“Ever get the feelin’ you’ve been cheated?”—Johnny Rotten
Posted on 02/04/2008 7:42:16 PM PST by dufekin
In the 38 elections since the first Republican convention chose John Charles Frémont to carry their 1856 presidential campaign, only 3 Republicans who served in the Senate ever got elected to the Presidency.
And only Warren Gamaliel Harding won every Presidential election in which he contested. Elected in 1920 on a platform of content-free Senatorial blather, he perished before the unraveling of the incredible scandals of his Administration and thus didn't bear the consequences personally. No other Senator boasted his perfect record (1-0) in Presidential elections.
Senator Benjamin Harrison narrowly won election in 1888 and thereby became the only Senator ever to unseat an incumbent President in American history. He won fame because of his grandfather William Henry Harrison, who served as President for a month during 1841. Benjamin Harrison still lost the popular vote in his successful election, accomplished almost nothing, and lost to his predecessor in 1892.
Richard Milhous Nixon served as a Senator for California for a couple years before he ascended to the vice-presidency in the Administration of Dwight David Eisenhower. He narrowly (and some would contend controversially) lost the 1960 Presidential election. He managed to win the 1968 election with his Southern strategy that took advantage of Democrats in disarray, but his cheating during the 1972 landslide reelection campaign unraveled into the media coup of Watergate. He ultimately resigned in disgrace, and only a gracious pardon from President Ford halted the punishing circus.
Notwithstanding the reelection of Nixon, none of these three Presidents proved particularly good. Now let us consider the Senators who ran for President unsuccessfully on the Republican ticket:
John Charles Frémont James Gillespie Blaine Barry Morris Goldwater Robert Joseph Dole
The Republicans fortunately didn't re-nominate any of those one-time losers; therefore, Republican Senators fared a dismal 3-7 in elections. Governors and former governors with the Republican nomination compiled a 9-4 record with the only losses in 1916, 1936, 1944, and 1948. Republican nominees who served in neither office managed a 10-5 record.
If people are thinking of voting for a Senator (other than Barack Hussein Obama) tomorrow because only he has a chance of defeating Hillary Rodham Clinton, think again. History tells us that Senators compile a dismal record at winning the Presidency and perform even more dismally in the rare cases when they somehow win.
If the Party stays together unlike 1916 and New Deal-era-style socialism somehow doesn't dominate the American psyche, then we probably can win--if we choose a Governor. If Republicans choose a Senator, however, then we statistically probably will lose and almost certainly will not thrive even if we win.
“Ever get the feelin’ you’ve been cheated?”—Johnny Rotten
Just out of curiosity, how have Democrat senators fared?
Emperor Palpatine was also a Senator.
Slight correction. ...only 3 Republicans who served in the Senate ever got elected to the Presidency directly from the senate. Nixon served in the senate.
I wanna job, I wanna job, I wanna a good job.
Truman is the best that I can think of.
JFK, LBJ no so good.
We have no historical marker to stand by here. The society is beyond what could have been imagined. The fact that you are reading this right now is proof.
And Nixon is one of those three Republican Senators who made the Presidency. The others were Benjamin Harrison and Warren Gamaliel Harding.
Senators are still senators. They are the worst of the worst scoundrels. Primping, prancing, panty-waist, posturing phonies, all of them. Couldn’t manage their way out of paper bags. Egomaniacal, largely homosexual, the last thing we need is a senator ascending to the executive.
This is basic US History 101: When electing a Chief Executive, you want someone with Executive branch experience.
That means succesful State Governors. Or maybe a MAJOR City mayor...other than Rudi.
We know. We know. We know.
You would have voted for George McGovern.
I will not argue with any of you’re points. I argue with using historical data as a template.
good post ... how did the democrats fare on that score?
A friend of mine says she won’t vote for former Senators for president she thinks they make bad presidents and have been in Washington way too long......I see her point
I'd vote for Palpatine this year, he would be much better than anything else we are choosing from right now.
McCain is about as tough on Foreign Policy as the next opinion poll.
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