Although Byrd never again formally sought the presidency nor became his party 's candidate , Southern Democrats drafted him in several campaigns between 1944 and 1960 . At the 1944 Democratic National Convention , Southern delegates opposed to Roosevelt 's New Deal and racial policies nominated Byrd as the party 's presidential candidate . He was nominated by Ruth Nooney of Florida , who said she did so without his knowledge or consent . He won 89 delegate votes to Roosevelt 's 1,086 ( James Farley of New York got one vote ) . All the convention delegates from Louisiana , Mississippi and Virginia , and 12 of the 36 delegates from Texas voted for Byrd . In 1952 , both the Constitution Party and the America First Party nominated Byrd for vice-president , and Douglas MacArthur for president , without the consent of either . The slate got 17,205 votes nationwide . In 1956 , the year that Byrd initiated the " massive resistance " campaign , the States ' Rights Party of Kentucky named Byrd as a presidential candidate . He received 2,657 votes in that state ; in South Carolina , in the same election , he received 88,509 votes as the choice of an independent ( i.e. unpledged ) slate of electors with the endorsement of former governor James Byrnes and Senator Strom Thurmond
1944 Democratic National Convention
1944 Democratic National Convention
Harry F. Byrd