# Has a US Presidential candidate ever chosen his VP from the different party? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 1, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941 "2008-07-01T18:55:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aluminumdisc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@aluminumdisc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aluminumdisc)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941/1 "2008-07-01T18:55:38Z")
Names have been thrown about lately about the US election. If one were to reach across the isle, would it be a 1st? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941/2 "2008-07-01T19:08:43Z")
Most obviously: 1864 Middle of the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln, Republican, running for reelection on the Unionist ticket, composed of Republicans and supportive Democrats, opposed by McClellan, cashiered former Union commander running as a Democrat. To gain Democratic support, Lincoln ditches first-term Veep Hannibal Hamlin and chooses the sole Senator from the Confederacy to have remained loyal to the Union, a Democrat named Andrew Johnson. Technically they’re in the same “party”, the Unionists, but they’re a wartime fusion of Republicans nd part of the Democrats, which won’t survive the war. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941/3 "2008-07-01T19:25:38Z")
John Adams (Federalist, 1797-1801) had Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican). But I am unsure how the VP was chosen in those days… wiki ( [Thomas Jefferson - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson) ) says this: > [@wiki](#): > > **The 1796 election and Vice Presidency** > > As the Democratic-Republican candidate in 1796 he lost to John Adams, but had enough electoral votes to become Vice President (1797–1801). He wrote a manual of parliamentary procedure, but otherwise avoided the Senate. So it would appear that John Adams didn’t “select” his VP. Other than that, and the one **Polycarp** cited, all other duos were of the same party. ---
**Author:** ![desdinova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@desdinova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/desdinova)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941/4 "2008-07-01T19:37:22Z")
[QUOTE=mlees] So it would appear that John Adams didn’t “select” his VP. [/QUOTE] Correct. Back in ye olden days, the guy with the most electoral votes became President, and the guy with the second most votes became Vice President. This was quickly rectified in 1804 with the Twelfth Amendment. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941/5 "2008-07-01T19:39:28Z")
[QUOTE=desdinova] Correct. Back in ye olden days, the guy with the most electoral votes became President, and the guy with the second most votes became Vice President. This was quickly rectified in 1804 with the Twelfth Amendment. [/QUOTE] :eek: Thanks! (I guess I need to polish up on my American History. Heh.) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-us-presidential-candidate-ever-chosen-his-vp-from-the-different-party/454941/6 "2008-07-01T20:50:28Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] To gain Democratic support, Lincoln ditches first-term Veep Hannibal Hamlin and chooses the sole Senator from the Confederacy to have remained loyal to the Union, a Democrat named Andrew Johnson. [/QUOTE] I hate to nitpick, but this anachronism always bothers me. Lincoln didn’t ditch or pick anybody; the presidential candidate seldom had any involvement with the vice presidential pick in the Nineteenth Century. Johnson was chosen by the delegates to the 1864 National Union Party Convention, and there is no evidence that Lincoln exercised much influence.