In Columbus, Ohio, the Prohibition Party holds its first national convention as part of an effort to move forward with a national prohibition on alcohol. The Prohibition Party will nominates James Black for the presidency. James Black is responsible for creating National Temperance Society and Publication House shortly after the Civil War as well as the Prohibition Party in 1869.
The two main planks of the Prohibition Party platform are "National Prohibition" and "Universal Suffrage" (including women). During its first years the Prohibition Party only gets a few thousand votes nationally. Prohibition is a popular cause, but the Anti-Saloon League under Wayne Wheeler and the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) both refuse to support any third party candidates, even if the party is dedicated to their own cause.
When John P. St. John, former governor of Kansas, leaves the Republican Party and joins the Prohibition Party their fortunes change. In 1884 the Prohibition Party gets 150,000 votes nationally. As this is over twice the difference in votes between the Democratic and Republican candidates, both parties wonder if votes for the Prohibition Party changed the outcome of the presidential election.
Through 1920, the Prohibition Party will receive between 150,000 and 250,000 votes nationally. They will win no national offices, but they will win local and statewide offices. The Democratic and Republican parties will start addressing both prohibition and women's suffrage, issues they probably would have ignored otherwise.
