History of the IAP

In Memory of our Founder and National ChairmanWill Christensen

Will Christensen was born and raised in Pennsylvania and was a veteran of the Marine Corps. He worked in the corporate world for IBM and was been involved in small business for over 40 years. He was happily married to Ruth for over 50 years, they have a large family.

His first political activity was the Eisenhower/Stevenson campaign in 1952. In 1964 he was County Campaign Chairman for Barry Goldwater and was on the Republican County Central Committee until 1967. In 1968 he actively participated in George Wallace’s Presidential campaign.

He has run for the State House, State Senate, and U.S. Congress, and was drafted as the Independent American Party U.S. Presidential candidate in 2012.

In 1991 Will was one of the founders of the Utah Independent American Party, and has held County Chair, State Chair, State Executive Director, and National Chair offices.

His aim was to build strong state parties which can affect both state and national politics, bringing the power usurped by Washington back to the states. In this way, we will return our nation back to the Constitutional Republic. Liberty is our heritage and our destiny!

Will passed away on December 2, 2021. He will truly be missed as our great founder and leader of the Independent American Party.

Ezra Taft Benson, whose speech "The Proper Role of Government" inspired this party.

National Party - Utah Roots

Did you know that the National Independent American Party (IAP) began as the Utah Independent American Party?

1993 Utah wanted a “truly” conservative party, and citizens formed the Utah IAP. The founders were inspired by a speech given by Ezra T. Benson, former Secretary of Agriculture, entitled "The Proper Role of Government". Benson’s love for America and belief in its divine destiny were echoed by many and thus became the basis for the initial platform. The 15 principles for the proper role of government, taken from his speech still influence core decisions today.
1995 Utah’s IAP begins affiliation with the National American Party (AP)
1998 Three Options were presented to decide:

To remain affiliated with the national American Party (AP)
To affiliate with the National U.S. Taxpayers Party (later named Constitution Party)
Or create the National Independent American Party (IAP).

On May 16th, 1998, the Utah IAP held a straw vote favoring the formation of a National Independent American Party. A committee of six individuals was selected to initiate the organization and by Nov 7, 1998 the National IAP was officially recognized by a binding vote of 79%.

In January 1999 the national IAP began holding semi-annual National Conferences. The national chairman attended a number of state and national conventions of other like-minded third parties across the nation to build ties. Our web site (launched September, 1998) flourished, and we attracted members in about forty states.

Party Growth

In 2001 the IAP grew from one state party (Utah) to three organized state parties (Minnesota, Tennessee, and Utah), and twelve prospective state parties. Area Coordinators were assigned to each of the four regions of the country. The IAP adopted its first National Platform in August 2002 and ended the year with three organized and 18 prospective state parties.

In 2003 the Party changed the structure of its officer positions from the traditional Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer, and elected a Chair and 4 Vice-Chairs.

By 2004 the party involvement dwindled, and it was unable to maintain ballot status in any state; however, the party was later revitalized and soon gained ballot access in Utah and New Mexico, with IAP candidate Jon Barrie being elected in New Mexico to the US Senate in 2012. In the following 2014 election cycle, the IAP supported a total of 31 candidates in local, state, and federal campaigns across nine states.

Today, the IAP continues to grow (with members in 49 states and the District of Columbia) and to support only principled candidates (See PEOPL). The Party has adopted a philosophy of working with other patriot groups and organizations, where we agree, and to help them nominate candidates for public office when no IAP candidate is available.

Purpose of the Independent American Party

To uphold and revere our Constitution in the tradition of our Founding Fathers as this land's only and supreme law.

To restore our Constitutional Republic, Constitutional Law, and all rights, liberties, and properties rightfully belonging to the people and the states.

To identify and reverse the legislation, case law, regulations, and treaties, etc., that are unconstitutional or an offense to God and our Founding Fathers.

To permanently restore American sovereignty and independence from foreign entanglements, and mandates.

To return the control of government back to the people as intended.

To greatly minimize taxes, and to limit the size, power, and function of government to the intended constraints established within the original Constitution and Bill of Rights.

To advance the principles of freedom, patriotism, and traditional family values.

To preserve and honor our Judeo-Christian heritage and the rights of all religions.

To identify and defeat all efforts to undermine and overthrow the Constitution.

To achieve superior ethics, integrity, and accountability at all levels of government.

To restore fair and responsible redress of grievances, as allowed in the Constitution.

To unite the independent votes, the silent majority, grassroots organizations, and other patriots and lovers of liberty under one umbrella, while keeping our separate identities, standing united as sovereign people.

More Information:

https://ballotpedia.org/Independent_American_Party_of_Utah