Which "Accidental President" could have won in his own right?

[elperromagico]

Poll question: Which "Accidental President" could have won in his own right?

Several of the Presidents on this list were, in fact, elected to full terms of office, but only after having served out the unexpired terms of the Presidents who had left office due to death or resignation.

Based on their qualifications, personalities, et cetera, which of these so-called "Accidental Presidents" would have stood the best chance of winning the Presidency without having assumed the office through death or resignation?

[Parche]

1. Presidents

Ford was aloof
John Tyler and Chester Arthur were actually great administrators
but were not well liked

[sundancekid]

2. Truman also ran and won on his own the 1948 presidential election

[elperromagico]

3. So did TR, Coolidge, and LBJ.

But all four of them had had time to prove themselves as President before they had to face the electorate. My question is, had they not succeeded to the office through death or resignation, could they have been elected?

[last1standing]

6. Only Gerald Ford was never elected.

Unless I'm mistaken, all the others ran for and won elections after they completed their predecessor's terms.

Gee, soon bush* will fit that description as well. Move over, Ford.

[elperromagico]

8. Elected to the office of President.

And I think you're missing my hypothetical point.

Had these nine men gained the nominations of their respective parties and run for President based solely on their own records and their own personalities, and not on having served as President due to death or resignation, would they have been elected President by the American people? More specifically, which would have stood the best chance on his own?

[sundancekid]

11. I appreciate the clarification of your hypothetical point ...

... would be nothing short of a wild guess for me since, like most others, I have come to know these personalities AFTER their "accidental" turns at history affected not only who they might have been, but also who they became ... thus, our prism now surely has the "clouding" of the effects of "the-man-on-the-office-on-the-man" etc...

thanks, elperromagico ... this has sparked some good noodling ...
:yourock:

[AntiCoup2K4]

13. Ford was never elected Vice President either

Unlike everyone else on the list. Ford was appointed by Nixon after Spiro Agnew resigned over tax issues or something like that. It's been speculated that Ford was rewarded for his part in the Warren Commission and their whitewash of the JFK assassination which Nixon and George Bush Sr had absolutely nothing to do with so stop saying that.

[Piperay]

4. Ford never

really aimed to be President, he aspired to just being the head of his party and Majority Leader. After he became President he probably would have gotten a term on his own but was weakened too much by ole Ronnie Raygun who made him fight down to the last delegate in an undignified convention battle. It's no wonder that Ford and Carter became good friends they were both screwed over by Ronnie.

[lanparty]

10. Ford was a decent guy ...

... and a gifted athlete to boot. The whole "clutz" thing was the same as the "Al the Liar" bit. The right-wingers killed off their own candidate out of spite.

[apsuman]

16. I'll second that..

Ford was a good guy. He wanted more to be the Speaker than the President. In the day of 180ish Republicans in congress *THAT* was never gonna happen.

He was well like in the GOP.

Everyone else on the list was far more ideologial (removed from center) than the president they replaced.

So, my vote is for Ford, he is the most likely to win in his own right.

As for Reagan running him down, Ford lost the election just barely to Carter. If he had not denined that Poland was under the influence of the USSR he would have won. If he would have wore a red tie, he might have won. If infinity.

[yardwork]

5. I think maybe only TR.

He was a national hero (for heroics during another filthy illegal war started by the U.S.).

Truman was probably not charismatic enough to have been elected first on his own. LBJ was too charismatic!

[mark414]

7. Teddy the Repub

other repubs should take a lesson from him, for he was actually decent

[lanparty]

9. He was a liberal!!!!!

That was right before the parties switched their alignments.

[No2W2004]

12. Most on the list

were happy being administrators or power-brokers. The only one on the list who aspired to be President was T.R., but Mark Hanna would not have allowed him to be the Republican Nominee. (He was against TR for VP, but was out-maneuvered by the progressives.) Once TR was President, and gained popularity, Hanna's influence in the Party was gone.

[progdonkey]

14. Truman; TR had no party support

Of the choices, Harry Truman seems the one most likely to have been able to earn the presidency on his own.

Teddy Roosevelt's only shot at being president was through the death of McKinley. He was nominated by the Republicans to be McKinley's VP, because they wanted to get rid of him politically. The party bosses were fed up with his progressive policies, so he would have never gotten their support. After McKinley was shot, the Republicans must of shat themselves when they realized Roosevelt the Progressive would be president.

Of course, Roosevelt was able to get Republican support when he ran for his first elected term because he was the Republican incumbent, and we all know how much Republicans like to back up their president no matter how they really feel about him....

[elperromagico]

17. Even TR's own VP worked against him in the Senate,

IIRC.

[Yupster]

15. I voted Coolidge

He was in the right time. Quiet steady was what the country was looking for. Also the police strike gave him the event that made him stand out.

[elperromagico]

18. Your vote isn't showing up, buddy.

Silent Cal still has 0 votes.