Candidate Biographies
Jacob Hornberger
https://jacobforliberty.com/meet-jacob/
Forty years ago, when he was a young trial lawyer in his hometown of
Laredo, Texas, Jacob Hornberger discovered the libertarian philosophy.
The discovery changed the course of his life.
Jacob
is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation (fff.org),
a non-profit educational foundation whose mission is to present the
principled case for the libertarian philosophy (and which, as a
non-profit foundation, does not endorse his candidacy or any other
candidacy).
On
November 2, 2019, Jacob announced his candidacy for the 2020
Libertarian Party nomination at the South Carolina state convention.
On
that same day, he launched on Amazon his new book My Passion for
Liberty, where he details his life’s journey from the courtroom to the
world of libertarian education and explains how liberty became the
passion of his life. At the same time, he describes, in a clear and
easy-to-understand way, the core principles of libertarianism and how
they are the key to resolving the political and economic crises we face
in society.
In
My Passion for Liberty, one will learn why libertarians oppose
socialism, interventionism, mandatory charity, the drug war, the
regulated and managed economy, the Federal Reserve, public schooling,
foreign wars and empire, immigration controls, trade wars, gun control,
the war on terrorism, infringements on civil liberties, and the
national-security establishment and its dark-side practices around the
world.
In
his introduction to the book, former presidential candidate Ron Paul
states, “When I hired new staff and brought in new groups of interns, I
would always recommend that they read everything they could get their
hands on from Jacob Hornberger’s Future of Freedom Foundation. Jacob’s
book is a battle cry against the tyranny of the state. His is not an
offensive battle, but a fight to defend us against a state that wants
to trample us, rob us, and ultimately kill us. That is why I am so
happy to see that Jacob has written this very personal memoir of his
life, and especially about his conversion to libertarianism. I am proud
to call Jacob my good friend and I am so pleased that he has written
this book.”
JACOB’S
BACKGROUND
1950: born
in Laredo, Texas, and raised on a farm on the Rio Grande.
1968-1972: Virginia
Military Institute; B.A. in economics; elected class valedictorian:
commissioned 2nd Lt., U.S. Army Reserves.
1972-1975: Law
school at University of Texas at Austin; J.D. degree.
1973: Infantry
school, Fort Benning, Georgia.
1972-1980: U.S.
Army Reserves.
1974: Infantry
school at Ft. Benning, Georgia.
1975-1983: Trial
attorney in Laredo, Texas; licensed to practice in Texas, U.S. District
Court, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. Supreme Court.
1983-1987: Trial
attorney in Dallas, Texas; one semester as adjunct professor of law and
economics at University of Dallas.
1987-1989: Program
director at The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in
Irvington-on-Hudson, New York.
1991-2000: Three
terms on Libertarian Party platform committee; awarded Libertarian
Party’s Thomas Paine Award for outstanding communication of libertarian
principles; keynote speaker at 1996 national party convention;
candidate for LP presidential nomination.
2002: Independent
candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia.
1989-present: Founder
and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation (FFF), a non-profit
libertarian educational foundation; author/co-editor/contributor of 17
books, including his newest book My Passion for Liberty.
2019-2020: Libertarian
Party candidate for president.
Advancing
Liberty
- Read
thousands
of
libertarian
articles, blog posts, and perspectives and
watch hundreds of video presentations by Jacob Hornberger at the
website of The Future of Freedom Foundation (fff.org). (Note: As a
non-profit, educational foundation, the Future of Freedom Foundation
does not endorse Mr. Hornberger’s candidacy or any other candidacy.)
- Regular
guest
commentator
on
Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Freedom Watch on Fox
Business Channel.
- Guest
appearances
on
Greta
Van Susteren Show on Fox News, the John Stossel
Show and Neil Cavuto Show on the Fox Business Channel, and the Ron Paul
Liberty Report.
- Speeches
and
lectures
on
libertarianism all across the United States as well as
in England, Slovakia, Canada, Cuba, Guatemala, Brazil, and Argentina.
†
Note: As a non-profit, educational foundation, The Future of Freedom
Foundation does not endorse Mr. Hornberger’s candidacy or any other
candidacy.
Dr. Jo Jorgensen
https://joj2020.com/about-jo-jorgensen/
John Monds
https://monds2020.com/about/
John
Monds made history in 2008, when he became the first Libertarian
candidate to receive
over
1
million
votes.
John made history again in 2010, becoming the first African-American
candidate to appear on the ballot for Governor in Georgia.
John’s great-great-grandparents, Columbus and Morning Ferguson were
enslaved in Talbot County, GA. Their fight for freedom has inspired him
to run for president as a libertarian, bringing the message of
individual liberty to all Americans.
For more than a century, government policies that promised to deliver
“freedom” have made it more difficult to earn a living, to educate
children, and to pursue happiness. Monds has been an active member of
the Libertarian Party for 15 years, because “it’s the only party that
is serious about freedom,” he says.
John Monds’ presidential campaign takes a stand for individual
liberty, peace, and cooperation instead of government force. His
signature
Anti-Platform
highlights the many things he’d like to STOP government from doing, to
improve the lives of Americans. Topping the list are ending the Iraq
and Afghanistan wars, as well as the domestic War on Drugs, which make
all Americans less safe and less free.
Monds lives in Georgia with his wife of 21 years, Dr. Kathaleena Monds,
and their four children. He holds a business administration degree from
HBCU Morehouse College, and for the past 20 years, he has had his dream
job: homeschooling his children.
Monds is active in his community with Habitat for Humanity, Omega Psi
Phi Fraternity, and the NAACP. He enjoys classic Volkswagens,
gardening, and genealogy.
Vermin Supreme
https://verminsupreme2020.com/
Vermin Love Supreme is a performance
artist, politician, and activist who has run
as a candidate in various local, state, and national elections in the United
States. Supreme is known
for wearing a boot as a hat and carrying a large toothbrush, and
has said that if elected President of the United States, he will pass a
law requiring people to brush
their
teeth. He has
campaigned on a platform of zombie
apocalypse awareness
and time
travel research, and
promised
a
free pony for every American.
In 2011, he participated in the Occupy
Boston protests. He
is the subject of the 2014 documentary, Who Is Vermin Supreme?
An Outsider Odyssey, which follows his 2012 campaign and explores
his life as an activist and political prankster.
Supreme is again running for President in 2020 as a
Libertarian. This also marks the first time that Supreme has run a
"legitimate" campaign, focusing on real rather than satirical issues
and using the slogan "In On The Joke". He won the
Libertarian Presidential Preference Primary in New Hampshire on
February 11, 2020. On March 3, 2020, Supreme was declared
the winner of the Massachusetts primary and on January 11, 2020 he won
first place in the first ever Libertarian Party of New Hampshire
primary.
Jim Gray
https://judgejimgray.com/about/
The son of Elizabeth Polin Gray and a highly regarded federal judge,
“Judge William P. Gray“, Judge James P. Gray was raised in the Los
Angeles area and attended schools in both La Canada and Pasadena.
Between receiving his undergraduate degree in US History from UCLA in
1966 and a Juris Doctor degree from USC in 1971, Jim Gray served as a
Peace Corps Volunteer in Palmar Norte, Costa Rica. During that two
years as a Volunteer he taught physical education as a professor’ de
education’ fisica in its high school and also set up and oversaw
programs of community recreation and health in his community. As he
tells it, he probably should be cited in the Guinness Book of Records
for brushing his teeth in front of more elementary school classrooms
than anyone else in history. After law school, Jim served for almost
four years as a criminal defense attorney as a lieutenant in the Navy
JAG Corps first at the US Naval Air Station in Guam and then at the
Naval Air Station in Lemoore, California, after which he was a federal
prosecutor in the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where
he eventually headed a unit that prosecuted frauds against the VA and
FHA.
After working in civil litigation for a private law firm for about five
years, Judge Gray was appointed to the Santa Ana Municipal Court in
1983 by Governor George Deukmejian and, in 1989, elevated by Governor
Deukmejian to the Superior Court. Throughout his career within the
legal and judicial community, Jim Gray has not only donated hundreds of
hours of volunteer time to existing community service-oriented
activities, he also has created and implemented a number of innovative
programs of his own, each one a success story in itself.
For instance, it was Jim Gray who probably started the first drug court
in the country for alcohol-related offenses within six months of being
appointed as a judge. This program was successful in keeping defendants
who had the disease of alcoholism off alcohol for six months, which was
as long as he was able to keep statistics. Judge Jim also introduced
Orange County to the Peer Court System, where juvenile defendants
travel to a school outside their district to have their actual cases
heard by juries of high school students who, after asking questions of
both the subject and his/her parents, deliberate and then recommend a
sentence to a real judge. Thereafter, if the subject completes the
sentence within four months, the underlying charges are dismissed and
the subject emerges without a criminal record.
Gray also worked closely with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to form a
MADD DUI panel in 1987 whereby defendants were sentenced to listen as
victims of drunk driving collisions told their heartbreaking stories.
This program has been recognized as one of the most effective within
the MADD organization and the court system. In addition, as a member of
the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Program’s Drinking
Driving Program Advisory Committee, Judge Jim also helped to establish
a program whereby youthful offenders of drinking driver laws were
sentenced to visit the Western Medical Trauma Center, where these young
people witnessed some of the devastating injuries caused by similar
offenders. This program was also cosponsored by the Volunteer Center of
Orange County, where Gray had served as a board member.
Other organizations Judge Gray helped to found include the Association
of Former U.S. Attorneys, which has met yearly since 1979 to share
ideas and continue with the camaraderie of that great office, and the
William P. Gray Chapter of the American Inns of Court, which eventually
named after his father and was founded to increase ethics, education,
and professionalism for judges and lawyers.
Judge James P. Gray served as a trial court judge for 25 years in
Orange County, California. During that time, he was awarded honorary
doctor of laws degrees both from Western State University School of Law
and Chapman University School of Law, and the “Judge of the Year” Award
from the Business Litigation Section of the Orange County Bar
Association. Not only was Judge Gray also the recipient of the “Judge
of the Year” Award from the Orange County Chapter of the Constitutional
Rights Foundation, that steller group later named that annual award
after Judge James P. Gray. And on January 16, 2020, Judge Gray received
the 2019 Judge Franklin G. West Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Orange County Bar Association, which is its highest honor.
Adam Kokesh
https://kokeshforpresident.com/about-adam/
Early Years
Adam Kokesh was born on February 1, 1982 in California. Growing
up he played sports every season and read numerous books
at the encouragement of his parents. His interest in science and
technology led him to many science fair victories and NASA's Space
Camp. After middle school, where he played trumpet in the
band and basketball, at the encouragement of a friend of a
parent who was a former Marine, he went to "Devil Pups," a junior boot
camp-style citizenship and fitness program hosted by the Marines at
Camp Pendleton. In high school he participated in Model UN, taught
silversmithing classes, and founded a campus radio station. During the
summers he worked at a print shop and with horses. He is the only
non-native to graduate from the Native American Preparatory School
formerly of San Miguel County, New Mexico. He received his bachelor's
degree in Psychology from Claremont McKenna College where he played
rugby, sang in the choir, and competed with the ballroom dance team.
Military Background
Adam's grandfather, Charles Henry Kokesh, was a pilot in World War II
as one of the "Flying Sergeants," was awarded a Silver Star, and was
nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor. Inspired by this and
and the Marines he met in Devil Pups, Adam enlisted in the Marines
while still in high school at the age of 17. He completed boot camp and
Marine Combat Training in San Diego, Field Artillery School at Fort
Sill in Oklahoma, and NBC Training (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical)
in Texas. He was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal for his work as a
Recruiter's Assistant and played for the All-Marine Rugby Team. He
volunteered to go to Fallujah in 2004 with a Marine Corps Civil Affairs
team where he was meritoriously promoted to Sergeant. For his tour he
received a Navy Commendation Medal and Combat Action Ribbon.
Political Activism
In 2007, Kokesh joined Iraq Veterans Against the War and helped bring
the organization to national prominence as its most visible leader.
He first came to national attention for holding up a score card
during Alberto Gonzales' testimony to Congress regarding the dismissal
of U.S. Attorneys keeping track of how many times he said, "I don't
recall." His photograph appeared in many national newspapers and
resulted in dozens of TV interviews. He was later to become the
story himself when prosecuted unlawfully by the Marine Corps (while he
was in the inactive reserves) for staging a street theater protest that
included a mock combat patrol, "to bring a small piece of the reality
of war home to Washington, DC."
Adam was an active supporter of Ron Paul and would eventually come
to
found and lead Veterans for Ron Paul, organizing
a
stunning
march on the White House for vets to turn their back
on Obama and raise awareness about military suicide. He was invited to
speak at the 2008 Revolution March in DC organized by grassroots Ron
Paul supporters and
his
speech
that day is what put him on the map as a promising
representative of the freedom movement.
After the
debate
on
Iraq was won, Adam turned his attention to other freedom causes
and continued his effective advocacy, organizing, and civil
disobedience. He has been arrested over three dozen times for
protesting,
smoking
cannabis,
not
smoking
cannabis,
cursing,
filming
on
the sidewalk, and even
dancing.
From "Mainstream" to Independent and
Back
Adam first began his career in media with the birth of
ADAM
VS
THE
MAN as a radio show in Albuquerque on KIVA in 2010.
After six months it was picked up as a
TV
show
for
RT
America. After four months on the air, he was fired for
criticizing Putin and went independent online to focus on podcasting
and
YouTube,
where
he
has
over
60
million
views. He is well known for using
Nonviolent
Communication and
Socratic
Dialogue
techniques in his "man on the street" videos.
Recently he has shifted focus to blockchain-based social media and is
very active as a promoter of
Steemit where
he
releases
exclusive
content.
While in jail in Washington, DC in 2013, he began writing FREEDOM!, now
considered a "bible for voluntaryism." The book is in its fourth
printing and has been downloaded over 2 million times. With the
platform he has built for himself, he was able to successfully
self-publish and make it available for
free
in
every
digital
format
possible
including
audiobook. In
a
jailhouse
interview
with
Fox
5
DC during that time, Kokesh announced his
plans to run for President of the United States in 2020 on a platform
of an orderly, peaceful, and responsible dissolution of the U.S.
Federal Government. He is currently working on his second book, a war
memoir titled, "Hot, Dirty, & Dangerous - How seven months in
Fallujah challenged my patriotism." His third book, "American Freedom!"
will detail the platform of dissolving the federal government and is
scheduled to come out soon. One of the reasons for his success is his
commitment to doing a national tour hitting 100+ cities every
year.
FREEDOM!
was
officially
endorsed
by
the
US
Department of Justice when
they banned it from federal prison facilities, declaring "the entire
publication" to be, "a threat to the good order and discipline of the
institution."
Famous Kokesh Quotes:
"We don't have to be forced under a single government to be united in
American values."
"Government is fundamentally immoral because it is based on violating
the rights of individuals."
"None of the propaganda around war can disguise its true nature.
It is massive organized violence for the purpose of expanding
government power. It is the height of statism and it is the
greatest affront to freedom."
"Taxation is an inescapable part of the government racket. If
governments never stole they would cease to be governments. If we
could withdraw our financial support from them at any time, they would
be voluntary cooperatives, or service providers. Because taxation
is backed up with the threat of force, it is theft, plain and simple."
"The way that we move forward is by localizing government down to the
community level. This way, everyone gets what they want. So I call it,
'The everyone gets what they want strategy.' Sounds to me like
something everyone can get on board with!"
