John Anderson, who ran against Reagan and Carter in 1980, dies at 95

John Anderson, a former Republican congressman from Illinois who bolted his party to run as a plain-spoken independent candidate for president in 1980, drawing an enthusiastic if transient following among liberals and college students, died on Sunday night in Washington. He was 95.

His family announced his death in a statement, the Associated Press reported.

The United States was struggling with a recession, a severe energy crisis and the protracted Iranian hostage crisis when Anderson gave up a safe seat in the House of Representatives to seek the Republican presidential nomination.