John Hospers, 93, the Libertarian Party’s first presidential candidate, died in Los Angeles, the party said on its website.
Running on a platform of limited government and individual rights, Hospers and vice presidential nominee Theodora Nathan were on the ballot in two states in 1972 and received 3,671 votes and a single electoral vote. The election sent Richard Nixon to the White House for a second term.
Hospers taught philosophy at the University of Southern California. A statement on his website recalls that “traversing the country in a political campaign was hardly his style, and he was relieved to return to academia to resume his academic career.”
According to the website, Hospers was born in Pella, Iowa, southeast of Des Moines, and earned a doctorate at Columbia University.
The Libertarian Party was founded in Colorado in 1971.
