John B. Anderson, a former Reform Party candidate in the 1980 presidential election, will be speaking about his experiences Monday, March 6 at 2 p.m. in the Moudy Building, room 121N on TCU’s campus. The event is part of the Jim Wright Symposium.

Anderson initially entered into the Republican Primary – but dropped out and ran as an independent candidate. He gained support during his candidacy from the political liberals who were against the ideologies of the current president, Jimmy Carter, who had signed a law banning Medicaid-funded abortions for lower-class women. After the election of Ronald Reagan, he became a candidate for Instant Runoff Voting, a system that asks the voter to rank the candidates in order of preference.

The accomplished speaker has appeared on several networks, including BBC, NPR and C-SPAN. He gives frequent lectures, and is an expert analyst on American political issues, such as United Nations reform, electoral reform and foreign affairs. He also lectures on independent candidacies. Anderson is currently the president of the World Federalist Association.

Anderson has served as chair of the Center for Voting and Democracy since 1996, after previously serving as chair of the Center’s advisory board. He has taught political science courses at various universities, including Stanford University, Oregon State University and Brandeis University as a visiting professor. He also taught a course in constitutional law at Nova Southeast University in 2001.

Before his third-party candidacy for president, Anderson served 10 terms as the U.S. Representative for Congress from the 16th District of Illinois, from 1961 to 1981. He was also the chairman of the House Republican Conference and served on the House Rules Committee for 10 years. Anderson also served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Field Artillery during World War II and was Economic Reporting Officer in the Eastern Affairs Division in the Foreign Service between 1952 and 1955.

Anderson earned his B.A. and J.D. (juris doctor) degrees from the University of Illinois and was admitted to the Illinois bar the same year. He obtained an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School in 1949.

The Jim Wright Symposium is an annual event featuring prominent speakers, workshops, classes and special symposia. For more information, contact TCU’s political science department at 817-257-7468 or http://www.pol.tcu.edu/.

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