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Historically speaking, who SHOULD have been elected President? (but wasn't)
U.S. Election Altas ^ | September 5, 2001 | Billyboy

Posted on 09/05/2001 4:09:01 AM PDT by BillyBoy

Vanity time, Freepers!

The last couple of days have been getting a tad boring on this forum, so I decided to have a little fun. Many of us have been on threads where freepers argue amongst themselves over who were the "BAD" and "GOOD" Presidents that were elected to office-- you hear opinions flying in every direciton: Lincoln haters, FDR haters, Jefferson haters, Nixon haters, LBJ haters, Washington haters. Then you see the opposite occuring: Washingon fans, Madison fans, Coolidge fans, Reagan fans, Lincoln fans.

Let's try a new approach, shall we? ;-)

Freepers, what presidential candidates do you think SHOULD have been elected to the presidency even though they did NOT win the election? Many would cite figures such as Barry Goldwater. My personal favorites would be figures such as Charles Hughes (who later became the anti-New Deal leader of the Supreme Court and was CLEARLY much better on constiutional issues than his opponent Woodrow Wilson), or Wendell Wilikie (at the time, and often today, many conservative Republicans were P.O'ed at him for some of his stances on international issues, but looking at what FDR gave us, it's becoming more and more apperant that his anti-socialist stance on DOMESTIC issues was clearly a much better alternative than what we got). And, of course, one of the my early day favorites would be the great Daniel Webster . I must confess some bias here, as Webster was my great-great-great-great granduncle. Many conservatives today do not like Webster because of his pro-union stance, but I find him to be a great patriot and surely a fiscal conservative.

Those of you who disagree, give me YOUR choices. I'd love varied freeback on this thread, especially when it took me forever to copy, paste, and format 200 years worth of presidential elections.

MY selections on who I WOULD have voted for-- had I been around at that time-- are in bold. Hopefully we can all put ourselves in the context of times and not be biased by events that HAD NOT YET HAPPENED at the time of the election (i.e. saying you wouldn't vote for Nixon in 1968 because you're mad at him over Watergate). My really tough choices-- where I either had to hold my nose and vote for someone or I fretted over two equally good candidates-- are in red. blue.

So, who would you have picked? Have at it, freepers.

[ NOTE: Candidates that were on the ballot but recieved less than 1% of the vote are not listed. This is not to be biased, but because I really wanted to save some space when copying info. to this thread. If you WOULD have voted for a less-than-1%er like Harry Browne (Libertarian) in '96 or Lester Maddox (American Independant) in '76, feel free to WRITE-IN these selections.]


TOPICS: Editorial; Your Opinion/Questions
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1788
George Washington Virginia No Party

1792
George Washington Virginia Federalist

1796 Presidential Election
John Adams Massachusetts Federalist
Thomas Jefferson Virginia Democratic-Republican

1800 Presidential Election
Thomas Jefferson Virginia Dem.-Rep.
Aaron Burr New York Dem.-Rep.

1804 Presidential Election
Thomas Jefferson VA George Clinton NY Democratic-Republican
Charles Pinckney SC Rufus King NY Federalist

1808 Presidential Election
James Madison VA George Clinton NY Dem.-Rep.
Charles Pinckney SC Rufus King NY Federalist

1812 Presidential Election
James Madison VA Elbridge Gerry MA Dem.-Rep.
DeWitt Clinton NY Jared Ingersoll Federalist

1816 Presidential Election
James Monroe VA Daniel Tompkins NY Dem.-Rep.
Rufus King NY John Howard MD Federalist

1820 Presidential Election
James Monroe VA Daniel Tompkins NY Dem.-Rep.
John Q. Adams MA Richard Rush PA Dem.-Rep

1824 Presidential Election
John Q. Adams John Calhoun* Democrat-Republican
Andrew Jackson John Calhoun* Democrat-Republican
William Crawford Nathaniel Macon* Democrat-Republican
Henry Clay Nathon Sanford* Democrat-Republican

1828 Presidential Election Results
Andrew Jackson John Calhoun* Democrat
John Q. Adams Richard Rush National Republican

1832 Presidential Election Results
Andrew Jackson/ Martin Van Buren* Democrat
Henry Clay / John Sergeant Nattional Republican
William Wirt / Amos Ellmaker Anti-Masonic

1836 Presidential Election
Martin Van Buren / Richard Johnson* Democrat
William Harrison / Francis Granger Whig
Hugh White / John Tyler Whig
Daniel Webster / Francis Granger Whig

1840 Presidential Election
William Harrison John Tyler Whig
Martin Van Buren Richard Johnson* Democrat

1844 Presidential Election
James Polk George Dallas Democrat
Henry Clay Theodore Frelinghuysen Whig
James Birney Thomas Morris Liberty

1848 Presidential Election
Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Whig
Lewis Cass William Butler Democrat
Martin Van Buren Charles Adams Free Soil

1852 Presidential Election
Franklin Pierce William King Democrat
Winfield Scott William Graham Whig
John Hale George Julian Free Soil

1856 Presidential Election
James Buchanan John Breckenridge Democrat
John Fremont William Dayton Republican
Millard Fillmore Andrew Donelson American (Know-Nothing)/Whig

1860 Presidential Election
Abraham Lincoln / Hannibal Hamlin Republican
John Breckenridge / Joseph Lane Democrat (Southern)
John Bell / Edward Everett Constituional Union
Stephen Douglas / Herschel Johnson Democrat (Northern)

1864 Presidential Election
Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson [Union]
George McClellan George Pendleton Democrat

1868 Presidential Election
Ulysses Grant Schuyler Colfax Republican
Horatio Seymour Francis Blair Jr. Democrat

1872 Presidential Election
Ulysses Grant Henry Wilson Republican
Horace Greeley B. Gratz Brown Democrat

1876 Presidential Election
Rutherford Hayes William Wheeler Republican
Samuel Tilden Thomas Hendricks Democrat

1880 Presidential Election
James Garfield Chester Arthur Republican
Winfield Hancock William English Democrat
James Weaver Benjamin Chambers Greenback

1884 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland Thomas Hendricks Democrat
James Blaine John Logan Republican
Benjamin Butler Absolom West Greenback
John St.John William Daniel Prohibition

1888 Presidential Election
Benjamin Harrison Levi Morton Republican
Grover Cleveland Allen Thurman Democrat
Clinton Fisk John Brooks Prohibition
Alson Streeter Charles Cunningham Union-Labor

1892 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland Adlai Stevenson Democrat
Benjamin Harrison Whitelaw Reid Republican
James Weaver James Field Populist
John Bidwell James Cranfill Prohibition

1896 Presidential Election
William McKinley Garret Hobart Republican
William Bryan Arthur Sewall* Democrat

1900 Presidential Election
William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt Republican
William Bryan Adlai Stevenson Democrat
John Woolley Henry Metcalf Prohibition

1904 Presidential Election
Theodore Roosevelt Charles Fairbanks Republican
Alton Parker Henry Davis Democrat
Eugene Debs Benjamin Hanford Socialist
Silas Swallow George Carroll Prohibition

1908 Presidential Election
William Taft James Sherman Republican
William Bryan John Kern Democrat
Eugene Debs Benjamin Hanford Socialist
Eugene Chafin Aaron Watkins Prohibition

1912 Presidential Election
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Marshall Democrat
Theodore Roosevelt Hiram Johnson Progressive (Bull-Moose)
William Taft Nicholas Butler Republican
Eugene Debs Emil Seidel Socialist
Eugene Chafin Aaron Watkins Prohibition

1916 Presidential Election
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Marshall Democrat
Charles Hughes Charles Fairbanks Republican
Allan Benson George Kirkpatrick Socialist
James Hanly Ira Landrith Prohibition

1920 Presidential Election
Warren Harding Calvin Coolidge Republican
James Cox Franklin Roosevelt Democrat
Eugene Debs Seymour Stedman Socialist

1924 Presidential Election
Calvin Coolidge Charles Dawes Republican
John Davis Charles Bryan Democrat
Robert LaFollette Burton Wheeler Progressive

1928 Presidential Election
Herbert Hoover Charles Curtis Republican
Alfred Smith Joseph Robinson Democrat

1932 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt John Garner Democrat
Herbert Hoover Charles Curtis Republican
Norman Thomas James Maurer Socialist

1936 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt John Garner Democrat
Alfred Landon Frank Knox Republican
William Lemke Thomas O'Brien Union

1940 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt Henry Wallace Democrat
Wendell Willkie Charles McNary Republican

1944 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Democrat
Thomas Dewey John Bricker Republican

1948 Presidential Election Results
Harry Truman Alben Barkley Democrat
Thomas Dewey Earl Warren Republican
J. Strom Thurmond Fielding Wright State's Rights
Henry Wallace Glen Taylor Progressive

1952 Presidential Election Results
Dwight Eisenhower Richard Nixon Republican
Adlai Stevenson John Sparkman Democrat

1956 Presidential Election Results
Dwight Eisenhower Richard Nixon Republican
Adlai Stevenson Estes Kefauver Democrat

1960 Presidential Election
John Kennedy Lyndon Johnson Democrat
Richard Nixon Henry Lodge Republican

1964 President Election
Lyndon Johnson Hubert Humphrey Democrat
Barry Goldwater William Miller Republican

1968 Presidential Election
Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew Republican
Hubert Humphrey Edmund Muskie Democrat
George Wallace Curtis LeMay American Independant

1972 Presidential Election
Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew Republican
George McGovern R. Sargent Shriver Democrat
John Schmitz Thomas Anderson American Independant

1976 Presidential Election Results
Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Democrat
Gerald Ford Robert Dole Republican

1980 Presidential Election Results
Ronald Reagan George Bush Republican
Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Democrat
John Anderson Patrick Lucey Independant
Ed Clark David Koch Libertarian

1984 Presidential Election Results
Ronald Reagan George Bush Republican
Walter Mondale Geraldine Ferraro Democrat

1988 Presidential Election Results
George Bush J. Danforth Quayle Republican
Michael Dukakis Lloyd Bentsen Democrat

1992 Presidential Election Results
William Clinton Albert Gore Democrat
George Bush J. Danforth Quayle Republican
H. Ross Perot James Stockdale UWSA

1996 Presidential Election Results
William Clinton Albert Gore Democrat
Robert Dole Jack Kemp Republican
H. Ross Perot Pat Choate Reform


1 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by BillyBoy
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To: ALL
Sorry for the lousy formating, but for some reason, my browser has made posting this looooong thread a pain in the butt. It keep reseting everytime I'd add some extra HTML commands.

I've been awake all night, so I'll gonna be napping now. Hope to see some thought-provoking responces when I get back in a few hours (and there better be-- considering how hard it was to post this vanity!)

2 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by BillyBoy
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To: ALL
One more side note: We didn't elect Presidents using the "modern day" method until 1804, and they didn't follow "modern day campaigns" as we know them today, until 1840.

Keep this in mind while you evaluate.

3 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by BillyBoy
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To: BillyBoy
Mostly good choices, but I'll take exception for 1872. It was apparent by then that despite U.S. Grant's personal likability, he had surrounded himself with corruption and scandal. Horace Greeley was both well-qualified and well-prepared to lead. Were it not for the union occupation of the south and widespread disenfranchisement of former Confederates, Grant might have been sent packing.

As it was, Grant's corrupt administration very nearly cost the well-qualified and decent Rutherford B. Hayes the election four years later.

4 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by Vigilanteman
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To: BillyBoy
Thanks for putting up this list. Only two errors that I noted.

George Washington was not a "Federalist" in his second election. He was adamantly opposed to political parties, and said so in his Farewell Address to the American People. Also, he was not the only candidate in his elections. Other people received Electoral Collage votes in his years.

The Democratic-Republican Party existed only during the two terms of Thmas Jefferson, and then fragmented. The next election marked the first appearance of the Democratic Party. The election of 1824 was a non-party one, since the Democrats had no single candidate but instead had four candidates from different regions of the country running for President.

Trust me, I know these things. I wrote a Supreme Court brief for Anderson v. Celebrezze, 1983, cited with approval by the Court in ruling for Anderson that he had a right to be on the ballots as an independent in 1980.

I hope you have, or at least have read, Sven Petersen's A Statistical History of US Presidential Elections, If not, find it and read it. He has a chapter on close elections pointing out, for instance, that Wendell Wilkie would have defeated FDR in the Electoral College with a change of less than 1% of the popular vote. He gives several other examples including Seymour. (I wrote an article on that, published in Long Island Newsday entitled, "Recarving Mount Rushmore.")

Glad to see I am not alone as a "presidential election nut." No offense meant.

The (More er Less) Honorable Billybob,
cyberCongressman from Western Carolina

Click here for Billybob's latest, "An Open Letter to Al (not that one)." The next one is, "The Logic of a Wet Paper Bag."

Click here if you like really good -- or really bad -- videos and DVDs..

5 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
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To: BillyBoy
Thanks for putting up this list. Only two errors that I noted.

George Washington was not a "Federalist" in his second election. He was adamantly opposed to political parties, and said so in his Farewell Address to the American People. Also, he was not the only candidate in his elections. Other people received Electoral Collage votes in his years.

The Democratic-Republican Party existed only during the two terms of Thmas Jefferson, and then fragmented. The next election marked the first appearance of the Democratic Party. The election of 1824 was a non-party one, since the Democrats had no single candidate but instead had four candidates from different regions of the country running for President.

Trust me, I know these things. I wrote a Supreme Court brief for Anderson v. Celebrezze, 1983, cited with approval by the Court in ruling for Anderson that he had a right to be on the ballots as an independent in 1980.

I hope you have, or at least have read, Sven Petersen's A Statistical History of US Presidential Elections, If not, find it and read it. He has a chapter on close elections pointing out, for instance, that Wendell Wilkie would have defeated FDR in the Electoral College with a change of less than 1% of the popular vote. He gives several other examples including Seymour. (I wrote an article on that, published in Long Island Newsday entitled, "Recarving Mount Rushmore.")

Glad to see I am not alone as a "presidential election nut." No offense meant.

The (More er Less) Honorable Billybob,
cyberCongressman from Western Carolina

Click here for Billybob's latest, "An Open Letter to Al (not that one)." The next one is, "The Logic of a Wet Paper Bag."

Click here if you like really good -- or really bad -- videos and DVDs..

6 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by Congressman Billybob
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To: BillyBoy, diotima
I don't think I can go back much farther than 1964 with any certainty. Although, I imagine I would have voted for Jefferson, against Lincoln, for Silent Cal and against FDR. Here it goes:

1964 Goldwater/Miller
1968 Wallace/LeMay (AIP)
1972 Schmitz/Anderson (AIP)
1976 Would've stayed home and banged my face against the wall
1980 Reagan/Bush
1984 Reagan/Bush
1988 Paul/Marrou (Libertarian)
1992 Perot/Stockdale (UWSA)
1996 Browne/Jorgensen (Libertarian)
2000 Buchanan/Foster (Reform)

7 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by ouroboros
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To: ouroboros
bold off?
8 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by ouroboros
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To: ouroboros

9 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by ouroboros
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To: BillyBoy
It's just amazing when you look that far back in history and see Strom Thurmond in 1948, still presiding over the U.S. Senate! He has been around a heck of a long time.
10 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by B Knotts
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To: BillyBoy
Gotta go with Thurmond in '48, and Wallace in '68.
11 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by Rodney King
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To: BillyBoy

There were two key elections in which the course of American and world history could have been changed for the better: 1948 and 1952. Had George Patton not died in Germany in 1945, he might well have retired soon thereafter and entered domestic politics, perhaps to run for the governorship of his home state of California in 1946 and then for president in 1948. With his personal popularity, far greater than that of MacArthur or even Eisenhower, he would have made a far stronger GOP candidate than Thomas Dewey did. Given his conservatism and Virginian lineage, Patton might have wrought a Republican revolution in the South 32 years before Reagan. Most likely, Strom Thurmond would not have run as an independent had Patton been a candidate. He would have also retained what were then the "rock-ribbed" GOP strongholds in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, not yet thoroughly corrupted by liberalism, enabling a clear victory over Truman.

A Patton administration would have purged the State Department of the Council on Foreign Relations, Ivy League types who had appeased Stalin in 1945 and who would have later decided on a "no win" war in Korea. The Soviet Union would have been successfully confronted and impelled to withdraw from what would become the Warsaw Pact, as the U.S. had a nuclear monopoly and conventional superiority. Even if Mao had conquered China, a Patton administration would have supplied the Nationalists with the means to continue the struggle. Moreover, a State Department staffed with conservatives would not have encouraged Britain, France, et. al., to abandon their colonial empires, to be replaced in many cases by Marxists and brutal dictators.

Domestically, the New Deal legislation would have been repealed. The budget would have been balanced, and Federal spending severely curbed. Liberal academia would have been denied the Federal funding they received to pursue their agenda. Possibly someone like Clarence Manion, the Constitutionalist dean of the Notre Dame law school, would have become Chief Justice, rather than Earl Warren. A Manion-led Supreme Court would not have done the damage to states' rights that the Warren Court did. Indeed, such a court would have restored the precedents of the conservative Federal courts, such as the "Nine Old Men" derided by FDR.

None of these actions would have necessarily prevented this nation's cultural and moral decline. We would have probably suffered the effects of Kinsey's sexual studies, Hugh Hefner's "Playboy philosophy," the "Beat Generation," rock and roll, Timothy Leary's evangelism for drug use, and the hippie movement. However, the Federal government would not have been a silent partner in the long march of secular humanism and its handmaiden, liberalism, through this nation's institutions. Our main foreign foe would have been placed at bay and perhaps even overthrown after Stalin's death.

Patton's death in Germany precluded this from happening.

12 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by Wallace T.
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To: Wallace T.
Fixed?
13 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by diotima
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To: diotima
Good job ;)
14 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by ouroboros
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To: ouroboros
smart ass....hehehe.


I'm a fan of The Big O™

15 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by diotima
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To: diotima
fixed?
16 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by diotima
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To: John Robinson
HELP..........
17 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by diotima
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To: diotima
Excellent work...are ya feelin' a bit blue this mornin'??
18 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by ouroboros
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To: diotima
HELP..........

Put a garbage can over it!

19 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by ouroboros (BigO@bluemouse.com)
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To: ouroboros
you are funny.


The Big O™ is my kind of conservative!

20 posted on 12/31/1969 4:00:00 PM PST by diotima
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