# What was the worst defeat suffered by a president running for reelection? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863 "2019-03-10T01:25:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/21 "2019-03-11T15:59:50Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > Taft running as the incumbent only got 8 electoral votes from his 23.2% of the popular vote. He didn’t even manage to win his home state of Ohio. That election also saw another former President, Teddy Roosevelt, lose by a pretty wide margin - 88 electoral votes on 27.4% of the popular vote. It was a real three way race. That’s going to make comparisons difficult. I’d say it has to be considered in the running. Wasn’t Ted given the boot by his party and running as a third-party candidate (The name Bullmoose Party comes to mind). ---
**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:** [March 11, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/22 "2019-03-11T16:04:19Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > In the 1984 election, Reagan received all of the electoral votes except Washington D.C. and Wisconsin Reagan won [Wisconsin](https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/) in '84. It was Minnesota, Mondales home state, that Reagan lost by only 3761 votes. > [@md2000](#): > > Wasn’t Ted given the boot by his party and running as a third-party candidate (The name Bullmoose Party comes to mind). He failed to get the Republican nomination, but he wasn’t President then. Taft was. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2019, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/23 "2019-03-11T16:37:04Z")
Roosevelt voluntarily left the Presidency in 1908 and sought the election of his selected successor, Taft. But Roosevelt felt that Taft didn’t follow his policies as closely as Roosevelt wanted and so came charging into battle. He did well in primaries for the Republican nomination but in that era those weren’t as important as the slates controlled by party bosses and those were mostly loyal to Taft. Roosevelt became the official candidate of the Progressive Party in 1912. That got the unofficial nickname of the Bull Moose party when Roosevelt, who had had a serious illness, declared he felt as fit as bull moose. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/24 "2019-03-12T12:30:37Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Reagan won [Wisconsin](https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/) in '84. > > It was Minnesota, Mondales home state, that Reagan lost by only 3761 votes. Slip o’ the keyboard. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/25 "2019-03-12T12:52:36Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > In the 1936 election, Roosevelt received all of the electoral votes except Maine and Vermont, leading to the saying “As Maine goes, so goes Vermont”, riffing on the well-known Maine boast, “[As Maine goes, so goes the nation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_Maine_goes,_so_goes_the_nation)”. > In the 1972 election, Nixon received all of the electoral votes except Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts, leading to the mnemonic, “ **W** e **D** emocrats **C** an’t **M** iss”. > In the 1984 election, Reagan received all of the electoral votes except Washington D.C. and Wisconsin, but did not lead to any interesting sayings. (The Mondale primary campaign did have an amusing riff on the Wendy’s “Where’s the Beef” ad.) > > In each of these three cases the winning side received about 60% of the popular vote. And in which of these diud the _incumnbent_ suffer a defeat?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/26 "2019-03-12T14:20:19Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > In the 1972 election, Nixon received all of the electoral votes except Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts, leading to the mnemonic, “ **W** e **D** emocrats **C** an’t **M** iss”. And a a bumper sticker I saw in the early 70’s: “Don’t Blame Me, I’m From Massachusetts” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/27 "2019-03-12T14:27:32Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I > In the 1972 election, Nixon received all of the electoral votes except Washington, D.C. and Massachusetts, leading to the mnemonic, “ **W** e **D** emocrats **C** an’t **M** iss”. Hijack: Also lead to the saying during Watergate: Don’t blame me. I’m from Massachusetts. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/28 "2019-03-12T14:44:13Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Slip o’ the keyboard. Sorry about that. I know that, for many people, the frozen states, full of nice people, tend to blur together. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/29 "2019-03-12T14:52:46Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Five presidents were defeated at their parties convention and were not nominated. I was curious about this and found: > **[When Has A President Been Denied His Party's Nomination?](https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/07/a_president_denied_renominatio.html)** > > Which presidents were denied the nomination of their party for another term? Of the five, only one (Franklin Pierce) was an elected President, the others were VPs who took over after the death of a POTUS. ---
**Author:** ![Dana\_Scully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5daacb/32.png) [@Dana\_Scully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dana_Scully)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/30 "2019-03-12T17:14:07Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Five presidents were defeated at their parties convention and were not nominated. which ones? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/31 "2019-03-13T02:15:29Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > I was curious about this and found: > > [When Has A President Been Denied His Party's Nomination? : It's All Politics : NPR](https://www.npr.org/sections/politicaljunkie/2009/07/a_president_denied_renominatio.html) > > Of the five, only one (Franklin Pierce) was an elected President, the others were VPs who took over after the death of a POTUS. Grant was not the sitting president, but as a former President he attempted to secure the 1880 Republican nomination and failed. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2019, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/32 "2019-03-13T02:51:38Z")
You’re all wrong Franklin Piece wasn’t even renominated by his party in 1856. Can’t get worse than that running for re-election. ETA: Except Zimaane ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/33 "2019-03-13T14:55:11Z")
> [@Dana\_Scully](#): > > which ones? Pierce, Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Arthur. Pierce was the only one who had been elected president, all the others were vice presidents who ascended after death of the elected president. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/34 "2019-03-13T15:09:40Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > And a a bumper sticker I saw in the early 70’s: “Don’t Blame Me, I’m From Massachusetts” I saw one during that time that said, “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas.” (Douglas, labeled as the “Pink Lady” by Nixon, lost to him in their 1950 Senate race. Now there’s an [apple](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripps_Pink) named after her. :D) ---
**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:** [March 13, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/35 "2019-03-13T15:51:12Z")
LBJ quit the race in early 1968 probably because it looked like he had a good chance of not getting the Dem nomination that year. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/36 "2019-03-13T16:17:05Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > LBJ quit the race in early 1968 probably because it looked like he had a good chance of not getting the Dem nomination that year. Nah, he knew he could get renominated (the Democratic Party was a lot less transparent and primary-driven in those days) but he knew he was quickly losing public support and might lose in the general election. Also, George Wallace had announced his third-party candidacy in February. Johnson may have figured that, even if he could’ve beaten the Republicans with a unified Democratic Party, he couldn’t win with a 3-way split among Democrats. (Yes, Truman pulled it off, but 1948 was not 1968.) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/37 "2019-03-13T16:23:40Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I saw one during that time that said, “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted for Helen Gahagan Douglas.” _"Hollywood has oft tried to mix_ _Show business with politics._ _From Helen Gahagan_ _to… Ronald Reagan?"_ - Tom Lehrer, showing off his incredible rhyming talent. In the early 60s, when Reagan was running for Governor. The idea of him one day becoming President was all but inconceivable. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863/38 "2019-03-13T19:08:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Pierce, Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Arthur. Pierce was the only one who had been elected president, all the others were vice presidents who ascended after death of the elected president. 33 Johnson was actually a Democrat; he ran with Lincoln in 1864 as part of a “unity” ticket. He tried, but, unsurprisingly, he never won much support in the GOP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-worst-defeat-suffered-by-a-president-running-for-reelection/830863.md?page=1)