Alton B. Parker

Alton Brooks Parker ( born May 14, 1852 in Cortland, New York, † May 10, 1926 in New York City ) was an American lawyer and the U.S. presidential candidate of the Democratic Party in the election campaign of the year 1904.

Parker's office was located in Kingston. He was regarded as a legal expert of his party in the Supreme Court of New York, where he served from 1885 to 1897. Following (1898-1904), he was Chief Judge of the New York Appeals Court. Parker was considered a protégé of conservative Democratic politician David B. Hill ( Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891, then U.S. Senator ).

In 1904 he ran for the U.S. presidency, which he specifically found support from former President Grover Cleveland. The candidacy required the task his public offices. In the years 1896-1900 it was, however, come to fragmentation within the Democrats due to differing views on economic issues. By reaching agreement on the presidential candidate Parker, Democrats hoped again a unit that was required to victory in the upcoming elections to gain. At the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis Parker was elected with 66.5 percent of the delegates' votes against William Randolph Hearst ( 19.59 percent) to Democratic candidates; his running mate for the office of Vice President was the 80 -year-old Henry G. Davis, a former U.S. Senator from West Virginia.

However, the desired unit did not materialize. It did not succeed Parker, to draw all Democrats to his side. Disagreement within the party led to devastating defeat against the incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt; Parker was able to win only the former demoktaischen strongholds in the southern U.S. from Texas to Maryland. After this defeat, was no longer able Parker to regain its former position in the judiciary of the country. He worked exclusively as a lawyer in his former law firm.

Parker died of a heart attack while he was driving through Central Park in New York in the car.