Dick Gregory might’ve started out as a comedian, but for a brief period in the late 1960s, he was also a politician. After running for Mayor of Chicago in 1967, he quickly set his sights on the presidency the following year. “I feel that the two-party system is obsolete,” said Gregory during an interview in 1968. “The two-party system is so corrupt and immoral, they cannot solve the problems confronting the masses of the people in this country,” he continued.
As a write-in candidate for the Freedom and Peace Party, alongside activist and attorney Mark Lane, Gregory announced his plans to host an inaugural ball at a “Black House” in Washington, D.C. that November. The same month, he published an ad in Jet magazine saying, “A vote for Dick Gregory is a vote for a black, non-violent, pacifist, vegetarian who tells it like it really is. It is a vote for full constitutional enforcement of human rights and an immediate end to the Vietnam War.”
A Famous Comedian Ran for President in 1968, and Hunter S. Thompson Voted for Him
Gregory concluded the ad by writing, “Now is the time to speak out with your sacred right to vote and tell this corrupt, racist, privileged system what’s happening, baby, once and for all!” Although both Gregory and Lane seemed confident in their chances, Gregory expressed skepticism about his ability to raise awareness of his candidacy.
In that same Jet ad, Gregory pointed out that it was the only promotion he could afford, and complained that the press wasn’t giving him the same amount of coverage as George Wallace (who wound up in third place).
In the end, Richard Nixon came out victorious, with over 31 million votes. For his part, Gregory pulled in a total of 47,097 votes (though, for some reason, a few sources cite that figure as being 200,000). One of those votes, by the way, came courtesy of renowned gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
“Hubert Humphrey lost that election by a handful of votes—mine among them,” Thompson wrote in his 1979 book The Great Shark Hunt, “and if I had to do it again I would still vote for Dick Gregory.”
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