ABSTRACT
African American presidential candidates have used a highly diverse and ever expanding number of political vehicles to obtain the highest elected office in the nation. Barred from legal suffrage rights in most states until the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment in February 1870, the African American electorate could not influence and/or impact the outcome of any presidential election even in terms of being a “balance of power” force. After the passage of this amendment, such a possibility was extremely probable until the Era of Disenfranchisement, 1890-1901.
