As has been reported frequently in recent months, sitting senators rarely do well in presidential campaigns. Not only do they rarely win the White House, they rarely even secure their party’s nomination.
How rare? I was curious, so I put together a list.
Presidents elected directly from the U.S. Senate:
1888 — Benjamin Harrison (GOP)
1920 — Warren Harding (GOP)
1960 — John F. Kennedy (Dem)
Sitting Senators to get a major party nomination, but lose in the general election:
1848 — Lewis Cass (Dem) lost to Zachary Taylor (Whig)
1964 — Barry Goldwater (GOP) lost to Lyndon Johnson (Dem)
1972 — George McGovern (Dem) lost to Richard Nixon (GOP)
1996 — Bob Dole (GOP) lost to Bill Clinton (Dem)
This omits, obviously, the fact that many recent presidents (and presidential candidates) served in the Senate — including Nixon, Truman, Humphrey, LBJ, Mondale, Gore — just not at the time of their nomination.
To paraphrase Gregg Easterbrook, this is the kind of hidden indicator that is essential to an insider’s understanding of the political process. Unfortunately, I have no idea what it means.