Friday, January 21, 2005
Presidents' Former Lives
When John Kerry and John Edwards and Dick Gephardt all were running for President, I thought to myself, "Gosh--Senators really like to try to become President, but they sure don't succeed a lot. I wonder how many sitting U.S. Senators have ever been elected President?" I continued wondering for months until this afternoon I had the ambition (and unwillingness to study like I should) to look it up.
The answer is five. W.H. Harrison, Pierce, B. Harrison, Harding, and Kennedy.
In case you're interested, the other occupations of presidents immediately before becoming president are:
Vice President: 13 (But this high number is deceiving; nine of them (Tyler, Fillmore, A. Johnson, Arthur, T. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, L. Johnson, Ford) are because the Pres died or resigned--only 4 sitting VPs were elected on their own the first time: J. Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, G.H.W. Bush)
Governor of some state: 12 (Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Hayes, Cleveland I, McKinley, Wilson, F.D. Roosevelt, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, G.W. Bush--for the record, Ohio (Hayes and McKinley) and New York (Cleveland I and FDR) each had two)
Military: 4 (Washington, Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower--one from each of the really big wars except WWI)
Secretary of State: 2 (Madison, J.Q. Adams--both a long time ago)
U.S. Congressman: 2 (Lincoln, Garfield)
Lawyer: 2 (Cleveland II (waiting out the four years till he could come back), Nixon (sure, he was a former VP, but what was he doing in 1968? Just runnin’ for Pres!))
Minister to England: 1 (Buchanan)
Secretary of War: 1 (Taft)
Secretary of Commerce: 1 (Hoover)
So there you go. If you want to be Pres, be a governor first. That's the moral of the story, especially when you look at recent history.
The answer is five. W.H. Harrison, Pierce, B. Harrison, Harding, and Kennedy.
In case you're interested, the other occupations of presidents immediately before becoming president are:
Vice President: 13 (But this high number is deceiving; nine of them (Tyler, Fillmore, A. Johnson, Arthur, T. Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, L. Johnson, Ford) are because the Pres died or resigned--only 4 sitting VPs were elected on their own the first time: J. Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, G.H.W. Bush)
Governor of some state: 12 (Monroe, Jackson, Polk, Hayes, Cleveland I, McKinley, Wilson, F.D. Roosevelt, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, G.W. Bush--for the record, Ohio (Hayes and McKinley) and New York (Cleveland I and FDR) each had two)
Military: 4 (Washington, Taylor, Grant, Eisenhower--one from each of the really big wars except WWI)
Secretary of State: 2 (Madison, J.Q. Adams--both a long time ago)
U.S. Congressman: 2 (Lincoln, Garfield)
Lawyer: 2 (Cleveland II (waiting out the four years till he could come back), Nixon (sure, he was a former VP, but what was he doing in 1968? Just runnin’ for Pres!))
Minister to England: 1 (Buchanan)
Secretary of War: 1 (Taft)
Secretary of Commerce: 1 (Hoover)
So there you go. If you want to be Pres, be a governor first. That's the moral of the story, especially when you look at recent history.
Comments: Post a Comment
