What are some of the best political comeback stories?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I don’t think that Newt Gingrinch is going to go from a disgraced former Speaker of the House to a presidential nominee 15 years later. However, if he does, that would certainly qualify of one of the greatest polictical comeback stories in recent American political history.

Some others:

  1. Richard Nixon. Lost 1960 presidential election, then lost 1962 California governors race and ‘retired’ from politics with the famous “Won’t have Nixon to kick around…” quote. Won 1968 and 1972 presidential elections.

  2. Al Gore. His 1988 presidential campaign is most memorable for images of him being led around NYC with Ed Koch trying to convince New Yorkers to vote for a little known Tennessee Senator instead of Michael Dukakis or Jesse Jackson.

  3. Jerry Brown. From Governor Moonbeam of California to presidential gadfly candidate to mayor of Oakland and then reelected as California governor.

I don’t really consider Bill Clinton in 1992 as a comeback story. Sure he made the embarrassing nominating speech in 1988 and survived the 1992 NH primary after all the bimbo scandals. But, Tom Harkins was going to win Iowa and Tsongas was going to win NH anyway.

2

Harry Truman. An “accidental” president, whose party had split into not two, but THREE factions, running against a popular opponent.

Hubert Humphrey. Failed candidate in the 1960 primaries, a nominee that seemingly nobody wanted in 1968, and came heartbreakingly close to defeating Nixon.

3

If you don’t mind a Canadian example, I would suggest Pierre Trudeau. He was elected Prime Minister in 1968, re-elected in 1972 and 1974, but then lost the 1979 election to Joe Clark, who formed a minority government. Trudeau announced that he was retiring as leader of the Liberal Party, but would stay on as party leader and Leader of the Opposition pending the leadership election.

Then, barely seven months after Clark won the election, his government was defeated on the budget vote in the House of Commons. That triggered a general election, in which Trudeau led the Liberals to a new majority government. As a result, Trudeau in his final term in office defeated the PQ in the sovereignty referendum, and also patriated the Constitution from Britain, including the addition of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the Constitution.

Not bad for someone who was clearly on the way out following a major electoral defeat.

4

Churchill.

His political career was completely insane, beset with disaster, defeat and comeback. His was probably the most turbulent of any prominent democratic leader.

First elected in 1905 as a Conservative MP with controversial views, he got swiftly deselected by his party, which meant he still retained his seat but had no party affiliation. He then joined the Liberal party and was made a cabinet minister.

Because of his promotion he had to change constituency - and lost his seat at that by-election.

Undaunted he stood again and was elected and promoted to Home Secretary at the tender age of 36. The next year he was made First Lord of the Admiralty, which position he held during the beginning of the First World War, but resigned his ministry following the disasters at Gallipoli. While still an MP he rejoined the army and fought on the Western Front.

He lost his seat in Parliament again in 1922.

Stood for re-election again as a Liberal and lost.

Stood for re-election as an independent and lost.

Stood for re-election again as an independent and won.

He then rejoined the Conservatives and was almost immediately made Chancellor of the Exchequer. During his tenure he managed to fuck the British economy rather when he returned it to the Gold Standard.

When the Conservative government was defeated he was deselected from the Shadow Cabinet. During the next few years he spoke out against Nazism and was largely ignored.

It wasn’t until war broke out that he ended up back in the cabinet - as First Lord of the Admiralty again, and when Chamberlain resigned, he was chosen by joint party leaders to be Prime Minister.

Then after the war his government got booted out by the grateful British public, during which time he spoke out against Communism and this time was listened to.

He remained leader of the Conservative party and in 1951 was re-elected as PM. After the trifling distraction of winning the Nobel Prize for literature, he resigned as PM in 1955 following a series of strokes. He remained as an MP and finally retired from politics in 1964 at the age of 90.

5

If we don’t take “best” to mean “desirable”, then there’s a guy who tried to topple his government in 1923. It failed mesirably and he was sent to prison. He might gone on to be a minor footnote in history, especiallly if he’d been sent to prison longer. Boy, did he come back from that.