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Congressman Hearst William Randolph Hearst first sought political office in 1902 as a Democratic Congressman from New York City. This signaled the beginning of a twenty-year relationship with the city's political bosses that alternated between negotiated cooperation and outright hostilities. |
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 The National Independence Party was formally organized on Washington's Birthday in 1908 in Chicago, Illinois. William Randolph Hearst called upon all true patriots to rally to the standards of Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln to defeat the parties who are "unworthy of the patriots who founded them." At the first convention of the newly formed party, Hearst gave a rousing speech detailing the need for a new party, insisting that the old parties were "Democrats by inheritance, and Republicans by tradition." He began: "My friends, this is the first national convention of the Independence Party. Whether it shall prove an historical event or merely a passing political incident depends upon the wisdom and patriotism with which we shall deliberate and act. If the men who met in Independence Hall in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, 1776, had had within them the feeling of hesitation, any disposition toward compromise or concession, that day would now pass as any other day upon the calendar." William Randolph Hearst, July 27, 1908 |
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