Dead Presidents

With millions of Americans fighting overseas during World War II, most newspapers across the United States printed daily lists of American soldiers who had died in battle.  After 12 years as President through the Great Depression and World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt died at his post on April 12, 1945 in Warm Springs, Georgia.  In one of the most fitting tributes to a Commander-in-Chief, the following day’s list of war casualties in many American newspapers included FDR’s name next to his soldiers.

On this Memorial Day, as we honor those who have given their life for their country, let’s also remember our Presidents.  While they may not have all worn the uniform or been killed in battle, eight of our nation’s Commanders-in-Chief — William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy — died in office in the service of their country.

When Gerald Ford was born on July 14, 1913 in Omaha, Nebraska, he was originally named Leslie Lynch King, Jr., after his biological father.  Leslie Sr. was a brutal, physically and emotionally abusive man who had problems with alcohol.  The first time that he beat his wife Dorothy — the future President’s mother — was on their honeymoon in 1912.  Less than a week after Dorothy gave birth to the man who would become the 38th President, a drunken Leslie Sr. grabbed a butcher knife and threatened to kill both Dorothy and Leslie Jr.  The future President was just 16 days old when Dorothy took him out of the dangerous household, fled to Michigan and initiated divorce proceedings.  In 1916, Dorothy married Gerald Ford Sr. and Leslie Jr. was renamed after his adoptive stepfather, a good man who President Ford revered throughout his life.

Jerry Ford met his biological father briefly on only two other occasions.  By that time, Leslie Lynch King Sr. was successful and wealthy, yet he had never made an effort to make amends and get to know the future President.  King had remarried and had three children, but he ignored his firstborn son and never provided any type of child support, even as Dorothy struggled to raise Jerry.  King’s father (Jerry Ford’s grandfather) helped Dorothy out with child support, but Leslie Sr. showed no interest in his eldest son’s life.  It was an experience that forever influenced Jerry Ford’s beliefs.

In January 1949, Gerald Ford took his seat and proudly began representing Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives.  A few months later, Congressman Ford introduced legislation targeting deadbeat dads in order to close up any loopholes which might help absentee parents from having to pay child support, particularly by moving to different states or jurisdictions.  For close to a quarter-century, Ford represented Michigan in Congress and — at the beginning of each of his 13 terms in the House — he introduced similar legislation targeting deadbeat dads or absentee parents trying to avoid child support payments.  This legislation from Ford became known as the “Runaway Pappy bill”.

The scandals of the Nixon/Agnew Administration led to Ford being named Vice President in 1973 to replace the disgraced Agnew, and then succeeding to the Presidency in August 1974 upon Nixon’s resignation.  Now that he was working out of the Executive branch, Ford could no longer introduce his Runaway Pappy legislation, but that didn’t slow down his lifelong war with deadbeat dads.  In 1975, President Ford created the Office of Child Support Enforcement which gave the federal government some jurisdiction in delinquent child support cases which had previously been up to the individual states to handle on their own.  While Ford never admitted any personal reasoning behind the Runaway Pappy legislation, longtime doorkeeper of the House of Representatives, William “Fishbait” Miller wrote that he and Ford had both been deserted by their fathers and that Ford’s legislative targeting of deadbeat dads was definitely personal.

Michigan’s John Dingell has spent more time in the U.S. House of Representatives than anyone in history and, if he remains in office until next June, will break the record for longest-serving member of Congress ever (he’s currently in third place behind Robert Byrd and Carl Hayden).

The Democratic Congressman, who will celebrate his 86th birthday in July, is the current Dean of the House.  Dingell’s father, John Dingell, Sr., served in the House from 1933 until his death in September 1955.  The 29-year-old John Jr. succeeded his father in December 1955 and is currently seeking his 30th term in the House.  Let me repeat that: if (or, most likely, when) Dingell is re-elected in November, it will be his THIRTIETH term in Congress!  Between John Dingell, Jr., and his father, the Dingell family has represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives for almost 80 years.

Due to Dingell’s longevity in Washington, it is likely that no living American has met as many Presidents as the Michigan Congressman.  During his nearly 57 years in the House of Representatives, Dingell has met and worked with 11 Presidents in an official capacity: Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama.  In addition to the Presidents that he has worked, Dingell also had the opportunity to meet several Presidents during his father’s two decades in the House: Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Harry Truman.

While there are probably a handful of people in history who met more Presidents than Dingell — John Quincy Adams, for example, is believed to have met every President from George Washington to Andrew Johnson (17 in all) — I would venture to bet that no American alive in 2012 has met 14 Presidents like the Dean of the House of Representatives, John Dingell of Michigan.

Mother’s Day is coming up this weekend and our parents often inspire us to be the best we can be.  Parents believe we can achieve anything we set our minds to — even becoming President of the United States if that is our ultimate goal.  For a select group of Presidents, they were fortunate enough to to have their parents witness them reach the highest office in the nation:

Fourteen Presidential mothers were still alive when their sons took the oath of office:
•George Washington (inaugurated April 30, 1789; his mother died August 25, 1789)
•John Adams (inaugurated March 4, 1797; his mother died April 17, 1797)
•James Madison (inaugurated March 4, 1809; his mother died February 11, 1829)
•James K. Polk (inaugurated March 4, 1845; his mother died January 11, 1852)
•Ulysses S. Grant (inaugurated March 4, 1869; his mother died May 11, 1883)
•James Garfield (inaugurated March 4, 1881; his mother died January 21, 1888)
•William McKinley (inaugurated March 4, 1897; his mother died December 12, 1897)
•Franklin D. Roosevelt (inaugurated March 4, 1933; his mother died September 7, 1941)
•Harry Truman (inaugurated April 12, 1945; his mother died July 26, 1947)
•John F. Kennedy (inaugurated January 20, 1961; his mother died January 22, 1995)
•Jimmy Carter (inaugurated January 20, 1977; his mother died October 30, 1983)
•George H.W. Bush (inaugurated January 20, 1989; his mother died November 19, 1992)
•Bill Clinton (inaugurated January 20, 1993; his mother died January 6, 1994)
•George W. Bush (inaugurated January 20, 2001; his mother is still living)

The mothers of James Madison, James K. Polk, Ulysses S. Grant, James Garfield, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush all lived through the entire Presidencies of their sons. 

The three shortest-lived Presidents — James K. Polk (died at age 53), James Garfield (died at age 49), and John F. Kennedy (died at 46) — were the only Presidents survived by their mothers.  Only two Presidents — Warren G. Harding and Kennedy — were survived by their fathers, and JFK is the only President who was outlived by both of his parents.

As for fathers, seven of the Presidents’ dads lived to see their songs inaugurated:
•John Quincy Adams (inaugurated March 4, 1825; his father died July 4, 1826)
•Millard Fillmore (assumed office upon Taylor’s death on July 9, 1850; his father died May 28, 1863)
•Ulysses S. Grant (inaugurated March 4, 1869; his father died June 29, 1873)
•Warren G. Harding (inaugurated March 4, 1921; his father died November 19, 1928)
•Calvin Coolidge (assumed office and actually sworn in by his father upon Harding’s death August 2, 1923; his father died March 18, 1926)
•John F. Kennedy (inaugurated January 20, 1961; his father died November 18, 1969)
•George W. Bush (inaugurated January 20, 2001; his father is still living)

Ulysses S. Grant, John F. Kennedy, and George W. Bush are the only Presidents who had both their mother and father still living at the time of their inauguration.  Neither of Grant’s parents attended his inauguration, however.  Grant’s father eventually visited his son on several occasions before he died a few months into President Grant’s second term.  Grant’s mother lived through both of his terms but she never visited her son in the White House.  JFK was the first President to have both of his parents present at his inauguration and paid a subtle tribute to his dad during the inaugural parade.  As his motorcade slowly passed the reviewing stand where his family was sitting, JFK stood in up in his open car, tipped his hat and bowed towards his father, who had been working for decades to pave the way for one of his sons to become the first Irish-American/Roman Catholic President. 

In 2001, George W. Bush joined John Quincy Adams as the only son of a President to become President himself.  When JQA was inaugurated in 1825, his 89-year-old father was too frail to make the treacherous trip from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. for the ceremonies and his mother, Abigail, had passed away in 1818.  Bush’s father, however, had left office just eight years earlier and kept himself sharp by skydiving several times.  The 41st President and former First Lady, Barbara Bush, watched their son become the 43rd President, and four years later, they watched as he did what they father couldn’t — take the oath of office for a second term.

If you want to be President, it is helpful if you are the oldest son in your family.  Of the 43 men who have been President of the United States, 22 of them were the oldest sons: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, James K. Polk, Millard Fillmore, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.  Only two Presidents — William Henry Harrison and James Garfield — were the youngest children in their families (three if you count Confederate President Jefferson Davis).

No President has been an only child, although Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama had no full siblings.  Those four Presidents  were the only children from the marriage of their parents, but they each had half-siblings from the other marriages of their parents.

Stephen Foster was perhaps the most-celebrated American songwriter of the 19th Century.  Foster composed familiar favorites like “My Old Kentucky Home”, “Beautiful Dreamer”, “Camptown Races”, “Swanee River”, “Oh! Susanna”, and countless others.  In 1856, the composer penned the Presidential campaign song for his fellow Pennsylvanian, James Buchanan.  Besides both hailing from the Keystone State, Buchanan’s brother, Edward, was married to Foster’s sister, Ann Eliza.

Fittingly, Foster was also born on a day steeped in Presidential (and American) History.  Not only was the composer’s birthday the Fourth of July, but he happened to be born on July 4, 1826 — the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the exact same day that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died just a few hours apart in one of history’s most remarkable coincidences.

The capitals of four states are named after Presidents: Mississippi (Andrew Jackson), Missouri (Thomas Jefferson), Nebraska (Abraham Lincoln), and Wisconsin (James Madison). 

While the capitals of Mississippi, Missouri, and Wisconsin were meant to be tributes, Nebraska was a different story.  Lincoln, Nebraska was originally named Lancaster, and the capital of the Nebraska Territory was originally the much-larger city of Omaha.  However, the majority of the territory’s population lived south of the Platte River and when that part of the territory considered joining up with Kansas, there was a move to make Lancaster the capital as Nebraska moved toward statehood after the Civil War.  Business interests in Omaha wanted their city to remain the capital, but didn’t want to lose the territory south of the Platte to Kansas. 

Since there was a large population of Confederate sympathizers in Nebraska, Omaha went along with making Lancaster the capital, but suggested changing the city’s name to “Lincoln”.  The plan hatched in Omaha was that the many Nebraskans with Southern ties would never agree to making a town named after Abraham Lincoln their new state capital.  Lincoln’s assassination, however, made him a popular and sympathetic figure throughout the country, so Lancaster became Lincoln, and Nebraskans had no problem with making the city the state capital when it joined the Union in 1867.

Besides the four state capitals, there are also two national capital cities named after American Presidents.  Of course, one of them is our own nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.  The other is the capital of Liberia, where many former slaves resettled under the auspices of the American Colonization Society.  In honor of one of the biggest supporters of the colonization of Liberia by former American slaves, the country’s capital was named Monrovia in 1822 for President James Monroe.

In 1978, the Roman Catholic Church experienced the most recent occurrence of a rather rare phenomenon in its history:  the Year of Three Popes.  On August 6th, Pope Paul VI died following a 15-year reign.  Less than three weeks later, Pope John Paul I was elected to succeed him, but the new Pope suddenly died on September 28th, just thirty-three days into his Papacy.  Pope John Paul II became 1978’s third Pope on October 16th and brought some stability to the Vatican, reigning longer than all but one other pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Church.  While 1978’s Year of Three Popes was the 12th time the Catholic Church had three pontiffs reigning in one calendar year, it was the first time since 1605.

During that period, however, the United States experienced a similar event — the Year of Three Presidents.  Twice.

After losing his bid for reelection, President Martin Van Buren began 1841 as a lame duck and handed the reins of the government over to William Henry Harrison on March 4, 1841.  Exactly one month later, the 68-year-old Harrison became the first U.S. President to die in office.  John Tyler assumed the office on April 4, 1841 and served until 1845.

When President Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the disputed election of 1876 by a special commission, he pledged to serve just one term.  Staying true to his promise, Hayes was replaced by fellow Ohio Republican James Garfield on March 4, 1881.  But on July 2, 1881, Garfield was shot by a disgruntled office seeker in a Washington train depot.  The 49-year-old President lingered for 79 excruciating days before dying in a home he had been moved to on the Jersey Shore.  The third President of 1881 was Chester Alan Arthur, who completed Garfield’s term and left the White House in 1885.

Yet, an even rarer occurrence that likely (and hopefully) won’t be matched by future leaders took place in 1276, as the Catholic Church saw a Year of Four Popes:  Gregory X, Innocent V, Adrian V, and John XXI.

Happy 190th Birthday to Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States and the victorious commanding General of the Union Army during the Civil War.  Grant was born Hiram Ulysses Grant on April 27, 1822 in Point Pleasant, Ohio.  When Grant was appointed to West Point, he found out that the Ohio Congressman who had helped him get into the United States Military Academy gave the name “Ulysses Simpson Grant” (Simpson was Grant’s mother’s maiden name) instead of “Hiram Ulysses Grant”.  Since Grant thought the initials “U.S.G.” would look a lot better than “H.U.G.” on his equipment, he kept the name, although most of his close friends called him “Sam”.

Had PETA been around in the 19th Century, General Grant might have been their poster boy.  Grant loved animals, especially horses.  His father owned a tannery, and that may have been the reason that Grant hated the sight of animal blood (rare steak literally made him sick to his stomach), despised hunting, and wouldn’t eat chicken or turkey or “anything that went on two legs”. 

In 1864, Grant’s love for animals was clearly displayed to his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Colonel Horace Porter, who also served as personal secretary to President Grant in the White House.  Grant and a few of his staff officers were riding between camps in Virginia when they saw a man beating his horse in the face and head.  General Grant immediately jumped off of his own horse, grabbed the man, and started choking him.  Before leaving, Grant ordered that the man be tied to a fence, where he remained for the next six hours.  Porter said it was the only time he personally recalled Grant losing his temper during the Civil War.

I’m not sharing any great revelation by noting that William Howard Taft was our heaviest President.  At 6’2”, Taft would have been a large man no matter what his weight was, but the 27th President struggled with the scales throughout his life.  When he graduated from Yale in 1878, Taft was 243 lbs., and that figure only went up during his political career.  It was during his Presidency — one of the unhappiest times of his life — that Taft was at his heaviest.  During his four years in the White House, the President’s weight fluctuated from between 330 lbs. to 360 lbs.  Oddly enough for a man his size, Taft was quite athletic.  A former baseball player himself, Taft was the first President to throw out the first pitch of the Major League Baseball season, golfed as much as he could, and was said to be a surprisingly good dancer.

Taft also enjoyed riding horses, and riding for exercise helped him regain his health after a bout with dengue fever in the Philippines.  When the Spanish-American War ended, President McKinley sent Taft to the islands that the United States occupied after defeating Spain.  Serving first as Commissioner in charge of forming a territorial government, Taft was named Governor-General of the Philippines by the assassinated McKinley’s replacement, Theodore Roosevelt.  Roosevelt found Taft to be amiable and hard-working; so committed to his work, in fact, that Taft declined the job he wanted more than any other position — a seat on the Supreme Court — in order to finish his job in the Philippines.

William Howard Taft was also good-natured about his weight, although he didn’t appreciate the unflattering photographs of him playing golf.  Taft wasn’t well-equipped when it came to dealing with political attacks, but he had thick skin about his thick belly.  While recovering from his illness in the Philippines, Taft sent a cable to the U.S. Secretary of War, Elihu Root, sharing that he “Took horseback ride today,” and was “feeling fine.”  The quick-witted Root couldn’t resist immediately sending a cable back to Taft in Manila asking, “How is the horse?”.

We don’t know if Taft responded to Root, but perhaps he worried about the horse, as well, since a photograph (that I’m not 100% certain is authentic) eventually surfaced of Taft in the Philippines on a sturdier form of transportation:  a water buffalo.

Taft’s tour of duty in the Philippines ended in 1904, and he succeeded Root at the War Department.  When Theodore Roosevelt declined to seek another term in 1908, Taft was his hand-picked successor, but TR’s disappointment in Taft’s policies led to an ugly 1912 election that decimated the friendship the two men shared and ensured Woodrow Wilson’s victory.  Fortunately for Taft, he eventually landed his dream job when President Warren G. Harding appointed him Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.  Taft was never happier than his nearly 9 years as Chief Justice and his happiness resulted in good health.  As Chief Justice Taft was able to fit into the clothes he wore in college nearly 40 years earlier, and almost certainly never had to ride a water buffalo again.

The names “Truman” and “Eisenhower” would became two of the most important and admired of the 20th Century.  Harry Truman succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt when FDR died in 1945 and helped guide the nation through the last days of World War II.  Dwight Eisenhower was the commanding general of that war, and went on to serve as President from 1953-1961 after Truman declined to run for another term in 1952.  Truman and Eisenhower had a close relationship at first, became antagonistic towards each other for several years, and reconciled in 1963 when they shared a vehicle during President Kennedy’s funeral.  No matter what their personal relationship, though, Truman and Eisenhower made their mark on the world and by the end of the 20th Century, they were both revered as American heroes.

If you had mentioned that to a couple of young businessmen sharing a room in a Kansas City, Missouri boardinghouse at the beginning of the 20th Century, they probably would have thought you were insane.  After all, roommates Vivian Truman (Harry’s younger brother) and Arthur Eisenhower (Dwight’s older brother) were far more successful at the time than their brothers who would later change the world.

When George H.W. Bush emerged from Ronald Reagan’s shadow in 1988 to seek the Presidency in his own right after nearly eight years as Reagan’s Vice President, many of his opponents and political pundits saw him as an out-of-touch, humorless, patrician, WASP who, in the famous words of Texas Governor Ann Richards, “was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”  Probably the most frustrating incident of the 1988 campaign was when Newsweek ran a cover story called “Fighting the Wimp Factor” which questioned whether Bush was tough enough to be President.

All of these labels were patently unfair when directed towards Bush, who would eventually defeat Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis in November 1988 and become the 41st President.  After all, Bush enlisted in the U.S. Navy on the very day that he turned 18 years old during World War II, was the youngest pilot in the entire Navy upon earning his wings, and flew 58 combat missions in the treacherous Pacific.  Out of the fourteen pilots in Bush’s squadron, he was one of just four to come home at the end of war, and that was despite surviving three plane crashes during his service, one of which he saw him barely evading capture after being shot down by the Japanese.  Bush’s toughness should have never been questioned.

Yes, George H.W. Bush was a patrician and a WASP who was born in Massachusetts, the son of a U.S. Senator, and a student of prestigious schools such as Greenwich Country Day, Phillips Academy, and Yale University.  Still, there was an earthy, fun-loving, mischievous side to the 41st President — one that didn’t vanish when he became the most powerful man in the world.  We know that Bush went skydiving several times as a former President (another measure of his toughness) — he last jumped out of an airplane at the age of 85 in 2009 — but he also might be the only President in history to break out the bunny ears during a gathering of former Presidents and former First Ladies:

In Bob Greene’s Fraternity: A Journey In Search of Five Presidents (BOOK•KINDLE), Greene seeks out five former Presidents (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush 41) and gets a chance to spend time with all except the ailing Reagan.  In Greene’s wonderful book, the most surprising revelation is that Bush — the wealthy son of a Senator who had a famous family name when entered politics and didn’t have to overcome the poverty and obstacles that Nixon, Ford, and Carter faced — was the most down-to-Earth, easy-going of the four Presidents interviewed.  The two photos above give us a glimpse of that personality.

The bunny ears photo is obviously a clear example of Bush 41 not taking himself too seriously, the skydiving shows an adventurous spirit, but the photo at the beginning of the post is simply evidence that Presidents can have fun — even while they are in office and having every move watched by the public.

On August 19, 1989, George Herbert Walker Bush had been President for almost exactly eight months, and, along with his family, had traveled to his beloved home on Walker’s Point in Kennebunkport, Maine for a two-week-long vacation.  In order to promote boating safety, Coast Guard members videotaped an inspection of President Bush’s 28-foot speedboat, Fidelity, and Bush recorded a short public service announcement about the importance of carrying life jackets while boating.  Once the Coast Guard’s cameras turned off, the 65-year-old President received an old-fashioned family challenge.

Among those out on the water with Bush was his oldest child, 43-year-old George W. Bush, and his twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara.  The future President — still several years from entering the political arena on his own — dared his father to take a dive into the chilly Atlantic Ocean.  Egged on by his son, his granddaughters, and others who were out on the water with them, Bush 41 had no intention backing down.  Stripping down to his trousers, Bush prepared to take the bet.  Although he had just taped the message about life jackets, the President said he didn’t need one when a Coast Guard member suggested Bush wear one if he were going to the take the dive.  After all, Bush was once rescued by a submarine after treading water in the Pacific Ocean for over three hours during World War II, and he was quite confident in his swimming skills.

Before taking the dare, Bush decided to make some money off of it.  George W. didn’t think that the President would make the plunge, especially with other boats full of reporters swarming around Fidelity.  Bush 41 put Jenna and Barbara in charge of collecting bets, and joked to reporters, “You can’t report it unless you put something in the pot.”  After his granddaughters made their rounds and collected the bets, the President of the United States, bare-chested and barefoot, but wearing black trousers, followed through on George W.’s dare.  Diving into the 60-degree Atlantic Ocean waters off the coast of Maine, the President swam for about two minutes before climbing back into Fidelity.

Like the bunny ears photo, it was one of those wonderful, unguarded, fun moments where a President allowed himself to be humanized.  It’s rare that we see that side of our Presidents because now — only a bit more than 20 years later — everything is so choreographed and lacking in spontaneity that we often miss the human side of our Presidents and political leaders.

By the way, for winning the bet and taking the dare of the man who would later become the 43rd President, Bush 41’s twin granddaughters handed the President a grand total of $11.

Since the Presidents of the United States reach the pinnacle of political power, we sometimes forget that the path to the summit is difficult and often full of disappointing political defeats.  Here are some of the elections that our Presidents have lost during their political careers:

•George Washington:  No election losses
•John Adams:  Lost the 1800 Presidential election
•Thomas Jefferson:  Runner-up in the 1796 Presidential election
•James Madison:  Lost a 1777 campaign for reelection to the Virginia House of Delegates
•James Monroe:  Lost a 1789 election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia
•John Quincy Adams:  Lost 1802 election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts; Defeated for reelection to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts in 1808; Lost 1828 campaign for reelection as President; Lost 1834 campaign for Governor of Massachusetts
•Andrew Jackson:  Lost the 1824 Presidential election
•Martin Van Buren:  Lost 1840 campaign for reelection as President; Lost the 1844 campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination; Lost the 1848 Presidential election
•William Henry Harrison:  Lost the 1820 election for Governor of Ohio; Lost an 1822 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio; Lost the 1836 Presidential election
•John Tyler:  Lost 1836 election for Vice President of the United States
•James K. Polk:  Lost 1841 campaign for reelection as Governor of Tennessee; Lost 1843 election for Governor of Tennessee
•Zachary Taylor:  No election losses
•Millard Fillmore:  Lost 1844 Whig nomination for Vice President; Lost 1844 election for Governor of New York; Lost 1852 campaign for the Whig Presidential nomination; Lost the 1856 Presidential election
•Franklin Pierce:  Lost 1856 campaign for renomination as Democratic Presidential candidate
•James Buchanan:  Lost 1816 election for the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania; Lost campaign for the 1844 Democratic Presidential nomination; Lost campaign for the 1848 Democratic Presidential nomination; Lost campaign for the 1852 Democratic Presidential nomination
•Abraham Lincoln:  Lost 1832 election for Illinois House of Representatives; Lost 1843 election for the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois; Lost 1855 election to the U.S. Senate from Illinois; Lost campaign for the 1856 Republican Vice Presidential nomination; Lost 1858 election to the U.S. Senate from Illinois
•Andrew Johnson:  Lost 1837 campaign for reelection to the Tennessee House of Representatives; Lost 1868 campaign for renomination as Democratic Presidential candidate; Lost 1871 election for U.S. Senate from Tennessee; Lost 1872 election for U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee
•Ulysses S. Grant:  Lost 1880 campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination
•Rutherford B. Hayes:  Lost 1861 campaign for reelection as City Solicitor of Cincinnati, Ohio; Lost 1872 election for the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio
•James Garfield:  No election losses
•Chester Arthur:  Lost campaign for 1884 Republican Presidential nomination
•Grover Cleveland:  Lost 1865 election for District Attorney of Erie County, New York; Lost 1888 campaign for reelection as President
•Benjamin Harrison:  Lost 1872 campaign for the Republican nomination as Governor of Indiana; Lost 1876 election for Governor of Indiana; Lost 1887 campaign for reelection to the U.S. Senate from Indiana; Lost 1892 campaign for reelection as President
•William McKinley:  Lost 1871 campaign for reelection as Stark County, Ohio prosecutor; Lost 1882 campaign for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio; Lost 1890 campaign for reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio; Lost 1892 campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination
•Theodore Roosevelt:  Lost 1886 election for Mayor of New York City, New York; Lost 1912 campaign for Republican Presidential nomination; Lost 1912 Presidential election as third party candidate
•William Howard Taft:  Lost 1912 campaign for reelection as President
•Woodrow Wilson:  No election losses
•Warren G. Harding:  Lost 1892 election for Marion County, Ohio auditor; Lost 1903 campaign for Republican nomination as Governor of Ohio; Lost 1906 campaign for Republican nomination as Governor of Ohio; Lost 1910 election for Governor of Ohio
•Calvin Coolidge:  Lost 1905 election for the the School Board of Northampton, Massachusetts
•Herbert Hoover:  Lost 1932 campaign for reelection as President
•Franklin D. Roosevelt:  Lost 1914 campaign for Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate from New York; Lost 1920 election for Vice President of the United States
•Harry Truman:  Lost 1924 reelection campaign for Judge of Jackson County, Missouri
•Dwight D. Eisenhower:  No election losses
•John F. Kennedy:  Lost 1956 campaign for the Democratic Vice Presidential nomination
•Lyndon B. Johnson:  Lost 1941 election for U.S. Senate from Texas; Lost 1960 campaign for Democratic Presidential nomination
•Richard Nixon:  Lost the 1960 Presidential election; Lost the 1962 election for Governor of California
•Gerald Ford:  Lost the 1976 Presidential election
•Jimmy Carter:  Lost the 1966 campaign for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Georgia; Lost the 1980 Presidential election
•Ronald Reagan:  Lost 1968 campaign for Republican Presidential nomination; Lost 1976 campaign for Republican Presidential nomination
•George H.W. Bush:  Lost 1964 election to the U.S. Senate from Texas; Lost 1970 election to the U.S. Senate from Texas; Lost 1980 campaign for the Republican Presidential nomination; Lost 1992 Presidential election
•Bill Clinton:  Lost 1974 election for the U.S. House of Representatives from Arkansas; Lost 1980 reelection campaign a Governor of Arkansas
•George W. Bush:  Lost 1978 election for the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas
•Barack Obama:  Lost 2000 primary campaign for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois