Historically speaking, who should have been president, but wasn't elected

[Lenape85]

Vanity time, DUers!

What presidential candidates do you think should have been elected to the presidency even though they did not win? Many would cite figures such as Adlai Stevenson or William Jennings Bryan. My personal favorite would have to be the latter, he was a great man for his day and fought against the Northeastern business machine

Those people that disagree, I'd like to hear your feedback

I have decided to put up who I would have voted for had I been around during that time period. Keep in mind that my selections were put in the context of the time period (ie, I probably would have voted for Nader in 2000 because I wouldn't have known how much of a good person Al Gore was, nor would I have know that Shrub would have caused a lot of trouble).

So, who would you have picked?

Bold indicates who I would have picked had I been around at the time
Blue indicates that it was a tough choice between two good candidates
Red indicates that I had to hold my nose and vote

So, here it goes

1788:
George Washington

1792:
George Washington

1796:
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson

1800:
Thomas Jefferson
Aaron Burr

1804:
Thomas Jefferson
Charles Pinckney

1808:
James Madison
Charles Pinckney

1812:
James Madison
DeWitt Clinton

1816:
James Monroe
Rufus King

1820:
James Monroe
John Q. Adams

1824:
John Q. Adams
Andrew Jackson
William Crawford
Henry Clay

1828:
Andrew Jackson
John Q. Adams

1832:
Andrew Jackson
Henry Clay
William Wirt

1836:
Martin Van Buren
William Harrison
Hugh White
Daniel Webster

1840:
William Harrison
Martin Van Buren

1844:
James Polk
Henry Clay
James Birney

1848:
Zachary Taylor
Lewis Cass
Martin Van Buren

1852:
Franklin Pierce
Winfield Scott
John Hale

1856:
James Buchanan
John Fremont
Millard Fillmore

1860:
Abraham Lincoln
John Breckenridge
John Bell
Stephen Douglas

1864:
Abraham Lincoln
George McClellan

1868:
Ulysses Grant
Horatio Seymour

1872:
Ulysses Grant Henry Wilson Republican
Horace Greeley B. Gratz Brown Democrat

1876:
Rutherford Hayes
Samuel Tilden

1880:
James Garfield
Winfield Hancock
James Weaver

1884:
Grover Cleveland
James Blaine
Benjamin Butler
John St.John

1888:
Benjamin Harrison
Grover Cleveland
Clinton Fisk
Alson Streeter

1892:
Grover Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison
James Weaver
John Bidwell

1896:
William McKinley
William J. Bryan

1900:
William McKinley
William J. Bryan
John Woolley

1904:
Theodore Roosevelt
Alton Parker
Eugene Debs
Silas Swallow

1908:
William Taft
William J. Bryan
Eugene Debs
Eugene Chafin

1912:
Woodrow Wilson
Theodore Roosevelt
William Taft
Eugene Debs
Eugene Chafin

1916:
Woodrow Wilson
Charles Hughes
Allan Benson
James Hanly

1920:
Warren Harding
James Cox
Eugene Debs

1924:
Calvin Coolidge
John Davis
Robert LaFollette

1928:
Herbert Hoover
Alfred Smith

1932:
Franklin Roosevelt
Herbert Hoover
Norman Thomas

1936:
Franklin Roosevelt
Alfred Landon
William Lemke

1940:
Franklin Roosevelt
Wendell Willkie

1944:
Franklin Roosevelt
Thomas Dewey

1948:
Harry Truman
Thomas Dewey
J. Strom Thurmond
Henry Wallace

1952:
Dwight Eisenhower
Adlai Stevenson

1956:
Dwight Eisenhower
Adlai Stevenson

1960:
John Kennedy
Richard Nixon

1964:
Lyndon Johnson
Barry Goldwater

1968:
Richard Nixon
Hubert Humphrey
George Wallace

1972:
Richard Nixon
George McGovern
John Schmitz

1976:
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford

1980:
Ronald Reagan
Jimmy Carter
John Anderson
Ed Clark

1984:
Ronald Reagan
Walter Mondale

1988:
George Bush
Michael Dukakis

1992:
William Clinton
George Bush
H. Ross Perot

1996:
William Clinton
Robert Dole
H. Ross Perot
Ralph Nader

2000:
Al Gore
George W. Bush
Ralph Nader

2004:
I think we all know who I voted for

[Zuni]

1. Why Ben Butler?

Grover Cleveland was reportedly one of the most honest presidents ever, even if if he wasn't all that good.

Was this the very, very poor Civil War general whose only notable achievement was to call slaves 'contraband' in order to free them before the emancipation proclamation?
Did I mention he was a real sleazebag and a terrible General who bungled every assignment he ever got?

BTW---I am a big fan of Bryan and the Populist movement.

[Lenape85]

2. Believe it or not, that was a typo

I had to do a lot of research to see who was the most appealing, and by the 1880s, I was tired

[sniffa]

3. the beast butLer?

who's photograph donned the bottoms of chamber pots throughout the south for decades?

[Zuni]

5. The very same

He allegedly was quite the theif of silverware, and it seems his legend has been appropriated to Bill Clinton

[Lenape85]

4. kick

[Lenape85]

6. kick