Comments on: Wesley Clark Signals 2008 Presidential Bid

By: Eric Gray

Eric Gray — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 23:31:15 +0000

Yes Wes Clark is better than Dwight Eisenhower. The man is solid! He in many ways is the best choice for President in both parties!

By: ‘08 Candiates leave a lot to be desired - on both sides « The HILL Chronicles

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 23:29:49 +0000

[...] Wes Clark by all appearances wants to jump in again–prompting James Joyner to observe: Interestingly, the Democratic field looks to be shaping up as Hillary Clinton versus a bunch of folks who have run before an failed: Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden, and now Clark. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Indeed, several recent presidents have gotten elected after having previously failed in primary (Bush the Elder and Reagan) or general election (Nixon) bids. Indeed, it will be even more difficult than usual for someone without name recognition to break through against that field.This may be bad news for the Democrats, though, as none of these candidates are governors and only Gore is a former vice president. It has been a long time, indeed, since someone who was not from one of those groups got elected president. And Wes Clark is no Dwight Eisenhower. [...]

By: Tano

Tano — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:52:11 +0000

Gee, if the future is always like the past, then the odds are against a non-gov.

Unless (as we say in baseball) the non-governors are due.

By: Maniakes

Maniakes — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:43:57 +0000

You can go all the way back to Grover Cleveland's second term with only two more exceptions (Hoover and Harding).

28: Hoover - Sitting Cabinet Secretary
24: Coolidge - Sitting President, Former VP, Former MA gov
20: Harding - Sitting sen., former Ohio Lt Gov
16: Wilson - Sitting pres, former NJ gov
12: Wilson - Former NJ gov
08: Taft - Former Gov of Phillipines
04: TR - Sitting pres, former VP
00: McKinley - Sitting pres, former Ohio gov
96: McKinley - Sitting Ohio gov
92: Cleveland - Former pres, NY gov
88: Harrison - Sitting sen
88: Cleveland - Sitting NY gov

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 21:10:48 +0000

Jeff,

Yep, that's right. That's 46 years and 12 elections ago!

04: Bush 43 - Sitting pres, TX Gov
00: Bush 43 - TX Gov
95: Clinton - Sitting pres, AR Gov
92: Clinton - AR Gov
88: Bush 41 - Sitting VP
84: Reagan - Sitting pres, CA Gov
80: Reagan - CA Gov
76: Carter - GA Gov
72: Nixon - Sitting pres, fmr VP
68: Nixon - fmr VP, failed '60 nominee, failed CA Gov run
64: Johnson - sitting pres, fmr VP
60: Kennedy - sitting Sen.
56: Eisenhower - sitting pres
52: Eisenhower - retired 5-star general, war hero
48: Truman - sitting pres, fmr VP
44: FDR - sitting pres, NY gov
40: FDR - sitting pres, NY gov
36: FDR - sitting pres, NY gov
32: FDR - NY gov

Basically, two exceptions in over 70 years!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 20:49:34 +0000

I just thought about that one point, from what I can recall, JFK was the last President to not have been VP or Governor before taking office.