American Democratic Party

The Democratic Party enters the diary through the gap between political identification and participation. Andy Warhol described himself as a liberal Democrat and promoted Democratic voting among his employees, yet said he never voted himself, explaining that he did not want to be called for jury duty. His support was expressed instead through a campaign image and an unusual workplace inducement: Election Days off for employees who promised to vote Democratic.

Political Affiliation and Nonparticipation

Warhol’s account presents his Democratic identity as a stated philosophical position rather than a record of personal voting. He said he never cast a ballot because he feared being summoned for jury duty. The diary places that explanation beside his efforts to influence how others voted, making his own abstention an explicit counterpoint to his political preference.

The McGovern Poster

In 1972, Warhol made a campaign poster for George McGovern. It showed Richard Nixon with a green face and carried the words “Vote McGovern.” The image turned his political preference into a conspicuous piece of visual advocacy, while the diary connects the poster to his belief that Nixon-administration figures had prompted the Internal Revenue Service’s continuing scrutiny of his business.

Politics in the Workplace

Warhol offered his employees Election Days off if they gave their word that they would vote Democratic. The gesture translated party allegiance into workplace practice: unlike his own abstention, their promised participation became the condition for a day away from work. In the diary’s account, the party appears both as a political label Warhol claimed and as a preference he tried to make consequential for the people working around him.