nomination. In an event in Pennsylvania, Mills made the incredible statement that he thought the Democrats would nominate Wallace (Wilkes-Barre Record, 5/19/1972). Then Mills met with Nixon about financial legislation and said that the tax code needed to be overhauled before the election, a monumental undertaking (Tucson Citizen, 5/26/1972).
In an interesting turn of events, Mills began working on legislation to prove that he could get results. He used his influence to get a bill to the House floor that would increase Social Security benefits by 20% beginning in 1973 (Tucson Citizen, 6/23/1972). He went to Missouri for the final Truman Day Dinner during Truman's lifetime; Truman himself was in the hospital and missed it. As the speaker, Mills said that in 1972 the Democrats apparently was going to let Nixon "win by default," strong words given his approach to the primary campaign (Daily American Republic, 7/3/1972).
Democratic National Convention 1972
As the DNC opened, it was becoming clear that McGovern had the delegates he needed for a first ballot nomination. For some reason, Mills still didn't end his campaign, and the rules allowed his name to be placed in nomination. He was sometimes mentioned as a vice presidential choice for McGovern as a Southern conservative who could balance the ticket. Since the Arkansas delegation was pledged to Mills, they sometimes complained to reporters that they were in "captivity," being forced to vote for Mills when some of them wanted to vote for McGovern (San Antonio Express, 7/12/1972). Without visiting with the Arkansas delegation to discuss the situation first, Mills decided not to have his name presented to the convention, which would allow them to vote for someone else. In the balloting, 25 of the 27 Arkansas delegates stuck with him; he also received 8.8 delegate votes from other states (one of whom shifted away from him on the same ballot).
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