Independent American Party
|
Independent American Party
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | May 16, 1998 (as Utah Independent American Party) |
| Ideology |
Paleoconservatism Social conservatism Christian democracy Pro-Gold standard |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| International affiliation | None |
| Colors |
Yellow Red, Blue, White |
| Seats in the Senate |
0 / 100
|
| Seats in the House |
0 / 435
|
| Governorships |
0 / 50
|
| State Upper House Seats |
0 / 1,972
|
| State Lower House Seats |
0 / 5,411
|
| Other elected offices |
0 / 5,411
|
| Website | |
| http://www.IndependentAmericanParty.org | |
The Independent American Party (IAP) is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It began as the Utah Independent American Party. The founders claim to have been inspired by a 1968 speech given by Ezra Taft Benson, former United States Secretary of Agriculture and later president of the LDS Church, entitled "The Proper Role of Government". The party's first platform was based on Benson's beliefs. These 15 principles for the proper role of government, taken from his speech, are held as the IAP's basis for recruiting. The IAP is a minor third party outside the mainstream of American politics, and never attained any elected seat or position in national, state, county or city government.
The IAP began as an offshoot of the American Party, a far-right political group founded in 1969 to support Governor George C. Wallace's 1968 presidential bid.
In 1998 three options were presented to party members:
On May 16, 1998, the Utah IAP held a straw vote favoring the formation of a national Independent American Party. A committee of six people was selected to initiate the organization, and by November 7, 1998, the national IAP was recognized by a binding vote of 79%.
In January 1999, the national IAP began holding semi-annual National Conferences. The national chairman attended a number of state and national conventions of other like-minded third parties across the nation to build ties. The IAP website (launched in September 1998) grew and attracted individual members in about forty states.
In 2001, the IAP grew from one state party to three organized state parties - Minnesota, Tennessee, and Utah - and twelve prospective state parties. Area coordinators were assigned to each of four regions of the country. The IAP adopted its first National Platform in August 2002 and ended the year with three organized and 18 prospective state parties. In 2003 the party changed the structure of its officer positions from the traditional chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer, and elected a chair and four vice-chairs. Each vice-chair was to be a leader over a geographical area (Western, Mid-Western, North-Eastern, and South), and were each to lead one of the five standing committees (Rules, Events, Membership, Issues, and Media).
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