Isaac Newton Jenkins (August 19, 1887 – October 16, 1942) was an American attorney, soldier, and political candidate. A perennial candidate for political office, Jenkins ran for office in Illinois many times. He originally ran as a Robert La Follette-aligned progressive member of the Republican Party in the 1920s. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Jenkins publicly espoused antisemitic and fascist views and aligned himself with Adolf Hitler and other Nazis. He associated with other American pro-fascists. He was a figure in the short-lived Union Party, and served as the director of William Lemke's 1936 campaign as the party's presidential nominee.
During World War I, Jenkins served in the 5th Regiment of the United States Marines as a lieutenant. He later served with France's 5th Army.
Jenkins established himself as a prominent attorney in Chicago.[1] He was the attorney for the Pure Milk association (a dairy cooperative selling organization) since its inception. He was also a member of the Cook County Farm Bureau. He was, at one time, president of the Jefferson Park Business Men's Association.[2]
Jenkins made his first run for political office in 1920, when he ran to be Chicago alderman of the 27th Ward.[3]
See main article: 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois, 1930 United States Senate election in Illinois and 1932 United States Senate election in Illinois. He ran in the Republican primary of the 1924 United States Senate election in Illinois on a Robert La Follette-aligned platform.[3] [4] Samuel George Blythe described Jenkins as having run on a, "farmer-labor near bolshevik platform." While Jenkins ran a left-wing campaign, he performed his strongest in downstate Illinois than in Cook County, Illinois, despite Cook County being home to a more traditionally left-wing constituency. This was an indicator that his platform had appealed to downstate farmers.[5] Jenkins placed third in the primary, receiving 114,239 votes. This gave him 13.32% of the vote, compared to Charles S. Deneen's 41.70% and incumbent Medill McCormick's 41.01%.[6]
During the 1930 Illinois U.S. Senate race again ran for U.S. Senate, challenging incumbent Charles S. Deneen for the Republican Party nomination. He and Deneen both lost to Ruth Hanna McCormick.[3] [7] Jenkins received 161,261 votes. This gave him 11.43% of the vote, compared to McCormick's 50.66% and Deneen's 35.19%.[8]
Jenkins ran a third time for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary of the 1932 United States Senate election in Illinois.[3] During his campaign, Jenkins supported the proposed Capper-Kelly Fair Trade Bill.[2] Jenkins received 405,387 votes, placing a distant second behind incumbent Otis F. Glenn. He won 37.98% of the vote to Glenn's 53.62%.[9]
During these campaigns, Jenkins built a sizable base of support in organizations for famers and organizations for retired military servicemen.[2]
By the mid-1930s, Jenkins' politics had taken a highly pronounced turn to fascism.
See main article: 1935 Chicago mayoral election.
In 1935, Jenkins ran for mayor of Chicago as an independent candidate. Jenkins still promoted himself as a "progressive" candidate.[10] [11] However, he adopted outright fascist and antisemitic politics and now stood in fierce opposition to such progressive causes as labor movements.
Jenkins' run was supported by his Third Party, which was an effort to launch a new political party. The party claimed itself to be spun-off from the progressive Republican movement.[12] The party, which intended to use "U.S., Unite" as its national slogan and utilize the buffalo as its mascot, sought to use Jenkins' candidacy as a national launchpad.[3] [12] [13] However, Third Party was regarded to be "openly fascist". The July 10, 1935 edition of the American Guardian newspaper wrote that Jenkins had,