Back in 1943, Irving Stone wrote a brilliant work, They Also Ran, which provides a historical analysis into the men who lost their respective presidential elections, yet, in some cases, may have actually been better Presidents than those they were defeated by.
The book ends with 1943, which means we never get to see how Stone would have rated men like Stevenson, Humphrey, or the like, which is why I decided that I'd have a few diaries on the 'Also Rans'. The people who might have made a difference, had they only been elected, and let our fellow users decide which one of these Also Rans they think might have made a difference.
And so, I'm diving this up into six separate diaries. The first three will revolve around the Democrats, the second two will revolve around the Republicans, and the final will revolve around the various third party candidates we've seen win actual electoral votes in presidential contests.
Here comes Part II, which will showcase Democrats from the 20th Century who are classified as 'Also Rans'. From Bryan to Dukakis, they're all here and they're all ready for evaluation.
The second part will be showcasing those Democrats who were unfortunately (or fortunately, in some cases) defeated in their respective elections in the 20th Century.
Without further adieu, here they are:
William Jennings Bryan whom I hope all of you know, was a Democratic nominee in both the 19th and 20th Centuries, and I'll probably include him in the 20th Century 'Also Rans'. Bryan was a populist orator from Nebraska, a former Representative and advocate of the common man and woman and free silver, a stringent campaign issue that sought to create a bimetallic standard of gold and silver rather than the gold standard advocated by Republicans. Bryan ran a brilliant campaign, yet, he was unable to capture the White House on the merits of his own values, as the moneyed agents of the Republicans sought to keep him out at all costs. Bryan was defeated by William McKinley.
Bryan also ran twice on into the 20th Century. In 1900, he faced McKinley in a rematch, in which he was defeated once more. Then, in 1908, Bryan faced down William Howard Taft, and was still unable to take the Presidency. Bryan's later accomplishments include serving as Woodrow Wilson's Secretary of State (resigning in his opposition to U.S. entry into the First World War), and his defense of creationism in the famed Scopes Trial, shortly before his death. Bryan lost to William McKinley twice, and William Howard Taft once.
Alton Brooks Parker was the man unfortunate enough to have to run against, in my opinion, one of the only good Republicans to hold the Presidency, Theodore Roosevelt. Parker, in response to the thoroughly Progressive Roosevelt, was chosen as a Conservative Bourbon Democrat in a strange reversal of the usual campaign cycle, as the Democrats frequently nominated Populists by this point. Whatever the reason, Parker was relatively unknown as it was, having only sat on the New York Court of Appeals and was in no real position to seek the office himself. Thus, Parker was defeated in a landslide, only keeping with him the Solid South. Parker lost to Theodore Roosevelt.
James Cox, Governor of Ohio and Newspaper publisher, was nominated after Woodrow Wilson's largely successful two terms. Cox was a progressive through and through, in stark opposition to the egregiously conservative Republican opponent of his, Warren Harding. Cox made an enthusiastic nominee, yet even with the aid of his Vice Presidential candidate, a young Naval Secretary named Franklin Roosevelt, he was defeated easily by Harding's call for a 'return to normalcy' and his own support for the League of Nations. Cox was defeated by Warren G. Harding.
John Davis was one of the first compromise candidates to be given the nomination in the history of the Democratic Party. Following a deadlocked convention between William McAdoo, Wilson's son-in-law and Secretary of the Treasury, and New York Governor Al Smith, Davis was chosen on the 103rd ballot as the Democratic nominee. Davis served the same purpose as Parker, as the Bourbon wing of the party found solace in his pro-business, anti-populist rhetoric, yet he ran against Calvin Coolidge, another conservative, which in fact, might have cost him votes, not to mention the fact that Coolidge had presided over a general era of 'prosperity' for the upper classes, delivering him a second term and a loss for the Dark Horse Davis. Davis was defeated by Calvin Coolidge.
Al Smith, denied the 1924 nomination, made gains in 1928, taking the nomination as the first Catholic to do so. This, however, proved a hindrance in the General Election to Smith, as his religious beliefs allowed even the Solid South to crack, giving the Republicans a third consecutive win in a row. Smith ran avidly on a conservative platform, and would become more and more conservative as he opposed Roosevelt's New Deal and championed the policies of Hoover in the midst of the Depression. Smith was defeated by Herbert Hoover.
Adlai Stevenson became the Democratic nominee after President Truman's dropping out of the Presidential race in early 1952. After twenty years of successful Democratic rule (minus the debacle in Korea Truman insisted on continuing), the Democrats found themselves in trouble for the first time. Stevenson was an out and out New Deal Liberal, and an intellectual at that, leading to his being called an 'egghead' by the Republicans of his era. Stevenson was able to capture twice the Democratic nomination, yet he was unable to win either time, in part due to his opponent - Republican war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower. Stevenson was defeated by Dwight D. Eisenhower twice.
Hubert Humphrey became the 1968 Democratic nominee in a year full of upsets and surprises. Humphrey initially didn't campaign for the nomination, but party insiders convinced Humphrey to do so with President Lyndon Johnson's withdrawal from the race and their own opposition to Senator Eugene McCarthy and Senator Robert Kennedy. With Kennedy's assassination and the entry of George McGovern's candidacy, depriving McCarthy of needed delegates, Humphrey solidified his nomination, even with riots occurring outside of the Democratic Convention in Chicago. Humphrey had served previously as a Senator from Minnesota, as well as Lyndon Johnson's Vice President, and was a clear advocate of Civil Rights, having convinced the party to include a Civil Rights plank in the 1948 Party Platform, yet he was unable to either endorse or oppose the Vietnam War, something that probably cost him the election. Humphrey was defeated by Richard Nixon.
George McGovern, a decorated World War II pilot and anti-war crusader, took the first grassroots nomination in the history of the Democratic Party, as activists helped propel McGovern's candidacy over that of Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine and Henry Jackson of Washington. McGovern's campaign was almost solely concerned with ending the Vietnam War, something Nixon had not done as promised. However, the campaign was hit with a series of setbacks, such as a botched Vice Presidential candidate (Thomas F. Eagleton of Missouri) being replaced with Sargent Shriver, a Kennedy family relative and head of the PeaceCorps, along with the ability of the Nixonian fear mongers to effectively portray McGovern as the candidate of 'Acid, Amnesty, and Abortion'. In the end, McGovern lost in a landslide, only carrying the state of Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. McGovern was defeated by Richard Nixon.
Walter Mondale, former Vice President and Senator from Minnesota, took the 1984 Democratic nomination with little competition. Mondale ran a thoroughly liberal campaign, focusing on the shortfalls of Reagan's booming debt and severe cuts in regulation and social spending, yet it was not enough to convince the American people to dump the despotic Reagan. Mondale also has the notation of nominating Geraldine Ferraro as his Vice Presidential candidate, what could be seen as a last ditch effort to sway voters against Reagan, something that ultimately didn't work. Mondale was defeated by Ronald Reagan.
Michael Dukakis served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1975 until 1979, and again in 1983 through 1991. Dukakis was the son of Greek immigrants, and became the second Greek-American Governor in U.S. history after Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew of Maryland. Dukakis took the nomination rather easily as Mondale had in 1984, but was stigmatized by his uncharismatic persona and inability to project a sense of humanity towards the voters. Along with the former, he also suffered in the fact he was running against a popular Vice President coming off of the coattails of a popular President, who was able to paint Dukakis as a 'Massachusetts Liberal', which severely hurt his campaign. All in all, though, Dukakis put up a fight that was rather lackluster as a whole, doing only especially well in his first debate with President Bush, while suffering in the second, due to his bout with the flu. Dukakis was defeated by George H.W. Bush.
I've included a poll as well for you to project your views and such, and please don't forget to comment! :)
They Also Ran : The Democrats - Part III of VI will probably be posted tonight, as it only entails our two 21st Century candidates, Al Gore and John Kerry, so keep a look out for it!