Has the third party in American national politics been historically unsuccessful

Has the third party in American national politics been historically unsuccessful in elections? If so, why? If not, why not?
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Include a title page and reference page, but exclude table of contents.
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Page count does not include either the title page or the reference page.
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Use at least 2 but no more than 5 references with at least 1 reference from an academic journal article (use the Touro library databases).