Governors make up the Presidential winners lately

[protect freedom impeach bush now]

Clinton - Arkansas Governor

BushJR - Texass Governor
(but lost election, Supreme Court appointed him)

Reagan - California Governor

BushSR - Texas congressman
Only BushSR rode the coattails of 8 yrs of Reagan Presidency,
otherwise BushSR didnt stand a chance in hell of winning
the Presidency.

......and wasnt Carter a Governor too ?



NOW Howard Dean - Vermont Governor will be next President

[onehandle]

1. President Gore...

Senator then VP.

[TheBigGuy]

2. Yes, Carter was a governor.

Another interesting angle is that Nixon was not holding office, I think, when he ran in 1968.

But you do pick up on an interesting angle:

For the post WWII era:

Truman: Senator (but came in via the VP slot)
Eisenhower: not holding office, not a career politican
Kennedy: Senator
LBJ: Senator (but came in via the VP)
Nixon: Senator (last office was VP)
Ford: Congressman (but came in via the VP slot)
Carter: Governor
Reagan: Governor
Bush: Congressman (but came in via the VP)
Clinton: Governor
Bush: Governor

So it looks the three best predictive offices for presidents are Governor,Senator, and being a Vice President.

The only real anomaly is Ike.

[KaraokeKarlton]

4. Not quite

In all but one case, every Congressman or Senator to be elected did so only after first being the VP. That implies that Kerry, Edwards, Kucinich, and Gephardt stand virtually no chance of becoming president unless Dean chooses them as his VP. :D

[JohnKleeb]

3. I dont have a problem with this theory

but you can use the same theory and say a new englander hasnt been elected since JFK, and before that Coolidge. That said being a Kucinich supporter I dont use that kind of history to determine the odds.