# Losing candidates: a memory quiz **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089 "2005-09-17T05:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/1 "2005-09-17T05:06:02Z")
The other day at work we were talking about Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and we ended up going back through the list. We didn’t have any reference works so we had to do it from memory. The losers were naturally harder to remember than the winners. I did the best; I was able to name every losing Vice Presidential candidate back to 1956 and every losing Presidential candidate back to 1940. So in a pointless test of memory, how far back can you go in naming the losing candidates in reverse sequential order? Rule #1 - Memory only, no looking up the answers. Rule #2 - You can post the years but not the names of any candidates, that would ruin it for others. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/2 "2005-09-17T13:28:47Z")
What losers are you talking about? There are many presidential and vice-presidential candidates for every election. Do we need to name them all? ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/3 "2005-09-17T13:40:10Z")
Just off the top of my head I was able to get back to 1932. At that point I can skip some elections but my mind starts to fade. VP I would say 1952. For some reason I tend to get all the guys who ran against FDR in the wrong order. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/4 "2005-09-17T15:30:12Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Do we need to name them all? Of course. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/5 "2005-09-17T15:37:06Z")
oh i am awful at this - i can barely get back to '76 for Prez without skipping at least one, but can get '72, '68, '60, and that’s it (History/Social Studies was my worst subject) Forget about VP losers - I can name exactly 3 from the last 48 years ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/6 "2005-09-17T15:48:13Z")
> [@](#): > > What losers are you talking about? There are many presidential and vice-presidential candidates for every election. Do we need to name them all? Of course. If you can’t name all the Green Party Vice Presidential candidates for the last fifty years, how can you call yourself an informed voter? ---
**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:** [September 19, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/7 "2005-09-19T00:49:09Z")
I was able to get the Demo and Repub Pres and VP candidates back through 1908, which is exactly 100 years worth of elections. This won’t surprise readers of my GQ posts, who know that I’m a complete geek. Even so, I was unable to remember the name of Alton Parker’s running mate in 1904. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/8 "2005-09-19T14:02:26Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > The other day at work we were talking about Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and we ended up going back through the list. We didn’t have any reference works so we had to do it from memory. The losers were naturally harder to remember than the winners. I did the best; I was able to name every losing Vice Presidential candidate back to 1956 and every losing Presidential candidate back to 1940. > > So in a pointless test of memory, how far back can you go in naming the losing candidates in reverse sequential order? Rule #1 - Memory only, no looking up the answers. Rule #2 - You can post the years but not the names of any candidates, that would ruin it for others. VP candidates- 1948. Pres candidates - all of them. ---
**Author:** ![yerba\_buena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@yerba\_buena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yerba_buena)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/9 "2005-09-19T21:36:45Z")
Your e-penises are clearly larger than mine. I qualify my statement by saying I was born in 1976, in the hopes that you are all much older than I am and that I can claim ignorance based on my age. Losing Presidential candidates I know: 2004 2000 1996 1992 1988 1984 1980 1948 Losing Vice Presidential candidates I know: 2004 2000 1992 1988 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/10 "2005-09-19T22:03:28Z")
> [@yerba buena](#): > > Losing Presidential candidates I know: > … > 1948 That was when Truman lost to Dewey, right? 😛 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/11 "2005-09-20T00:10:00Z")
Losing Presidential candidates - back to 1928, excepting 1944. Including losing third-party candidates who cleared \>5% of the popular vote. (Seemed like a good cutoff.) Losing veep candidates - only back to 1960, and missed two 3rd-party veep nominees in that span. (Same cutoff.) ---
**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:** [September 20, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/12 "2005-09-20T03:00:22Z")
Not counting anyone who lost the last two elections… Losing Presidential candidates- All losing Republicans, all losing Democrats from 1828 onward (including both 1860 candidates), all losing Whigs, and the following third party candidates: Know-Nothing (1856), Constitutional Union (1860), Greenback (1880, 1884), Populist (1892), Socialist (1908, 1912, 1920, 1928-1956), all three Progressive Parties (1912, 1924, 1948-1952), Union (1936), States Rights (1948), American Independent (1968, 1972), the politicians who ran independent campaigns in 1976 and 1980, the billionaire who ran as an independent in 1992, Reform (1996), Green (1996). Losing Vice-Presidential candidates- Republican (1912, 1932-1940, 1948, 1960-), Democratic (1896, 1920, 1924, 1952-), Constitutional Union (1860), Populist (1896), all three Progressive Parties (1912, 1924, 1948-1952), Union (1936), States Rights (1948), American Independent (1968), the running mate of the politician that ran as an independent in 1980, the running mate of the billionaire that ran as an independent in 1992, Reform (1996). ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Pfukke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Rufus\_Pfukke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Pfukke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/13 "2005-09-20T03:06:08Z")
17 year old here, so I’ll probably do very badly. 2000 - Al Gore and Joe Lieberman 1996 - Bob Dole 1992 - George H.W. Bush 1988 - Michael Dukakis 1984 - 1980 - Jimmy Carter 1976 - Gerald Ford 1972 - 1968 - George McGovern 1964 - Don’t know 1960 - Richard Nixon 1956 - Adlai Stevenson? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Pfukke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Rufus\_Pfukke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Pfukke)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/14 "2005-09-20T03:07:28Z")
Sorry - can a mod edit out the names? My reading comprehension is worse than my knowledge of history. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/15 "2005-09-20T03:23:59Z")
For being 17 you did pretty well. I can get all of the candidates for President and VP back to World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/losing-candidates-a-memory-quiz/322089/16 "2005-09-20T18:16:18Z")
If you want to check, here’s a [list of candidates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Presidential_candidates) going back to 1856.