It seems as if many of our recent Presidents were serving as governers when they were nominated: George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter.
Wouldn’t you descibe these men as “Washington outsiders”? Why do the politcal parties seem to prefer these type of nominees, instead of a Senator or Congressman? Do “Washington insiders” make better VPs?
Governor is more-or-less the same job as Prez, so it’s a natural step up.
2 words: electoral votes. Usually the nominee is from a state with a large electoral count (e.g. California, Texas). Usually it’s a given that a nominee will carry his state. Unless you’re Al Gore, of course. 
Also, the nominee can claim leadership skills without having a lot of votes under his belt that his opponents can scrutinize, unlike Congressmen.
And finally they are usually more high profile than some councilman from Timbuktu.
I think if you’ll look it up, you’ll a lot off the nominees for president (and vice president) were governor (or ex-governor) when they ran. There was a gap in the 60s when governors didn’t get the nominations, but Reagan and Carter changed that. Let’s see:
2000 Bush – Gov. Gore – VP
1996 Clinton – Pres. Dole – ex-Sen
1992 Clinton – Gov. Bush – Pres
1988 Bush – VP Dukakis – Gov
1984 Reagan – Pres. Mondale – ex-VP
1980 Reagan – ex-gov Carter – Pres
1976 Carter – ex-gov Ford – Pres
1972 Nixon – Pres McGovern – Sen.
1968 Nixon – ex-VP Humphrey – VP
1964 LBJ – Pres Goldwater – Sen.
1960 JFK – Sen. Nixon – VP
1956 Ike – Pres Stevenson – Ex-gov
1952 Ike – ex-general Stevenson – Gov
1948 Truman – Pres Dewey – Gov
1944 FDR – Pres Dewey – Gov
1940 FDR – Pres Wilkie – no elected office
1936 FDR – Pres Landon – Gov
1932 FDR – Gov Hoover – Pres
1928 Hoover – Sec of Commerce Smith – Gov
Those are all I can do off the top of my head. President seems to be the most common, but there are plenty of governors. I do know that only two senators have ever been elected president – JFK and Harding.
I remember when it seemed unrealistic for them to run.
RealityChuck, your sig made my day!
Don’t we know archaic barrel,
Lullaby lillaboy, Louisville Lou!
Trolley Molly don’t love Harold,
Boola boola Pennsacoola hullabaloo!
You may now return to your regularly scheduled thread…
Today, “Washington Insider” has the connotation of professional politician, beholding to various special interest groups, etc. etc. etc. A governor can say “I have chief executive experience, but I’m not a Washington Insider. I pledge to go to Washington and clean up that mess, blah blah blah.” They figure that no one will figure out that there are just as many special interest groups, insiders, etc. at the state level as at the national level. The dynamics are largely the same.
From memory (so there may be some goofs)
GW - not governor
JA - not governor
TJ - Gov. of VA
JM - not governor
JM - governor of VA
JQA - not governor
AJ - not governor
MVB - governor of NY
WHH - governor of IN Territory
JT - governor of VA
MF - not governor
JKP - not governor
FP - not governor
JB - not governor
AL - not governor
AJ - not governor
UG - not governor
RH - governor of OH
JG - not governor
CAA - not governor
GC - governor of NY
BJ - not governor
GC - governor of NY
WM - not governor
TR - not governor
WHT - not governor
WW - governor of NJ
WGH - not governor
CC - governor of VT
HH - not governor
FDR - not governor
HT - not governor
DE- not governor
JK - not governor
AJ - not governor
RN - not governor
GF - not governor
JC - governor of GA
RR - governor of CA
GB - not governor
BC - governor of AR
GB - governor of TX
Quite a rundown, RealityChuck. Do you happen to know what years Carter and Reagan were governors of their respective states? Reagan was governor of California in the late 60s, and may have carried over into the 70s, but I’m not sure. I’m just wondering if his case is unique. While we’re discussing governors aspiring to the presidency, how many people have run when they’ve been out of elected office for the better part of a decade. There’s a similarity to Nixon, I suppose; I don’t know what he was up to during the early/mid 60s. And I seem to remember Reagan running for the Republican nomination in '76, so he wasn’t totally out of the limelight.
And on the subject of governors becoming president, how many of them came from states that elect their governor in off-presidential years. I grew up out in Washington, and I think that state’s governor would be too busy running for re-election to mount a campaign for the White House. Bush the Younger was free to campaign knowing that his day job was safe for another two years.
Here’s a list of elected presidents, with the last nonpresidential office they held before being elected. There are 10 governors, 9 vice-presidents, 6 Cabinet secretaries, 4 senators, 3 generals, 2 ambassadors, and 1 congressional representative, plus a federal D.A. and the Constitutional Convention chairman.
The overwhelming pattern is that high executive-branch officials are preferred to legislators.
Bush Jr.: Governor
Clinton: Governor
Bush: VP
Reagan: Governor
Carter: Governor
Nixon: VP
Johnson: VP
Kennedy: Senator
Eisenhower: Army general, no previous political office
Truman: VP
F.D. Roosevelt: Governor
Hoover: Secretary of Commerce
Coolidge: VP
Harding: Senator
Wilson: Governor
Taft: Secretary of War
T. Roosevelt: VP
McKinley: Governor
Cleveland: Governor
B. Harrison: Senator
Garfield: Senator
Hayes: Governor
Grant: Army general, no previous political office
Lincoln: Representative
Buchanan: Ambassador
Pierce: Federal D.A., New Hampshire
Taylor: Army general, no previous political office
Polk: Governor
Harrison: Ambassador
Van Buren: VP
Jackson: Senator
J.Q. Adams: Secretary of State
Monroe: Secretary of War
Madison: Secretary of State
Jefferson: VP
Adams: VP
Washington: Chairman, Constitutional Convention