Ed Clark, RIP

Reason via Yahoo ^ | 7/2/25 | Brian Doherty

[DallasBiff]

Ed Clark, the Libertarian Party's (L.P.) 1980 candidate for president, has died at age 95.

Clark, a Harvard Law graduate who for much of his career practiced corporate law for Arco in Los Angeles, brought a calm normalcy to his libertarian messaging in his two prominent runs, famously trying to define this then-clandestine political philosophy as "low-tax liberalism" to explain his combination of fiscal prudence, foreign policy restraint, and mostly letting people make their own personal choices.

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat; History
KEYWORDS: 1980; edclark; libertarian

[DallasBiff]

All I remember about him was the msm pushing him as an alternative to the "evil" Reagan, while Carter was floundering in his failures.

[plain talk]

Don’t even remember this guy. Of course he ran in 1980 and there was Ronald Reagan so I paid no attention to him.

[PGalt]

Thanks for posting. Condolences to family and friends of Ed Clark. RIP.

[No name given]

Rest In Peace, Ed.

[Luke21]

We had John Anderson as the third party candidate who actually debated the Gipper during the fall campaign when Carter refused. It would have been a Ross Perot three way, but Jimmy wouldn’t take it.

Clark had a wife who I believe spoke Spanish and she was doing a lot of bilingual radio. He was a decent enough fellow, but there weren’t a lot of votes left to be gained. RIP.

[ClearCase_guy]

In the 70s I was in a Libertarian phase. But by 1980 I had shifted, and I skipped over Clark (a decent fellow) and voted for Reagan instead.

[DIRTYSECRET]

I’m still a libertarian but never voted for one. They’re trouble. It would have to be really bad. Mittens and McLame weren’t bad enough.

[Olog-hai]

The only Ed Clark(e) I ever knew was the late guitarist for Motorhead (aka “Fast Eddie”).

[SharpRightTurn]

RIP

[albie]

95 is good. See ya

[FreedomPoster]

I saw Ed Clark speak at my university n 1980, and voted for him in that election. I was a Democrat as a teenager and a young college student, but was smart enough to know that Jimmy Carter was a bad deal. But hadn’t found my way to Reagan yet. In 1984, I enthusiastically voted for Reagan’s re-election.

[Jim Noble]

I voted for Ed Clark in 1980 - much better choice than John Anderson.

[FlatulusMaximus]

He was arguably the best candidate the National LP ever fielded. He got my vote. (I was furious when I watched Reagan steal libertarian rhetoric in the 1980 campaign, not meaning a word of it. I chose the genuine libertarian.)