Halstead, Fred

Fred W. Halstead (April 21, 1927 – June 2, 1988) was the Socialist Workers Party's candidate for President of the United States in 1968. His running mate was Paul Boutelle. Halstead played a significant role in the movement against the Vietnam War, outlined in his book Out Now! He also was a staff writer on The Militant, the publication of the Socialist Workers Party. In addition to his 1968 presidential run, Halstead was the Socialist Workers candidate for New York City Controller in 1961 (0.22% of the vote), and for California Governor in 1978 (0.01% of the vote). Halstead was a 6′6″, 350-pound ex–garment cutter who worked briefly as a bouncer in a country-and-western saloon in the 1950s, when he was on the blacklist. On July 10, 1968, Halstead appeared on the political talk show Firing Line.