Three's a crowd -- A history of third-party campaigns

In 1980, John B. Anderson, a 10-term Republican representative from Illinois, challenged President Jimmy Carter and Republican candidate Ronald Reagan as a moderate independent for the National Unity Party.

Anderson viewed his campaign as a balance between the two major parties. He called Republicans too socially conservative and intolerant and viewed the Democrats' tax-and-spend agenda as unrealistic.

However, Anderson made the unpopular choice of advocating a 50-cent per gallon tax hike, an unpopular position during the ongoing oil crisis that helped sink his campaign.

(Sara Krulwich / The New York Times)
In 1980, John B. Anderson, a 10-term Republican representative from Illinois, challenged President Jimmy Carter and Republican candidate Ronald Reagan as a moderate independent for the National Unity Party. Anderson viewed his campaign as a balance between the two major parties. He called Republicans too socially conservative and intolerant and viewed the Democrats' tax-and-spend agenda as unrealistic. However, Anderson made the unpopular choice of advocating a 50-cent per gallon tax hike, an unpopular position during the ongoing oil crisis that helped sink his campaign.
(By Amy Farnsworth, Linda Seid Frembes, and Jason Tuohey)