# People who could've run for President and won but didn't. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 23, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324 "2015-11-23T00:32:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/41 "2015-11-24T02:58:45Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Lindbergh was 26 in 1928. He wasn’t eligible to run for President until the 1940 election. [And then he won it.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plot_Against_America) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/42 "2015-11-24T03:03:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Lindbergh was 26 in 1928. He wasn’t eligible to run for President until the 1940 election. And by 1940, his pro-Nazi public speeches had thrown a lot of cold water on his support. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/43 "2015-11-24T03:38:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And then he won it.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Plot_Against_America) I read that. Probably Roth’s worst book. And I read _The Breast_. ---
**Author:** ![fire\_hazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6de8d8/32.png) [@fire\_hazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fire_hazard)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/44 "2015-11-25T00:20:00Z")
It would be a step down from being the King but “President Elvis” might have been fun. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/45 "2015-11-25T01:38:14Z")
Way back in the seventies (I think) Johnny Carson made a joke about a toilet paper shortage. Within the next week, there \*was \*a toilet paper shortage, since lots of people took the jape seriously. I remember thinking, that’s power! This guy could run for president and win. Of course he never did. So we’ll never know. As for the OP’s question, I don’t know how we could ever have \*proof \*that someone could have won. Unless we had some sort of cosmic what-if-icator. ---
**Author:** ![GloryDays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GloryDays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GloryDays)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/46 "2015-11-25T03:22:46Z")
Sam Nunn should have ran in 1988 or 2000. Southern. Tough. Moderate Democrat. Doesn’t play games. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2015, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/47 "2015-11-25T04:32:27Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Way back in the seventies (I think) Johnny Carson made a joke about a toilet paper shortage. Within the next week, there \*was \*a toilet paper shortage, since lots of people took the jape seriously. I remember thinking, that’s power! This guy could run for president and win. _Wipe the Slate Clean With Carson!_ ---
**Author:** ![basquebromance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecb155/32.png) [@basquebromance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/basquebromance)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/48 "2015-11-26T14:38:18Z")
Trey Gowdy Tom Coburn Alan Grayson ---
**Author:** ![basquebromance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecb155/32.png) [@basquebromance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/basquebromance)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/49 "2015-11-26T14:52:58Z")
Cory Booker ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/50 "2015-11-26T22:08:05Z")
MANY people could/would have been President if they’d run… but most of them didn’t see the golden opportunity awaiting them, and lost out to others who did see the opportunity. LOTS of potentially strong Democratic contenders in 1991 wimped out because George Bush looked unbeatable. Bentsen, Cuomo, Gore, Bradley, Gephardt… any of them could have been President. But none had the balls to run because they thought Bush was stronger than he really was. They left the nomination, by default, to the smarter and gutsier Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324/51 "2015-11-26T22:12:07Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Lindbergh was 26 in 1928. He wasn’t eligible to run for President until the 1940 election. And only Philip Roth takes Lindbergh seriously as a candidate in 1940. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-couldve-run-for-president-and-won-but-didnt/738324.md?page=2)