Romney's loss: How he compares to other presidential also-rans

John Kerry and John McCain went back to the Senate. Michael Dukakis completed his term as governor of Massachusetts and decided to become a college professor. Some of his students still talk about what a terrific teacher he is.
 
Q: Who should not be emulated?
 
A: Horace Greeley, who ran against President Grant, died within a month of the election, which he lost badly. He'd just lost his wife, and when he went back home, he realized he'd lost his beloved newspaper, too.

He had the most tragic life of a losing candidate.
 
Q: Who did the most to help his rival after the campaign?
 
A: Stephen Douglas worked very hard to work with Abraham Lincoln and convince the South to not secede.

The assumption is that Lincoln is a secular saint, and Douglas, his rival, must have been representing the dark side. There's no doubt he was a racist and on the wrong side of slavery.

But when the chips were down, he made a heroic effort. When he realized that he had no chance to be elected president, he devoted all his energies to trying to preserve the union and he spoke highly of Abraham Lincoln.

The only one you could compare that to is Wendell Willkie, who ran against Franklin Roosevelt.

FDR asked for his help to sell "lend-lease" to the American public, to lend weapons, ships, and tanks to the British before the US got into World War II.

There was a huge sentiment to not enter the war, but it passed with a narrow margin. An alliance between the two also helped get Congress to extend the draft six months before Pearl Harbor.
 
Q: What about bad behavior? Were any also-rans less than gracious?
 
A: The two most ungracious of modern times were Barry Goldwater and McGovern. They really disliked the men they lost to.

Goldwater was appalled by some of Lyndon Johnson's tactics. Even though it was clear he was losing on Election Night, he didn't concede until the next morning and gave a fairly defiant speech.

When McGovern conceded, he said there was no way we're going to rally behind policies we abhor. When Inauguration Day came, he refused to show up and went abroad to criticize Nixon's behavior on foreign soil that day.

That would generally be considered bad form.
 
Q: Who's the most obscure also-ran of all?
 
A: That's probably Alton Parker, who ran against Teddy Roosevelt.

He was of the old "front porch campaign" school, while Roosevelt was very energetic and toured the country.

Parker is the only losing candidate who's never had a biography published. That's pretty obscure when you're up against candidates like Lewis Cass and Winfield Scott Hancock.
 
Q: Ahem.
 
A: I'm afraid he's not driving me to write one. I've got a few book in mind, but he's not in the hopper. Maybe someday!

Randy Dotinga is a Monitor contributor.

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