Generally speaking, when a president has left office, that has been the end of his political career. Few men go on to seek lesser elective offices or pursue posts inferior to the presidency. However, some have sought to resume the office of president after having left the job.
Martin Van Buren (1782-1862) had been the attorney general of New York, Governor of New York, a Senator from New York, the Secretary of State, the Vice President under Andrew Jackson, and finally President. His term did not go well and he was voted out of office in 1840. However, he sought the Democratic nomination in 1844, but lost to Polk. In the 1848 election, a party split over the regulation of slavery in the territories led to the Free Soil Party. The Free Soilers nominated Van Buren. His running mate was Charles Francis Adams, son of President John Quincy Adams, and grandson of President John Adams. Though he won 10% of the votes, Van Buren won no electoral votes.
Millard Filmore (1800-1874) had been a congressman and President Zachary Taylor's vice president. When Taylor died in July 1850, Filmore became president. Filmore was ambivalent about running for a term of his own in the 1852 election. He was unpopular with Northern Whigs. A backroom deal to get the nomination to either Daniel Webster or Filmore fell through, and Winfield Scott became the party nominee. By 1856, the Whig Party was split by slavery, many migrating to the new Republican Party. The American Party - better known as the Know Nothing Party - gathered other remnants of the Whigs. The party nominated Filmore. Filmore did better than Van Buren, winning 21.5% of the popular vote and 8 electoral votes.
Ulysses Grant (1822-1885) had left the White House after two terms. However, in the wake of the Hayes Presidency, he sought a return to the presidency. Many felt that this was a breech of Washington's two-term limit, which surely impacted later results. In a convention fight, Grant was the lead candidate, but could not secure enough delegates for the nomination. Eventually, the convention selected James Garfield for the nomination.
Grover Cleveland (1837-1908) had won the presidency in 1884, the first Democrat to do so since James Buchanan in 1856. However, he was voted out in 1888. Cleveland was determined to return to office. In the 1892 campaign, he was his party's clear frontrunner, but only narrowly secured the nomination. He then went on to win the election, becoming the first - and so far only - president to serve non-consecutive terms. Cleveland did not seek re-election in 1896, perhaps because his party had disowned him for his stance on the gold standard. He supported the National Democratic Party in 1896 but refused to be the party nominee; this was a splinter party that supported the gold standard.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) had been a New York Assemblyman, New York City Police Commissioner, Governor of New York, Colonel in the Spanish-American War, and Vice President under William McKinley. He became president on McKinley's assassination and was handily re-elected in 1904. He selected William Howard Taft to succeed him in 1908. Displeased with the Taft Administration, Roosevelt sought to win the Republican nomination. That Taft's margin of victory at the convention came from Southern states that Republicans hadn't won since the 1870s irked Roosevelt. He formed the Bullmoose Party and thus elected Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt won 27% of the popular vote and 88 electoral votes. Taft won 23% of the vote and only 8 electoral votes.
Donald Trump (1946-) is the first man elected to the presidency who had been neither a politician or a soldier. After a tumultuous presidency, he was defeated for re-election in one of the most troubled elections on record. He claimed it was stolen. He is currently the leading nominee for the Republican Party, having won both Iowa and New Hampshire thus far. If successful, he will repeat Grover Cleveland's achievement. Even if not elected, he will be the first ex-president to secure his party's nomination for another run and not win.
Clearly, most modern presidents learned from history that it was almost certainly a losing proposition. Also, the 25th Amendment limited a president to 10 years, which would have nixed both Grant and Roosevelt's efforts.
No comments:
Post a Comment