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IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED......

© John S. Cooper

Some of our greatest Presidents did not succeed on their first try at national office. Many Presidents were once defeated candidates for the presidency or vice presidency before winning presidential election. Rarely does a defeated candidate get another chance at the top spot, much less winning it.

The first previously defeated candidate to win the White House was Thomas Jefferson. In the election of 1792, Jefferson received 4 electoral votes, losing the Vice Presidency to John Adams, who was re-elected Vice President.

In 1796, Jefferson again lost to Adams, this time for the Presidency. Adams received 71 electoral votes to Jefferson’s 68. In the system of election before the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, the runner-up for President became Vice President. This resulted in Jefferson serving as Adams’ Vice President, even though the two had been bitter opponents in the election.

In 1804, the 12th Amendment was added to the Constitution. This amendment created separate races for President and Vice President, with the runner-up getting no office. In the next election in 1808, things were a little confused, and a number of people received electoral votes for Vice President. James Madison was elected President, and George Clinton (no relation to Bill) was elected Vice President with 113 electoral votes. Other future Presidents who received electoral votes for Vice President in this election were James Monroe and James Madison (even though he was elected President in the same election), both of who received 3 electoral votes each.

In 1820, James Monroe carried every state. But one elector who was pledged to Monroe voted for Monroe’s Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams. Four years later, John Quincy Adams ran for President, and was chosen by the House of Representatives after a four-way race in which no candidate received a majority of votes in the Electoral College.

In the tumultuous election of 1824, John Quincy Adams won the White House, but two future Presidents also received electoral votes. Andrew Jackson actually received more electoral votes (and popular votes) than John Quincy Adams, but lost in the House of Representatives, as mentioned above. Jackson also received 13 electoral votes for Vice President. Future Vice President and President Martin Van Buren received 9 electoral votes for Vice President, losing to John Calhoun who became John Quincy Adams’ Vice President, and later Jackson’s Vice President as well.

In 1836, Martin Van Buren was elected President, defeating William Henry Harrison, with 170 electoral votes to Harrison’s 73. Future President John Tyler with 47 electoral votes was defeated for Vice President by Richard M. Johnson.

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