This is the second to last blog of my presidential election series. Thank you for reading any. If you made it this far, there may be something worth reading at the end.

            It’s almost election day and we (those nerds like me who follow the news TOO much) are exhausted. For some reason we follow inaccurate and meaningless polls as if they were the word of God, and, they are usually wrong. Therefore, I am going to geek out some historical data.

            In 2024 Donald Trump will be one of a handful of candidates on the general election ballot three or more times. Now, the Twelfth Amendment of 1804 ‘fixed’ the way we select the president. Before that, whoever was the runner-up became vice president. #12 made a necessary correction and distinguished candidates for president and vice president. This made my analysis a little murky. Here are those with three or more and their sports-like records:

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson are muddy, pre-12th but need mentioning. In the actual races for president: Adams was 1-1, Jefferson 2-1.

Andrew Jackson: 1824 (Lost- very interesting), 1828 and 1832 Won. 2-1

Henry Clay: Lost 1824, 1832, 1844. 0-3

Grover Cleveland: Won 1884, Lost 1888, Won 1892. Won 2-1

William Jennings Bryan: Lost 1896, 1900, 1908. 0-3

 Franklin Roosevelt: Won 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944.

Richard Nixon: Lost 1960, Won 1968, 1973. Won 2-1

Donald Trump: Won 2016, Lost 2020, ???? 2024

            That’s it. Only eight men have been in the race as a major party nominee at least three times. Then we have the curious case of Martin Van Buren. He won in 1836, lost in 1840, and ran in 1848 for the Free-Soil party and won 10% of the vote. That’s three times with an asterisk.

            Many of these men have run for vice president as well. Adams and Jefferson both were, but that was before the Twelfth Amendment. Van Buren was VP for Jackson’s second term, that’s sort of four. The vice presidency wasn’t a stepping stone to the White House unless the president died, as no VPs won the White House after Van Buren did in 1836 until George HW Bush in 1988. His record was 2-0 for VP, and 1-1 for president.

            Richard Nixon was elected vice president twice, so he was technically on the national ticket five times. Most people forget a relatively unknown Franklin Roosevelt was James Cox’s running mate in 1920 when they lost, so he, like Nixon, was five times as well. Nixon and Joe Biden were also elected as presidents after being out of office on comebacks.

            2024 was so hot I didn’t want to get into any speculation or the like until after the election. I kept a spiral notebook of notes for the last fifteen months of this election cycle and considered a book out as fast as I could about this election cycle but have been an uncharacteristic windsock for me about doing it. Are people tired of this election? Would people want to read a book that’s quality would have a direct correlation with how soon I publish it? Let me know, chime in if you read this, you can find me. Wink!