Answer: President of the United States

Prior to his death in June 1844, Joseph Smith Jr. ran as an independent in that year’s presidential race. 

Vermont native Joseph Smith Jr. (1805-1844) was the founding prophet and first president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In January 1827, Smith married Emma Hale, a native of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, where the couple resided for a time. The Book of Mormon was published in March 1830, and the church was officially organized on April 6, 1830.

Smith organized the Philadelphia branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on December 23, 1839 on the corner of 7th and Callowhill Streets. On January 14, 1840, he spoke to an audience of about 3,000 at the First Independent Church of Christ (later called the First Universalist Church and now a Jewish synagogue), located on 4th and Lombard Streets.

Soon, congregations of Mormons were established throughout the region. Philadelphia newspaper accounts from the 19th-century record the exponential spread of Mormonism in the city. Today, tens of thousands of Mormons reside in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. The new Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple at 1739 Vine Street will be formally dedicated in September. 

In HSP’s autograph collections are letters by and images of Joseph Smith Jr. and Brigham Young. Publications on Mormonism and Philadelphia can be found in HSP's library, including History of the Philadelphia Branch (call number Wq*.999 v.1) and The Mormons: A Discourse Delivered Before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, March 26, 1850 (call number Va .66V v.1).