From the Senate to the Presidency

Though 17 presidents have served in the Senate, only three successfully moved directly from Senate to the White House.

1. Warren G. Harding (1921-1923) was a senator from Ohio (1915-1921) when he ran for president in 1920.  Interestingly enough, the Democratic nominee was James Cox, the sitting governor of Ohio!  There was going to be an Ohioan in the White House either way.  The Democratic nominee for vice-president was none other than Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

2. John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) was a senator from Massachusetts (1953-1960) when he defeated Richard Nixon in 1960.  He was, and remains, the youngest man to be elected president.  He was the first Catholic.  His vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, was also a senator.  In fact, LBJ went from outranking JFK in the Senate (LBJ was the Majority Leader while JFK was the junior senator from Massachusetts) to being his inferior as VP.  Not unlike what happened for...

3. Barack Obama (2009-2017) was the junior senator from Illinois (2005-2008) and still in his first term when he ran for president.  His VP candidate was the senior senator from Delaware, Joe Biden.  Of course, if the Republican candidate had won, he was also a senator: John McCain of Arizona.  Barack Obama is the only senator to president who didn't die in his first term, making him the most successful of the bunch by default.

What about those other 14 presidents who served in the Senate but ran for the presidency from a different post.  Who are they?

1. James Monroe (1817-1825) had served as a Virginia senator (1790-1794) but went on to many other offices before his terms as president.  After the Senate, he served as Minister to France, Minister to England, Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War before winning the presidency.  Few men had so much training for the office.

2. John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) had been in the Senate (1803-1808), but that is little more than a footnote for him.  Like the three presidents before him, he served as Secretary of State before winning the presidency.  Unlike most former presidents, Adams was elected to the House of Representatives (1831-1848) where he served until his death.  He was played by Anthony Hopkins in Amistad (1997).

3. Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) had been a senator from Tennessee (1823-1825) during his first run at the presidency in 1824.  Jackson had only run for the Senate to aid his planned presidential run in 1824.  Though he was the candidate with the most electoral votes and the plurality of the popular votes, he lost the contingent election in the House of Representatives.

4. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) had been a senator from New York (1821-1828).  From there, he ran for governor of New York, which he won, only to resign 6 weeks later for an opportunity to be President Jackson's Secretary of State.

5. William Henry Harrison (1841) had been a senator from Ohio (1825-1828) before being appointed Minister to Columbia (1829) by President John Quincy Adams.  He had been out of government for more than 10 years when he finally won the presidency.  He had run as one of 4 Whig candidates in 1836.  Though the Whigs lost, Harrison was by far the strongest Whig candidate, which is why he was nominated for the 1840 election despite his age.

6. John Tyler (1841-1845) had been a senator from Virginia (1827-1836).  Oddly, he represented 3 different parties during his Senate career: Democratic Republican, Democratic, and Whig.  His Whig bona fides proved weak when, after ascending to the presidency, he found much of the Whig legislation unconstitutional and vetoed it.  Also, unlike the Whigs, he was in favor of Texas Annexation.  From a party point of view, Tyler was the worst vice-presidential selection ever.

7. Franklin Pierce (1853-1857) had served as a senator from New Hampshire (1837-1842) and was an important figure in New Hampshire's Democratic Party operations.  Like Polk in 1844, Pierce was a dark horse candidate in 1852.  The slogan was "The Whigs we Polked in forty-four, We'll Pierce in fifty-two."

8. James Buchanan (1857-1861) had been a senator from Pennsylvania (1834-1845) before President Polk selected him to be Secretary of State.  Like many Secretaries of State before him, he ran for president.  He lost the nomination in 1848 to Lewis Cass and fell short again in 1852 to Franklin Pierce.  His turn finally came in 1856, which he unfortunately won.

9. Andrew Johnson (1865-1869) served in the Senate both before (1857-1862) and after (1875) his term as president.  Though a Southern slave owner, he was strongly against secession.  As such, Lincoln plucked him from the Senate and made him military governor of Tennessee.  Later, Lincoln called upon him to be his 2nd vice president.  After the House impeached him, the Senate failed to convict by a vote of 35 to 19; a switch of one vote would have met the 2/3 requirement for conviction.  Therefore, it was somewhat awkward when Johnson returned to the Senate in 1875.  He died of a stroke only 5 months after assuming office.

10. Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893) served as a senator from Indiana (1881-1887) but was defeated for re-election on account of gerrymandering.  It must be remembered that senators were selected by the state government, not through popular vote, thus a state with a Democratic legislature was unlikely to choose a Republican.  The 17th Amendment changed senators to a state-wide elective office.  He was the grandson of President William Henry Harrison.

11. Harry Truman (1945-1953) had been a senator from Missouri (1935-1945) until he was chosen to be President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's running mate for the 1944 election.  FDR won an unprecedented 4th term and then promptly died.  The gap between being a senator and becoming president was the three months he spent as vice president.

12. Lyndon Banes Johnson (1963-1969) was elected to the Senate from Texas (1949-1961) and very soon became the chief arm-twister (Whip) and then Majority Leader (1955-1861).  LBJ was a powerhouse in the Senate.  He had competed with Senator Kennedy for the 1960 nomination but fell short.  For the general election, Kennedy needed more Southern support, which Johnson had.

13. Richard Nixon (1969-1974) served as a senator from California (1950-1953) before becoming Eisenhower's vice-president (1953-1961).  Interestingly, this made him President of the Senate, where his 1960 electoral rivals - Senator Kennedy & Senator Johnson - served.  Nixon had long been out of public office when he secured another nomination for the presidency (1968). 

14. Joseph Biden (2021-present) was a senator from Delaware (1973-2009).  He had made two presidential runs as a senator.  In 1988, he was accused of plagiarizing speeches.  He also had a habit of exaggerating his resume.  He made another run in 2008, but quickly dropped out as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton dominated the primaries.  He had been 12 years out of the Senate and 4 years out of office when he ran a successful presidential campaign in 2020.  Third time was the charm.

Though a stint in the Senate appears to be a positive for presidential contenders, sitting senators only rarely rise to the presidency: Harding in 1920, JFK in 1960, and Obama in 2008.  It takes a lot of charisma - which each of these Senators had - to overcome a lack of executive experience.