Top Ten People Who Unsuccessfully Ran for United States President
Ever wonder what would've happened if Goldwater had beat Johnson in 1964? Ever wonder what would've happened if Gore had beat Bush in 2001? Well, here's the ten best people who unsuccessfully ran for president.
Bernard "Bernie" Sanders is an independent American Senator from Vermont and was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Sanders, who labeled himself a Democratic Socialist, was really more like a Social Democrat. He supported positions that many Nordic countries have successfully taken, such as impliminting universal healthcare, making public college free, impliminting some sort of basic income, etc. He lost the Democratic nomination to Hillary Clinton.
He is doing better in 2020 primary, I don't think he should have lost the 2016 primary, Hillary was a awful neoliberal candidate that costed the Democrats a election for 4 years.
He's a bit of an oldie.
Noice guy. It's sad he left. He was better then Donald hump and Hilary
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy, commonly known by his initials RFK, was an American politician from Massachusetts. Bobby Kennedy ran for president on a platform similar to his brother's. He wished to extend civil rights, win the war in Vietnam, oppose the spread of communism, etc. He was probably the most popular candidate at the time, and had the highest chance of victory. Unfortunately, he was assassinated before the race was over with. Nixon ended up being the next president.
This was really unfortunate. Got the same fate as his brother before he could even win.
Shame, I say he was as good as JFK when it came to being a good person, he would've been great.
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. Would have been much better than Obama on every level. Ironically, his winning would probably have meant Hillary Clinton would be in the White House now, since there would not have been such a push-back against Democrats, and Liberals in particular.
What if he did though?
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore Jr. is an American politician and environmentalist who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore ran against Bush in 2001, and actually won the popular vote, but still lost the election. Do I have to even mention his platform? I mean, the guy ran against Bush. He can't be that bad. Anyways, he supported tax relief, paying off the national debt, environmentalism, etc. Pretty much the polar opposite of his opponent.
If he won we could've avoided the Iraq War.
Ronald Ernest Paul is an American author, physician, and retired politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, and for Texas's 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. Ron Paul ran for president many times, sometimes for the Republican nomination, and sometimes for the Libertarian nomination. He constantly ran on the platform that included conservative positions of cutting taxes, deregulating private business, and states rights, while also holding liberal positions such as decriminilizing drug usage, cutting the military budget and leaving the Middle East, legalizing gay marriage, etc.
Goldwater unsuccessfully ran against LBJ in 1964. Goldwater's platform included cutting taxes and federal spending, leaving more power to the states, restricting government power, etc. Unfortunately, the Johnson administration ran a pretty dirty campaign against Goldwater. Goldwater claimed that he was open to using nuclear weapons to help end the Vietnam War. So, the Johnson ran commercials showing nuclear warfare, and changing Goldwater's slogan "In your heart, you know he's right" to "In your gut, you know he's nuts." To be completely fair, Johnson greatly expanded the war, and used chemical warfare, so he was a bit hypocritical. Arguably, by using nuclear weapons and ending the war quickly, more lives could have been saved under Goldwater than under Johnson. Also, Golwater opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, so Johnson pegged him as a racist. Goldwater voted against the bill not because he was racist, but because he believed that the federal government did not have the right to ...more
Rockefeller ran as a Republican, but held some pretty liberal views for the time. This led to the term "Rockefeller Republican" which basically is another name for a moderate or liberal Republican. Rockefeller, along with Goldwater, constantly called out the religous nuts of the Republican party, and feared that the party was going too far to the right. He lost the Republican primary to Goldwater in 1964, so history never got to witness a Rockefeller presidency.
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and military officer who served as a United States Senator from Arizona from January 1987 until his death. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2008 election, which he lost to Barack Obama.
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton (born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States secretary of state from 2009 to 2013, as a United States senator representing New York from 2001 to 2009, and as first lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 as the wife of President Bill Clinton. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the party's nominee for president in the 2016 presidential election, becoming the first woman to win a presidential nomination by a major U.S. political party; Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the Electoral College vote, thereby losing the election to Donald Trump. Brilliant, compassionate, beyond competent. She would have been amazing!
The best president we ever could have had! So brilliant and experienced.
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul is an American politician and physician. Since 2011, Paul has served in the United States Senate as a member of the Republican Party representing Kentucky. Like his father, he supports many libertarian positions, but distinguishes himself by supporting U.S. intervention in the Middle east, and supporting economic sanctions on Iran.
Eugene Dobbs ran as a Socialist, which stirred lots of controversy. To be fair, during the time he was running, workers would work 12 hours a day, have poor working conditions, be payed little, etc. He ran on a platform of, obviously, socialism, but also supported civil rights legislation, equal pay, unemployment benefits, etc.
Dewey, like Rockefeller, helped lead a coalition of moderate Republicans. He supported capitalism and small government, but separated himself from the conservative coalition of Republicans by supporting parts of the New Deal, Social Security, and unemployment insurance. He ran for president twice, but lost both times to FDR and Truman. His upset loss to Truman is seen in the famous photo of Truman, grinning triumphantly, holding up a newspaper containing the caption that Dewey won.
He ran on the populist ticket of bimetalism, and more support for poor farmers. While economists debate whether he was right in supporting bimetalism, many poor farmers of the time worshipped him, similar to the way that FDR was worshipped during the Great Depression.
Marco Antonio Rubio is an American politician and attorney, and the junior United States Senator from Florida.
The boot on his head says it all.
John Forbes Kerry is an American diplomat and Democratic Party politician who is the 68th and current United States Secretary of State.
Gary Earl Johnson is an American businessman, author and politician who served as the 29th Governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party.
John Richard Kasich is an American politician who served as the 69th Governor of Ohio from 2011 to 2019.
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American businessman and politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.
Kamala Devi Harris (born October 20th, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th and current vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president, as well as the first African American and first Asian American vice president in American history.Honestly, he was probably one of the best candidates of 2016. Kind of sad, really.
