Howard PhillipsBiography
Howard Phillips was the founder of the U.S. Taxpayers Party which later became the Constitution Party.
Phillips was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1941. Although originally born into a Jewish family, it is noted that Phillips converted to Christianity later in his life. He married Margaret Blanchard and together they raised six children. Not much else is stated about his early life besides that, however. In 1962, Howard Phillips graduated from Harvard College. In the 1970's and 1980's, Phillips became involved in anti-Communist efforts in Central America.
Phillips was also a Republican; during Nixon's presidency, Phillips was the director of the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) in 1973. However, he only held this position for five months, quitting when Nixon continued to fund the previous president's Great Society program despite Phillip's opposition. Interestingly, his appointment to the position was sketchy in the first place. In the case Williams v. Phillips, many challenged the legality of Phillips's appointment. He left the Republican party in 1974. Later in 1978, Phillips tried to run in the Democratic primaries for a seat in the Massachusetts senate, but was unsuccessful.
Phillips also founded the Conservative Caucus, an advocacy group promoting conservative ways, in 1974.
In 1992, Howard Phillips founded the U.S. Taxpayers' Party. The core values of the party included pro-life, conservatism, and following the literal constitution. The party would later become the Constitution Party in 1999.
Howard also ran in the presidential campaign in three races: 1992, 1996, and 2000. In the races, he received seventh, sixth, and sixth place for each race, respectively.
On April 20, 2013, Phillips died from temporal frontal lobe dementia.
Political Beliefs
Phillips was very well known for his conservative views throughout his lifetime; he was the chairman of the Conservative Caucus from 1974 to 2011. He was also very supportive of "pro-life," begin very against infantile abortion. He has even opposed the appointment of a Supreme Court judge because he believed that she had a bias towards pro-abortion.
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