# "If elected, I will not serve!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064 "2007-03-15T18:34:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 16, 2007, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/21 "2007-03-16T01:38:45Z")
[QUOTE=Spartydog] Wasn’t there a preamble to Johnson’s statement where he said, “If nominated I will not run”, then added “if elected I will not serve.” He did serve. He served notice that he was serious about his decision. [/QUOTE] That was what General Sherman said, who originated the phrase, according to [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shermanesque_statement): > [@General Sherman](#): > > He declined, saying “If drafted, I will not run; if nominated, I will not accept; if elected, I will not serve.” Johnson’s riff on it was: > [@President Johnson](#): > > “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.” ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/22 "2007-03-16T01:56:21Z")
[QUOTE=flurb] Johnson’s precise words were, “I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.” I’ve heard that the “will not accept” part was a late add to the speech – he originally wanted to at least keep open the possibility of a “Draft Johnson” movement, but his advisers convinced him that he needed to totally remove himself from consideration for the good of the Democratic Party. [/QUOTE] Thank you. Now that you have refreshed my memory that sounds entirely correct. He did shut the door, unlike any number of politicians that we have heard in the last how many years that waffle on their proclamations. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/23 "2007-03-16T02:50:02Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] weren’t there instances where the College of Cardinals elected someone pope and the individual elected declined to serve? [/QUOTE] [Celestine V](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Celestine_V) is a decent example of that, although he wasn’t given much choice in the matter, and did serve for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/24 "2007-03-16T03:13:26Z")
[Ed Thompson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Thompson) brother of former Wisconsin Governor and US Secretary of Health & Human Services, Tommy Thompson was elected to the city council of Tomah, WI. He didn’t actually run for the office but was written in unbeknownst to him, but knownst to us future people. He didn’t refuse to serve prior to the election, but tried to decline the office after elected. Pretty interesting guy, he ran for Governor of the Wisconsin as a Libertarian in - I think - 2002. From what I recall he made a fairly decent show in the general election that year. Nobody actually expected him to win - of course. My mom, who is a staunch Democrat, had good things to say about him. Small office, small Wisconsin town, but a well-known political family in this state. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/25 "2007-03-16T03:22:59Z")
[QUOTE=DJ Motorbike] [Ed Thompson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Thompson) brother of former Wisconsin Governor and US Secretary of Health & Human Services, Tommy Thompson was elected to the city council of Tomah, WI. [/QUOTE] Serendipidy strikes. I looked to see where Tomah is and lo, Fort McCoy (formerly Camp McCoy) is nearby. I was mustered out of the army at Camp McCoy, didn’t know where in Wisconsin it is, never looked it up and stumbled onto it here. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2007, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/26 "2007-03-16T04:59:21Z")
Considering the nature of early American Senate elections, I’d be a little surprised if there _wasn’t_ somebody somewhere who refused to serve. Elections were by state legislatures, of course, and it was sometimes necessary to draft compromise candidates who might not have been sounded out prior to the election. Service was fairly arduous with travel to and from Washington, and the Senate wasn’t as prestigious then as now. Nevertheless, I don’t _know_ of anybody elected by a legislature who declined without a good reason (such as secession or appointment to a different office), and superficial Googling doesn’t turn up anything. During the Confederation Congress (1781-89), by contrast, refusal to serve was endemic. Among other problems, you never knew if you were going to get paid! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/27 "2007-03-16T06:44:27Z")
To continue the trend of not really answering the OP: George Washington could probably have held on to his post for life had he so chosen. In fact, he could likely have made a run at being a Napoleonic figure — a leader with dictatorial powers and a whole continent to grab. Even if his colleagues had killed him like Caesar, the instability would likely have ruined the nascent country for future democracy. It’s to his credit that he didn’t even try. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/28 "2007-03-16T06:46:51Z")
Although the OP was asking about America, it’s worth noting the situation in the British parliament, where Sinn Fein regularly win seats in Northern Ireland on an abstentionist policy - they currently have five MPs, who have never taken their seats in the Commons. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/29 "2007-03-16T07:26:11Z")
Well, he wasn’t _elected_, but Albert Einstein was asked to serve as president of Israel, and declined. President of Israel is now mostly a ceremonial position; I don’t know if this was true back in the 50’s when the offer was made. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/30 "2007-03-16T08:00:33Z")
There was a guy here in Washington (state that is) who changed his name to “Absolutley Nobody” and ran for some office that I cant remember (it was kinda like vice govener ) in protest of the position even existing. I voted for him but he lost…not quite what you are after but kinda close. evidently the office exits to pay someone 70grand a year to exist. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/31 "2007-03-19T18:35:28Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Oh mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! Pardon me for bringing the usual usage of the full phrase into the thread. Congratulation on your perspicaciousness. Do you have anything else to add? [/QUOTE] Seriously, if you’d read the OP closely, you wouldn’t have said this. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/32 "2007-03-19T19:47:18Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper] That was what General Sherman said, who originated the phrase, according to [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shermanesque_statement): [/QUOTE] And I guess we ought to throw in Scoop Jackson, a democrat from New Mexico who said (when asked a bout a draft movement for President): "If nominated I _will_ run… straight for the Mexican border. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/33 "2007-03-19T23:40:35Z")
> [@Freddy the Pig](#): > > Considering the nature of early American Senate elections…Service was fairly arduous with travel to and from Washington, and the Senate wasn’t as prestigious then as now. How early is ‘early’? Henry Clay was elected Speaker of the House during his first term, and ran to the Senate as soon as possible. Calhoun was VP and resigned to serve in the Senate. The Senate was the highest body in the land back then, and quite prestigious. Unless you’re talking about the turn of the nineteenth century, and I don’t know much about that. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/34 "2007-03-20T01:21:49Z")
[QUOTE=Cardinal] Seriously, if you’d read the OP closely, you wouldn’t have said this. [/QUOTE] Closely? If he read the OP at all, he wouldn’t have said that. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/35 "2007-03-20T02:51:21Z")
[Seven appointees to the US Supreme Court have refused to serve, with the last being Roscoe Conkling in 1882](http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/nominations/Nominations.htm) ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/36 "2007-03-20T02:57:09Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] And I guess we ought to throw in Scoop Jackson, a democrat from New Mexico who said (when asked a bout a draft movement for President): "If nominated I _will_ run… straight for the Mexican border. [/QUOTE] That was _Mo Udall_, not “Scoop Jackson.” ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/37 "2007-03-20T03:13:45Z")
Okay, since we’ve given up on the OP, i.e., established that the answer is “no,” how about this question: Have there ever been candidates nominated and/or elected notwithstanding public declarations of disinterest, which they were later persuaded to withdraw for the good of the party/country? I can think of one,\* Walter Mondale, in 1984. After the 1980 race, he swore he’d never run for President. When asked why he changed his mind, he made a joke along the lines of “I hear they’ve renovated the Holiday Inns.” Any others come to mind? - I considered Nixon, who famously assured the press in 1962 after losing the California governor’s race that they wouldn’t have him to kick around any more, but have rejected it because I don’t think he was persuaded to withdraw the declaration, but rather simply changed his mind. Whereas, Fritz, I think, was persuaded. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/38 "2007-03-20T03:39:01Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] That was _Mo Udall_, not “Scoop Jackson.” [/QUOTE] Moreover, Udall served Arizona in Congress, not New Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2007, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/39 "2007-03-20T04:37:42Z")
[QUOTE=Pochacco] How about in other countries besides the U.S.? [/QUOTE] [Sonia Gandhi turns down post of Prime Minister of India](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3721863.stm) [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-113375160.html](http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-113375160.html) “Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born heir to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in India, has turned down the job of Prime Minister. Her Congress Party and its allies won the most seats in the parliamentary elections that ended last week, but today, Gandhi said she did not want to be the new Prime Minister” ---
**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:** [March 20, 2007, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064/40 "2007-03-20T06:21:07Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Carrot] Henry Clay was elected Speaker of the House during his first term, and ran to the Senate as soon as possible. [/QUOTE] Au contraire, Clay was a former Senator who moved to the House of Representatives in 1811. This progression is virtually unknown today. He left the Speakership briefly to negotiate the treaty that ended the War of 1812, but didn’t return to the Senate until 1831. Clay served four non-consecutive stints in the United States Senate during his life. This was typical of Senate service in the early Nineteenth Century–perhaps I should say not that the job lacked _prestige_, but that it tended to be less of a career calling than it is today. If we look at the lives of many of the early presidents–James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison–we often see brief service in the U.S. Senate, relatively early in their political careers. “Career Senators” like Bob Dole or John Kerry were much less common. Ergo, turning down a Senate seat would be less of a sacrifice than today, because it was a gig that probably wasn’t going to last very long anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-elected-i-will-not-serve/396064.md?page=1)