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Lawrence Joseph Sarsfield Daly (January 22, 1912 – April 17, 1978) was an American perennial candidate from Chicago who unsuccessfully ran for a number of political offices in Illinois and nationwide. Beginning in 1954, he often campaigned while wearing an Uncle Sam suit.

Daly ran for president in every election from 1948 to 1976.

When running as a candidate, Daly aimed to exploit loopholes in the electoral system and took on a confrontational style to his campaign. He called public schooling a scam while running for Superintendent of Cook County, and vowed to back a war with the Soviet Union.

Early life
Daly was born in Gary, Indiana, on January 22, 1912, to immigrants from Ireland. Before entering politics, he was a furniture maker.

Political campaigns
In 1938, Daly sought the Democratic Party nomination for Superintendent of Cook County in what would become his first race for public office. He lost to incumbent Noble J. Puffer.

1952 campaigns and America First Party


During the 1952 United States presidential election, Daly founded the America First Party, attempting to run Douglas MacArthur and Harry F. Byrd for president and vice president. Daly failed to get them on the ballot due to Illinois law requiring consent of the nominees, but he was able to get them on the ballot in Missouri. MacArthur and Byrd were the only candidates that the party ran.

1956 campaigns
Daly announced his campaign for the 1956 Illinois gubernatorial election in 1955, seeking the Republican Party nomination. He ran on a platform of opposing incumbents Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of the United States, and William Stratton, governor of Illinois, claiming that Eisenhower "lets helpless fellow-Americans suffer, rot and die in Communist prison camps," and describing Stratton as a "High Tax Willie" and a "blooping flop."

1959 Chicago mayoral campaign
In 1959, Daly became a candidate for the Chicago mayoral election taking place that year, running under both the Democratic and Republican parties. Under Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934, he requested equal time on broadcast stations as two separate candidates, which was denied by the stations. Daly appealed to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and their ruling granted him equal time on February 19, 1959. Despite the ruling, WBBM-TV—the Chicago affiliate of CBS—refused to comply, and the then-president of CBS Frank Stanton alleged that the ruling denied broadcasters "the right to assume and exercise the responsibility for editorial control of our own news programs." Eisenhower described the ruling as "ridiculous" and stated that the attorney general was finding a solution. The FCC denied to reverse its ruling, saying that the only way to reverse it was through Congress. Three days later, a solution was proposed, leading to a subcommittee of the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce conducting a public hearing which lasted three days towards the end of June 1959. Within months, amendments to Section 315 were added, exempting the equal-time rule from good faith newscasts, news interviews, news documentaries, and coverage of news events.

1960 campaigns
In 1960, he simultaneously ran for president, U.S. senator, as well as filing petitions to enter Douglas MacArthur, John F. Kennedy, and Nelson Rockefeller in the Illinois presidential primaries.

Other stuff
Daly ran for president, senator, representative, governor of Illinois, and mayor of Chicago.

Personal life and death
Daly died at the Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park on April 17, 1978, of a lung disease.

Political positions
Daly politically aligned with libertarianism and conservatism.