# Have any US Presidents, eligible for and seeking re-election, not been nominated by their party? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352 "2010-08-15T20:19:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/1 "2010-08-15T20:19:38Z")
If so, who? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/2 "2010-08-15T20:39:50Z")
Teddy Roosevelt. Became president in 1901 when McKinley was assassinated. Ran and won in 1904. Didn’t run in 1908 by choice. The 22nd Amendment hadn’t been passed yet so he was still eligible. Tried to get the Republican nomination in 1912 but failed. This may not fit your criteria since there was a gap and the incumbent at the time, Taft, was re-nominated. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/3 "2010-08-15T20:46:01Z")
Carter came fairly close to losing a primary. Kennedy gave him a tough fight. Carter was damaged and made it easier for Reagan to win. I pretty familiar with 20th century presidents I don’t recall any recent presidents losing a primary. Even Hoover won his primary. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/4 "2010-08-15T20:56:38Z")
Franklin Pierce is the poster child for this and IIRC the only sitting President unwillingly not renominated by his party. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/5 "2010-08-15T21:04:45Z")
> [@](#): > > Teddy Roosevelt. > > Became president in 1901 when McKinley was assassinated. Ran and won in 1904. Didn’t run in 1908 by choice. The 22nd Amendment hadn’t been passed yet so he was still eligible. Even with the 22nd, he would still be eligible. By the same token, Carter or GHW Bush could also run again. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/6 "2010-08-15T21:09:20Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Franklin Pierce is the poster child for this and IIRC the only sitting President unwillingly not renominated by his party. Yep. Pierce was elected in 1852 as a Democrat and failed to secure the Democratic nomination in 1856. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/7 "2010-08-15T21:13:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Teddy Roosevelt. > > > > Became president in 1901 when McKinley was assassinated. Ran and won in 1904. Didn’t run in 1908 by choice. The 22nd Amendment hadn’t been passed yet so he was still eligible. > > Even with the 22nd, he would still be eligible. By the same token, Carter or GHW Bush could also run again. He wouldn’t have been. Under the 22nd, Teddy’s having served the three remaining years of McKinley’s term would have disqualified him from seeking another term in 1908. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/8 "2010-08-15T21:14:34Z")
Lyndon Johnson was so unpopular that after his very narrow victory of Eugene McCarthy in the 1968 New Hampshire primary that he announced he wouldn’t run. I don’t know if he would have been able to get the nomination like his vice president Hubert Humphrey was…1968 was basically the last time caucuses chose most of the delegates instead of primaries. I don’t think Harry Truman seriously tried in 1952 to be nominated, he was very unpopular by then. Besides Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, former President Ulysses Grant tried to get the nomination in 1880. The Republicans chose James Garfield as President Rutherford Hayes declined to seek nomination, having pledged to serve one term. Andrew Johnson is an interesting case. A Democrat, he was Abraham Lincoln’s running mate in 1864 as the Union party. After becoming President, he clashed bitterly with the Republicans in Congress, was impeached and almost convicted. With no chance of being nominated by the Republicans in 1868, he tried for the Democratic nomination but lost to Horatio Seymour. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/9 "2010-08-15T21:21:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even with the 22nd, he would still be eligible. By the same token, Carter or GHW Bush could also run again. I don’t think that is true. If he served 2 years of McKinley’s term that counts as one of his two terms. This wasn’t the case for Carter or GHW Bush who were one term presidents. > [@](#): > > Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/10 "2010-08-15T21:23:02Z")
Truman was supposedly playing with the idea of running in '52 (he would’ve been the last non-term limited President), but he got beat in the first primary race and announced he was out. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/11 "2010-08-15T21:23:19Z")
In 1976 Ronald Reagan came very close to being nominated over incumbent President Gerald Ford (although Ford is a special kind of incumbent, becoming President only because Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew were caught as crooks). Reagan was slightly trailing going into the convention and may have hurt his chances announcing before the nomination he would have the more liberal Richard Schweiker as running mate. He angered his conservative base and probably didn’t get many liberal/moderate votes. Ford waited until after the nomination (by a 1187 to 1070 margin) to announce he was dumping Nelson Rockefeller in favor of Robert Dole. ---
**Author:** ![anson2995](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@anson2995](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anson2995)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/12 "2010-08-15T22:06:28Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Carter came fairly close to losing a primary. Kennedy gave him a tough fight. Carter won all but 10 of the primaries, and had locked up more than 60% of the delegates heading into the convention. What Kennedy did was refuse to drop out and continue to hammer at Carter, which, as you suggested, softened him up for Reagan in the general election. Carter’s presidency bordered on disastrous, and he probably didn’t have a chance against Reagan anyway. There have been four incumbent presidents since WWII who were not re-elected, and in each case they faced a serious primary challenge (in GHW Bush’s case, it was from a third-party candidate). Johnson dropped out when it was clear nobody supported him. Ford and Carter were damaged goods who probably should have dropped out. Bush was a very odd case. since his popularity ratings went from record highs to unelectable in six months for reasons that were only marginally rational. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/13 "2010-08-15T22:28:08Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think that is true. If he served 2 years of McKinley’s term that counts as one of his two terms. This wasn’t the case for Carter or GHW Bush who were one term presidents. Clearly I’m misremembering my history. I didn’t realize he had that much of McKinley’s term. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/14 "2010-08-15T23:58:15Z")
In 80 there were rumors Reagan was going to pick Ford to be his VP candidate. Not sure how serious that was. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/15 "2010-08-16T00:26:51Z")
Add Millard Fillmore. VP under Taylor and succeeded to the Presidency on his death. I’m not sure what happened in 1852, but he tried for the nomination in 1856 and failed, running on a third party ticket (and losing miserably). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/16 "2010-08-16T01:20:00Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Ford waited until after the nomination (by a 1187 to 1070 margin) to announce he was dumping Nelson Rockefeller in favor of Robert Dole. As I recall, Rockefeller had already announced he wouldn’t run for VP in 1976, so Ford didn’t dump him. Rather, it was a question of who Ford would select to replace Rockefeller, not whether he would select Rockefeller again. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/17 "2010-08-16T02:03:43Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Add Millard Fillmore. VP under Taylor and succeeded to the Presidency on his death. I’m not sure what happened in 1852, but he tried for the nomination in 1856 and failed, running on a third party ticket (and losing miserably). In 1852, the Whigs decided their only chance of winning was going with a war hero. By '56, the Whigs had pretty much self destructed, and there really wasn’t a party to nominate Fillmore. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/18 "2010-08-16T05:20:43Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Franklin Pierce is the poster child for this and IIRC the only sitting President unwillingly not renominated by his party. Andrew Johnson’s party affiliation was somewhat ambiguous. He was a Democratic senator, but was elected Vice President on the National Union Party ticket with Lincoln in 1864 (that party essentially being the Republicans under a different name). He attempted to win the Democratic Party’s nomination in 1868, but failed. He later won re-election to the Senate as a Democrat. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/19 "2010-08-16T06:18:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Carter came fairly close to losing a primary. Kennedy gave him a tough fight. This is crap. Where are you getting it? How old are you? I was there, I saw what was going on at the time. Kennedys campaign was one of the worst ever ran, and he never came close to winning. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352/20 "2010-08-16T13:28:15Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > > [@aceplace57](#): > > > > Carter came fairly close to losing a primary. Kennedy gave him a tough fight. > > This is crap. Where are you getting it? > > How old are you? > > I was there, I saw what was going on at the time. > Kennedys campaign was one of the worst ever ran, and he never came close to winning. I remember the “National Lampoon” news page in 1976 with the fake dialog between Kennedy and a reporter: “I will not seek the presidential nomination in 1976.” “What if you are drafted by the convention?” “I’ll drive off that bridge when I come to it.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-us-presidents-eligible-for-and-seeking-re-election-not-been-nominated-by-their-party/550352.md?page=2)