# Has an incumbent president ever failed to get the nomination? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408 "2008-11-25T09:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/1 "2008-11-25T09:50:47Z")
Has an incumbent president ever failed to gain the nomination of his party? My googling must suck because I can’t seem to find the answer to this. Also, and I guess this is asking for an opinion as well, had Johnson stayed in the race in 1968, how likely is it that he would have failed to get his party’s nomination? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/2 "2008-11-25T09:55:11Z")
[ƒranklin Pierce](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce) was denied renomination by the Democratic party. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/3 "2008-11-25T10:00:27Z")
[Andrew Johnson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson#Presidency_1865.E2.80.931869) held office as a member of the National Union Party. After the war ended, he tried unsuccessfully to be nominated by the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/4 "2008-11-25T13:21:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > [Andrew Johnson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Johnson#Presidency_1865.E2.80.931869) held office as a member of the National Union Party. After the war ended, he tried unsuccessfully to be nominated by the Democrats. Wow. _Nobody_ liked Andrew Johnson… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/5 "2008-11-25T13:40:06Z")
Johnson made a lot of enemies, mostly because he was pigheaded and didn’t care what others thought. Once he made up his mind, he’d do what he planned, and anyone in the way was mercilessly attacked. He also was a target by the Radical Republicans because he was too much like Lincoln (forgiving of the south) and also too different from him (as a strong believer in state’s rights, he thought it was up to the individual Confederate states to determine if Blacks could vote). As far as opinion is concerned, if LBJ had remained in the race, he still would have won the nomination. Humphrey won the nomination without running in a primary, and Johnson would have gone the same route. The wild card is if Bobby Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated. Kennedy might have been able to deny Johnson the nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/6 "2008-11-25T14:16:13Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Johnson made a lot of enemies, mostly because he was pigheaded and didn’t care what others thought. Once he made up his mind, he’d do what he planned, and anyone in the way was mercilessly attacked. Presumably this refers to Andrew, not Lyndon – who was pigheaded and made enemies too, but who did care about the opinions of others. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/7 "2008-11-25T16:41:06Z")
\>Presumably this refers to Andrew, not Lyndon… Speaking of Lyndon, to answer the OP, he didn’t get the nomination as an incumbent. He said he would not seek or accept it, so it was a non-attempt, not a failure. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/8 "2008-11-25T17:18:15Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > \>… it was a non-attempt, not a failure. True - but his announcement came on March 31, after a strong primary showing by McCarthy and lots of speculation that Johnson was in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2008, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-incumbent-president-ever-failed-to-get-the-nomination/474408/9 "2008-11-26T20:49:33Z")
Wow… nice elaboration, Xema! May I tell an LBJ story? Seems the custom in his household after a fine dinner with company was that the gentlemen would adjourn to the front porch for drinks and cigars, and would relieve themselves in the bushes below while standing at the edge of the porch. The first time he did this after taking office, though, there was a resulting scattering of Secret Service men out from under the bushes where they were hiding. No cite, but perhaps amusing.