Best president never (to date) to have served

[Bossy Monkey]

The "to date" in there is for Gore and Kerry, of course.

Edit: Wellstone replaces Stevenson. Apologies to anyone who's madly for Adlai.

Editedit: Replacing Fritz with Tilden, though I think the former would have been more likely to get a vote eventually

[FarLeftRage]

1. Replace Dewey with William Jennings Bryan

I can only wonder what he might have done...

[Bossy Monkey]

14. Thanks. I did that thing n/t

[WI_DEM]

2. I would say Hubert Humphrey

and Al Gore would be my second choice.

[Bossy Monkey]

10. He's up n/t

[BOSSHOG]

3. Hubert Humphrey

[Bossy Monkey]

11. He's up now n/t

[saltpoint]

4. A lot of good choices there. I would throw in Sam Tilden, who was

cheated out of the presidency by Rutherford B. Hayes.

For political history mavens, here's a link:

http://elections.harpweek.com/controversy.htm

[Bossy Monkey]

15. I'll put him up if there are any non vote getters at the end of the edit

period.

Another proud moment in my home state's history; still too small for a country and too large for a lunatic asylum.

[saltpoint]

24. Hi, undisclosedlocation. You are a brave soul to be a Democrat in

South Carolina nowadays. I remember that quotation from Secession days. It doesn't sound to me like that problem is your fault. Let's blame the Republicans of nowadays Dixie.

I have read a quotation attributed to the late Strom Thurmond in which Thurmond, responding to reporters' inquiry about his being something of a ladies' man, said (or was reported to have said):

"Yes, it's true. I do love the ladies. When I die you'll have to whack my hardon down with a ball bat."

It seems as if ol' Strom thought quite a bit of himself! I don't know if the attributed quote is his, because needless to say, the NYTimes et al wouldn't print it.

Don't worry about Tilden. I'm not really a huge fan, but wanted to draw a parallel between the Hayes theft and Dubya's.

:hi: :dem:

[Bossy Monkey]

26. Not so bad in Columbia, though at the moment I'm in forever benighted

Lexington County. You know how all your tax money goes to help all the poor folk in SC? Well, it all winds up in Columbia, and the people who get that money instead of the poor people move out to Lexington Co. and complain about their high taxes. This was a Republican county when it was still the Solid South, before even Strom had switched if I remember correctly. So much to be proud of.

Speaking of Strom, he always had a reputation as a skirt-chaser (I speak literally) but I don't know if he really said your quote. By the time I was awake and alert he was already a lot better known for malapropisms and for forgetting entire speeches than for colorful quotes.

[saltpoint]

32. I was for a while a work associate to one of his former interns. This guy

was a very able soul and confirms your accounts of Strom forgetting entire passages of speeches. Page after page.

Well you hang in there, and accept our good wishes. I've lived in New York and San Francisco, where it is much easier to be a Democrat. It's a lot more difficult in the deep red states.

[Bossy Monkey]

21. He's up n/t

[saltpoint]

25. Good god! This might be the first time Tilden has been on ANY poll on DU.

:toast:

[novalib]

5. WIlliam Jennings Bryan

A man who had a heart for The People.

(OK, so he did argue for evolution in the Scopes trial....)

[Bossy Monkey]

18. He's up n/t

[Mojambo]

6. RFK. n/t

[Bossy Monkey]

12. He's up n/t

[sheelz]

7. Paul Wellstone

[Bossy Monkey]

16. I'll add him if anyone's shut out as of the end of the editing hour

I have a feeling he might win.

[Bossy Monkey]

20. He's up n/t

[Richard Steele]

8. McGovern.

"Nothing inspiring has come out of the conservative mind
since the age of John Adams." George McGovern

Instead, we elected Nixon. What a different world might we
live in today if we hadn't.

Of course, things have gotten so bad here in 2006 that,
by today's standards, Nixon governed as a moderate liberal.

[madinmaryland]

9. Eugene McCarthy.

[Bossy Monkey]

13. He's up now n/t

[ScreamingMeemie]

17. I think Bobby Kennedy would have been more of a legend than he

already is if he had made it to election day.

[shenmue]

19. I didn't live back then...

but from what my mother told me, I had to pick Bobby Kennedy.

[sandnsea]

22. I have to go with Bobby

Even though I think JK had the potential of putting us on the right course for this century, Bobby in 1968 could have put us on a course where Reagan would never have been elected and we wouldn't have had this lurch to the right to contend with at all. So I have to go with Bobby.

[Yupster]

23. Other - Stephen Douglas

I think Senator Douglas would have ben able to avert the Civil War. To me he's the best president never to have served.

[FredScuttle]

27. It can only be this man

Common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny

http://www.paulsen.com/

[Hamlette]

28. Adlai.....easy

he was the first true egghead to run for prez. American's wouldn't elect him because he was too smart.

We are a nation of idiots.

edited to fix typo

[Bossy Monkey]

34. He was also the first person I know of who was almost reflexively

referred to as the Best President America Never Had. I thought for sure he would run away with, well, third place anyway, but he just wasn't getting any votes. Not the first time Adlai had that problem, unfortunately.

I dunno, I think Wilson was a legitimate egghead. Maybe a creep and a racist, but definitely an egghead.

[ecstatic]

29. umm... Where is Dr. Dean's name?

:shrug

[Bossy Monkey]

33. Originally, it was just going to be major party nominees, then

I started adding them as they were suggested. No slight was intended to Dr Dean nor to anyone else for that matter.

[NJ Democrats]

30. RFK with

Gore right behind.

[madokie]

31. easy one to answer