Snopes article re: Joseph Smith as the "First Presidential Candidate to be Assassinated"

[smac97]

Latter-day Saints Founder Joseph Smith Was 1st US Presidential Candidate Assassinated?

Quote

Claim:

Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was the first known U.S. presidential candidate to be assassinated.

I hadn't heard this claim before.  It's in the Wikipedia article about Joseph's 1844 presidential campaign, with a citation to a 2007 ABC News article:

Quote

Mitt Romney is the most recent member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to seek the office of president.

But the first Mormon to seek the White House was also the first Mormon -- Joseph Smith Jr., the founder of the Mormon Church, whose 1844 presidential campaign is historically notable not only because it was the first one in which the candidate was assassinated.

Back to Snopes:

Quote

 Mixture

What's True

It's true that Joseph Smith announced a bid for the presidency in January 1844. A mob killed him in June of the same year when he was in custody at an Illinois jail. However …

What's False

Smith was not on the national ballot, nor was he endorsed by either major political party at the time, the Whigs or the Democrats. A 2008 congressional report recording "Direct Assaults Against Presidents, Presidents-Elect, and Candidates" did not include Smith in its records.

What's Undetermined

There is disagreement among historians whether Smith's presidential campaign was a serious political effort or simply a means to bring attention to the church and the issues its members faced.
...
 

Snopes read through historical documents and determined that Smith indeed announced a presidential bid in January 1844. Eyewitness accounts confirm Smith was killed by a mob in June of the same year when he was in custody at an Illinois jail. However, Smith's name did not appear on the national ballot, nor was he endorsed by either major party at the time. Furthermore, his assassination is not recorded in official congressional records. Scholars debate the intentions behind his campaign. 

A 2008 report to Congress, "Direct Assaults Against Presidents, Presidents-Elect, and Candidates," categorized only three incidents as assassinations or attempted assassinations of U.S. presidential candidates: 

• Oct. 14, 1912: Former President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), was running for third term when he was wounded by a pistol shot in Milwaukee. 
• June 5, 1968: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was killed by shots fired from a pistol in Los Angeles. 
• May 15, 1972: Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was wounded by a pistol shot in Laurel, Maryland. 

...
Smith had launched a presidential campaign in late January of that year {1844}, but scholars disagree about whether it was a serious political bid or an attempt to serve as "merely a protest candidate running to raise awareness of the Mormons' plight," according to an excerpt published by the Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center. His campaign platform was summarized in a pamphlet titled, "General Smith's Views on the Power and Policy of Government," which focused on federal protections for religious worship and abolishing slavery, among other things. 

Snopes doesn't quite do right in citing by BYU article.  Authored by Spencer McBride, the article argues that Joseph "was not merely a protest candidate," and that he and his supporters "thought that he could win and made the necessary technical arrangements to facilitate such an event should large numbers of Americans in each state cast their votes for him."

Anyway, interesting stuff.

Thanks,

-Smac

 

[Tacenda]

Oh, if only Romney had won the presidency.

[blackstrap]

Was this thread prescient or just coincidence ??

[The Nehor]

31 minutes ago, blackstrap said:

Was this thread prescient or just coincidence ??

Smac was in on it. This goes all the way TO THE TOP!!!!!!!!

[longview]

pasting not working

Edited July 14 by longview

[Dario_M]

On 7/11/2024 at 6:38 PM, smac97 said:

Latter-day Saints Founder Joseph Smith Was 1st US Presidential Candidate Assassinated?

I hadn't heard this claim before.  It's in the Wikipedia article about Joseph's 1844 presidential campaign, with a citation to a 2007 ABC News article:

Back to Snopes:

Snopes doesn't quite do right in citing by BYU article.  Authored by Spencer McBride, the article argues that Joseph "was not merely a protest candidate," and that he and his supporters "thought that he could win and made the necessary technical arrangements to facilitate such an event should large numbers of Americans in each state cast their votes for him."

Anyway, interesting stuff.

Thanks,

-Smac

 

Joseph Smith lived so long ago. Why is it still important for you to know or Joseph whas the first US stake president or not?

[Tacenda]

2 hours ago, Dario_M said:

Joseph Smith lived so long ago. Why is it still important for you to know or Joseph whas the first US stake president or not?

Maybe I'm clueless but not a stake president but thee US president of the USA.

[Dario_M]

1 hour ago, Tacenda said:

Maybe I'm clueless but not a stake president but thee US president of the USA.

Oh

Yeah that's what i mean indeed. US president. 

[Calm]

3 hours ago, Dario_M said:

Joseph Smith lived so long ago. Why is it still important for you to know or Joseph whas the first US stake president or not?

 

I don’t think it’s that important to our current time if Joseph was recognized or rejected as the first assassinated candidate.  I don’t think it would have any impact on today if lots of people were to become aware of that fact though it might cause some to think about what extreme claims can lead to. Like most things in history it is an interesting story and adds nuance to history. His death did not just have religious implications, it had political ones as well and those are often ignored or trivialized. 
 

I am curious as to when the election ballet is official and if by June Joseph still technically had a chance to get on the ballot or if he had missed the deadline. Also if he hadn’t, what would he need to have done to get on it. 

Edited July 14 by Calm

[Calm]

On 7/11/2024 at 10:38 AM, smac97 said:

Snopes doesn't quite do right in citing by BYU article. 

That depends on whether you read it as saying the article claimed it was merely a protest or whether Snopes was saying the BYU article discussed the disagreements among scholars about the subject. I read it as the latter, though if reading quickly one can get the impression it is the first (I scanned the sniped article first as I often do and indeed got that imo wrong impression).

[Calm]

Quote

While council members were certain that the campaigning efforts of Church leaders throughout the United States were essential to Smith’s success, they appear to have believed that his candidacy would ultimately require some form of divine intervention in order to succeed.

I wonder what type of intervention they were imagining.

https://rsc.byu.edu/council-fifty/council-fifty-joseph-smiths-presidential-ambitions

Quote

In this same meeting, Smith called on “every man in the city who could speak” to go “throughout the land to electioneer,” insisting that “there is oratory enough in the church to carry me into the presidential chair the first slide.”[3]

Oratory here apparently means rhetoric or persuasive speaking (not a small chapel just in case anyone was wondering  ).

Quote

At a meeting of the Council of Fifty on April 25, 1844, the council decided to “have delegates in all the electoral districts and hold a national convention at Baltimore,” where both the Whig and Democratic Parties were holding their respective nominating conventions that May. 

So it was past when the major parties held their convention, but it appears the Council was serious about holding their own convention in the same city according to the article as they were intent on getting electors, which was likely a lot of effort and possibly money (to hold the convention at least), which would be unnecessary work if it was a protest move only. 
 

Quote

Council of Fifty, Minutes, April 25, 1844, in JSP, CFM:133–34. Ultimately, a convention in Nauvoo on May 17, 1844, resolved to hold the proposed “National Convention at Baltimore” on July 13. However, Smith’s murder on June 27 stripped the event of its core purpose. See JSP, CFM:133n404.

 

[Dario_M]

41 minutes ago, Calm said:

 

I don’t think it’s that important to our current time if Joseph was recognized or rejected as the first assassinated candidate.  I don’t think it would have any impact on today if lots of people were to become aware of that fact though it might cause some to think about what extreme claims can lead to. Like most things in history it is an interesting story and adds nuance to history. His death did not just have religious implications, it had political ones as well and those are often ignored or trivialized. 
 

I am curious as to when the election ballet is official and if by June Joseph still technically had a chance to get on the ballot or if he had missed the deadline. Also if he hadn’t, what would he need to have done to get on it. 

Yes it can be interesting for some people. 

I'm more interested in his religious background. The visions he had about God and what he exactly saw in the woods. And the conversation he had with God. 

Edited July 14 by Dario_M

[CV75]

6 hours ago, longview said:

pasting not working

pasties not working, either

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Dario_M said:

Yes it can be interesting for some people. 

I'm more interested in his religious background. The visions he had about God and what he exactly saw in the woods. And the conversation he had with God. 

Probably most people, at least members agree with you, especially outside the US.

[smac97]

7 hours ago, Dario_M said:

Joseph Smith lived so long ago. Why is it still important for you to know or Joseph whas the first US stake president or not?

What?

[ZealouslyStriving]

2 hours ago, CV75 said:

pasties not working, either

Rutabagas are the key, don't try to swap in potatoes. 

[Dario_M]

19 minutes ago, smac97 said:

What?

I mean the US president. Not stake president. 

[Tacenda]

6 hours ago, Dario_M said:

Oh

Yeah that's what i mean indeed. US president. 

Thought so, Dario.  My bad for correcting, and acting the nanny. Hope you're doing well. 

[Calm]

3 hours ago, ZealouslyStriving said:

Rutabagas are the key, don't try to swap in potatoes. 

Just had some the other day made with rutabagas and .i agree.

[Dario_M]

6 hours ago, Tacenda said:

Thought so, Dario.  My bad for correcting, and acting the nanny. Hope you're doing well. 

Oh no problem Tacenda. You're right. I was not paying attention and that's why i said "stake president" 

I'm not doing so well but i try to make the best off it. I hope you are doing well. 

[Tacenda]

deleted

Edited July 17 by Tacenda

[Calm]

My guess is that is way too political and you should take it down.

[Tacenda]

1 hour ago, Calm said:

My guess is that is way too political and you should take it down.

Thanks Calm, I'd left my house and just got back. Was worried.