Losing Presidential Candidates

Completing the top entry of this quiz has given me a certain sense of closure on the 2012 election. Good luck to us all in the next four years.

Four years later and back for another round. We survived the last 4 years, so I suppose we'll make it out alive this time around too. See you in 4 more years!

4 Years Later and... wait lemme get my time machine.

How did only 98% of people get romney?

He's just that forgettable. I got most back to 1960, and the first few, plus most that ran unsuccessfully for a 2nd term or had an unsuccessful 1st bid before they won. I also got Al Smith just on a complete guess, whoever that is, when I was typing in random common names.

Al Smith was the first Catholic nominated by one of the major parties. Obviously not the first winner (Kennedy).

Learned more about Smith a couple days ago watching a documentary on the Gilded Age.

Do you remember the name of the losing candidate of last year's elections in Japan? In China? Germany?

Japan has upwards of 127 million residents. I suspect they do a bit of caring about who leads their country.

@Aesthus im pretty sure hes just messing around by the way he typed "USA USA USA" but again it is all about the USA USA USA

There aren't many elections in China.

Clinton? Most successful first lady ever? She's the one who was cheated on while in office. Kind of an interesting choice there, bud.

Henry Clay, most accomplished loser in presidential history. I remember learning about him in 10th grade history.

You mean loser who didn't end up winning eventually I expect...Henry Clay is an accomplished political figure, but he doesn't rank above John Adams or Thomas Jefferson I would think. As for Adams, I believe that at the time he ran for President he was, and still stands as, the most accomplished person ever to be elected President for the 1st time. He had been the driving force at the Continental Congress in declaring Independence, had gone to Paris and then to Amsterdam to negotiate alliances and was a signatory and negotiator of the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War, served as the 1st US Ambassador to Great Britain, and was then of course the first Vice President. With all of that to his credit, I would put Adams still to this day as the most qualified man ever elected President. Both he, Jefferson, and some others on the list who were Presidents before or after they lost, are also more accomplished than Clay.

yes, I meant that Clay was a loser in that he repeatedly ran and lost and never actually won. He was much better at losing presidential races than almost anyone unless you want to count people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, or Lyndon LaRouche.. but they were never serious contenders.
Of course Clay's accomplishments didn't even come close to matching Adams' or Jefferson's or Roosevelt's, who all later won.

William Jennings Bryan was another one who was always running and losing. I remember learning about him, as well. He's tied with Clay here for most appearances. Though Clay's career of losing elections was longer than Bryan's. He was at it for 20+ years.

Based on what I learned in history class, the biggest injustice to the office of the president was the fact that neither Henry Clay nor William Jennings Bryan held office. Both would have been more competent than the presidents that we had during that time. Perhaps we wouldn't have had a depression in the mid 1800s had Clay been there. Maybe we would have actually had a competent president at the turn of the century instead of a revolving door of one-term buffoons if Bryan took office. Who knows.

uh no.

How was Trump qualified? What qualifications did he have? He didn't even have any relevant experience. I think this is nonsense.

Peepig your comments are like the living embodiment of Poe's Law, I swear. Donald Trump is the LEAST qualified person to ever seek the office of president. EVER. THIS is his list of accomplishments prior to winning the presidency while losing the popular vote by 3 million votes:
1. born rich
2. got huge sums of money from daddy
3. lied to get his way on the Forbes 400
4. used his place on the Forbes 400 to con his way into exploiting other people out of large sums of money
5. squandered all the money he ever inherited or stole, declaring bankruptcy six times, and being worth far less today than he would have been had he done nothing but invest in a mutual fund
6. ran almost every business, casino, and property he was associated with straight into the ground, in spite of employing illegal immigrants and routinely not paying contractors for work they did
7. had his name put on a book that he didn't write or have anything to do with

... did I stop at number 7 above or did I make a 2nd comment that got deleted? After Trump became famous for being rich and successful, based on a bunch of lies spun in a book that he had nothing to do with, he profited from that dubiously-acquired celebrity to con more people out of money, and then to become a reality TV star. The reality TV thing was actually the first thing in his entire life that was modestly successful at, making him the peer of other such noted intellectuals as Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Gary Busey, Phil Robertson, Anna Nicole Smith, and Honey Boo Boo. Along the way he also committed serial sexual assault, cheated on his pregnant wife with adult film stars, and ogled underage teens backstage at some of his seedy pageants. He would later brag about this to Billy Bush and others as it's literally the highlight of his entire life's resume.

William Jennings Bryan John Scopes monkey trial (look up)

Why the picture of Dewey, just out of curiosity?

When the Republicans nominated him in 1944 Eleanor Roosevelt famously said that he looked like the little man on the top of the wedding cake. And the Chicago Tribune prematurely declared him the winner in 1948, which might cement his role in history as the man who finished second. The Trib still hasn't gotten over it: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/chi-chicagodays-deweydefeats-story-story.html. It probably never will.

Several copies of Newsweek's "Madam President" issue were sold before sales were stopped and the remaining ones recalled. The President Trump issue will be shipped next week. Oops. http://nypost.com/2016/11/09/national-recall-after-newsweek-misfires-with-clinton-cover/

Everyone seems to know about DeWitt Clinton in 1812 now. Is this the luckiest Jetpunk type-in ever?

No, when you type in Clinton, that appears with it.

Yes, we are aware. It was a joke.

Interesting to see the 2012 comments at the last election. Just finished US election and Donald Trump is president. Will be interesting to say the least.

Oh those Gremlins! (Laugh Track)

However, I don't think he won the necessary popular vote % to appear on here. I agree with you, and would include him, considering that the electoral vote is how the President is decided. Thurmond was infinitely closer to the Presidency in the end than someone like Perot who won literally millions of votes, but no electors to show for it.

I thought that Aaron Burr tied with Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800.

Same. I also tried to enter his name.

Poor old Eugene Debs never made 10%

I guessed him as well haha

I managed to be the one dummy who didn't get DeWitt Clinton...

Makes me happy and almost want to cry of joy for seeing her on here.

I agree!

Why does it not work when I type in 'Felonia von Pantsuit'? She was the loser in 2016. And what a loser...

no need to feel bad about that, there was already a clinton on the list

Press F to pay respects to Horace Greely, the only candidate to have died during an election process.

F

F What about Edward and Robert Kennedy? Didn't they die during primaries?

Interestingly enough, Strom Thurmond earned about 2% of the vote in 1948, yet still won the electoral vote in 4 Southern States. Rules of the quiz didn't admit him, and rightfully so, but I tried him anyway, to no avail.

aaron burr?

poor william jennings bryan and henry clay..

DeWitt Clinton is the second most guessed person on this quiz... I wonder why? ;)

Clinton, Ford, Douglas, Hughes and many more (if you pay) don't have to lose: change history and make them win here!

Everything back to 1944, then not much - mainly just the presidents who had failed runs for office before winning or lost office.

I wasn't aware that ALF ran for president in the 30s before doing his sitcom.

Please accept "follette" for Bob La Follette. Thanks!

would love to see this quiz combined with the US Presidents and their Vice Presidents. What a grand historical quiz that would be!