# Why do governers become President? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193 "2000-12-18T18:49:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/1 "2000-12-18T18:49:49Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/2 "2000-12-18T21:13:27Z")
Governor is more-or-less the same job as Prez, so it’s a natural step up. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/3 "2000-12-18T22:00:27Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/4 "2000-12-19T01:58:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![My\_Sister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e68b1a/32.png) [@My\_Sister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/My_Sister)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/5 "2000-12-19T08:00:02Z")
I remember when it seemed unrealistic for them to run. ---
**Author:** ![Geobabe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/geobabe/32/3908_2.png) [@Geobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geobabe)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/6 "2000-12-19T19:47:55Z")
**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… ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/7 "2000-12-19T20:54:40Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/8 "2000-12-19T20:58:48Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Danimal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Danimal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danimal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2000, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-governers-become-president/46193/9 "2000-12-19T21:31:35Z")
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