Thursday, May 31, 2012

What has happened to the VP losers?

What has happened to the VP candidates on the losing ticket?  You might think that becoming someone's running mate is a springboard to bigger and better things.  This, for the VP loser is usually not the case.  Here is a sample of what has happened to the non-incumbent VP losers in recent history.

2008--Sarah Palin (with John McCain, lost to Obama/Biden) is one who had a lot of promise when she ran with John McCain.  However, she was forced to resign as the Governor of Alaska before she completed a full term.  Currently, she is a political analyst for Fox News.  Even though there have been attempts to draft Sarah for something bigger, it seems more likely that her political career is over.  If you search this blog, you may find a suggestion at what Mrs. Palin can do to resurrect her career.

2004--John Edwards (with John Kerry lost to Bush/Cheney) returned to the Senate.  He was tried recently for using campaign funds to cover-up an extra-marital affair, but the trail ended with a hung jury on 5 of the 6 counts.  Edwards was acquitted on the other count.  Likely will not see Edwards run for office again.

2000--Joe Liberman (with Al Gore, lost to Bush/Cheney) lost his party's nomination for his senate seat 2006 but successfully ran as an independent but would still be close to the Democrats in the Senate during his last term.  He is retiring from the Senate in 2013.  He may not be finished with politics.  You may see him take a run at the presidency in 2016.

1996--Jack Kemp (with Bob Dole, lost to Clinton/Gore) was retired from office when tapped by Bob Dole in 1996, after serving as HUD secretary in the Bush, Sr administration.  After the election, he co-founded a Super PAC known as Empower America which was a forerunner to Freedom Works, an organization which has helped defeat many GOP incumbents in Congress in 2010 and 2012 and replace them with Tea Party friendly men and women.  He passed away in 2009.

1988--Lloyd Bentsen (with Dukakis, lost to Bush/Quayle) finished his term in the Senate and would serve as Secretary of the Treasury in the first term of the Clinton Administration.  He passed away in 2006.

1984--Geraldine Ferraro (with Mondale, lost to Reagan/Bush) made two unsuccessful runs for the US Senate after 1984, but lost in the primary election both times.  She served as the US Ambassador to the UN Commission on Human Rights in the Clinton Administration.  She passed away in 2011.

1976--Bob Dole (with Ford, lost to Carter/Mondale) would return to the Senate and become the GOP presidential candidate in 1996, losing to Bill Clinton.  (See Jack Kemp above).

1972--Sargent Shriver (with McGovern, lost to Nixon/Agnew) ran unsuccessfully for the presidential nomination in 1976 and did not return to politics afterwards.  He was married to the former Eunice Kennedy sister of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Edward Kennedy.  He passed away in 2011.  His son-in-law, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would become Governor of California.

1968--Edmund Muskie (with Humphrey, lost to Nixon/Agnew) ran unsuccessfully for the democratic presidential nomination in 1972 and 1976 and would serve as Secretary of State under Jimmy Carter.  He passed away in 1996.

1964--William E. Miller (with Goldwater, lost to Johnson/Humphrey) returned to his law practice after running with Barry Goldwater.  He would not be involved in politics again.  He passed away in 1983.

1960--Henry Cabot Lodge (with Nixon, lost to Kennedy/Johnson) would run unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination in 1964.  He served in several ambassadorships afterwards before retiring in 1977.  He passed away in 1985.

1956--Estes Kefauver (with Stevenson, lost to Eisenhower/Nixon) returned to his senate seat after his ticket failed to unseat Eisenhower.  He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1960.  He died in 1963, two days after suffering a mild heart attack on the senate floor.

1952--John Sparkman (with Stevenson, lost to Eisenhower/Nixon) returned to his senate seat and served there until 1979, when he retired at the age of 80.  He passed away in 1985.

1948--Earl Warren (With Dewey, lost to Truman/Barkley) was serving as the Governor of California when tapped by Thomas E. Dewey.  After his governorship was over, he served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1953 to 1969.  His court was known for many landmark decisions on civil and criminal rights.  He passed away in 1974.

1944--John W. Bricker (With Dewey, lost to Roosevelt/Truman) was the outgoing Governor of Ohio when he ran for Vice President with Thomas E. Dewey.  He would be elected as a Senator for Ohio in 1946 and sever for two terms.  He was upset in the election of 1958 and would return to his law practice afterwards.  He passed away in 1986 at the age of 92.

1940--Charles L. McNary (with Wilkie, lost to Roosevelt/Wallace) would return to his senate seat.  He died in office in 1944.  McNary Dam on the Columbia River is named in his honor.

1936--Frank Knox (with Landon, lost to Roosevelt/Garner) ran as a Republican with Alf Landon in 1936.  He would then serve as Secretary of the Navy from 1940, as Roosevelt tried to get bi-partisan support for his pre-WWII military buildup by appointing Republicans to senior military posts.  He served there until his death in 1944.

1928--Joseph Taylor Robinson (with Smith, lost to Hoover/Curtis) would return to his senate seat where he served until his death in 1937.

1924--Charles W. Bryan (with Davis, lost to Coolidge/Dawes), who was serving as Governor of Nebraska when John W. Davis would tap him as his VP running mate.  At that time, the Governorship of Nebraska was only a two-year term, and Bryan would not be on the Nebraska ticket in 1924.  He returned to the Governorship of Nebraska after the election of 1930 and would serve another 4 years.  After that, he served a term as the Mayor of Lincoln, Nebraska.  He passed away in 1945.  His brother was William Jennings Bryan, and was a 3 time candidate for President.  This is history's only set of brothers to be nominated for President/Vice President.

1920--Franklin D. Roosevelt (with Cox, lost to Harding/Coolidge) served as assistant Secretary of the Navy during the first World War, would become the Governor of New York in 1929.  He would successfully win the presidency in 1932.

1916--Charles W. Fairbanks (with Hughes, lost to Wilson/Marshall), had been Vice President under Theodore Roosevelt, ran again with Charles Evans Hughes.  After the loss in 1916, he returned to his private law practice, where his health would begin to deteriorate.  He passed away in 1918.  The city of Fairbanks, Alaska is named after him.

1908--John W. Kern (with Bryan, lost to Taft/Sherman) would return to his senate seat after losing with William Jennings Bryan in 1908.  He died in office in 1917.

1904--Henry G. Davis (with Parker, lost to Roosevelt/Fairbanks) was not involved in politics neither before nor after running for VP with Alton B. Parker.  He passed away in 1916.

1900--Adlai E. Stevenson I (with Bryan, lost to McKinley/Roosevelt) was VP under Grover Cleveland and ran with William Jennings Bryan in 1900. He is the first of two persons to run for VP with different presidential candidates.  After the election, he would return to private practice.  His grandson, Adlai E. Stevenson II would be the democratic nominee for President in 1952 and 1956 and served as Governor of Illinois from 1951 to 1959.  (See Estes Kafauver and John Spackman, above.)  He passed away in 1914.

Since 1900, this is what has happened to the losing VP candidates:

7 returned to serve in the office that they held at the time they accepted the nomination and did not (or have not so far) seek anything higher (3 are still living).
Davis, Kern,  Robinson, McNary, Sparkman, Liberman, Edwards, Palin.

6 would run for president.  Only 2 would win their party's nomination, 1 would win the presidency and 1 is still living.  Roosevelt (Became president in 1933, served until his death in 1945),  Kefauver (Did not win party nomination in 1960, lost to Kennedy), Lodge (Did not win party nomination, lost to Goldwater in 1964), Muskie (Twice: Did not win party nomination, lost to McGovern in 1972 and again to Carter in 1976), Shriver (Did not win the party nomination, also lost to Carter in 1976), Dole (Earned party nomination, lost to incumbent Bill Clinton in 1996 in the General Election).

5 retired from politics, did not run for public office again (none are still living).  Stevenson (1900), Davis, Fairbanks (1916), Miller, Kemp.

3 served in other elected offices. (None are still living).  Roosevelt (NY Governor, President), Bryan (Mayor of Lincoln, NE), Bricker (US Senate)

3 served in a Presidential Cabinet post (None are still living).  Knox (Secretary of the Navy 1940-1944), Muskie (Secretary of State 1977-1981), Bentsen (Secretary of the Treasury 1993-1997).

2 served in Ambassadorships (None are still living).  Lodge, Ferraro

1 served in the US Supreme Court (None are still living).  Warren

Now then, for the winners; it is common knowledge that many of them have become the president, or at least earned their party's nomination for the highest elected office.  Others have moved on to a different large level of respect.  But many of the losers have become lost to history.  People remember Dan Quayle in spite of all of his gaffes. Almost no one outside of Tennessee has heard of Estes Kefauver.  Running for the Vice Presidency is a risk and failing to win can end a career.