View Full Version : Why has only 1 congressman ever the won the presidency?
Starks
02-01-2008, 05:06 PM
Simple. The lower house has been deemed unworthy by the media and powers tha be within the parties.
LandonCook
02-01-2008, 05:15 PM
I'm a history buff and I dont know who it is... who is the one guy?
Neomatrix
02-01-2008, 05:17 PM
Probably because they have a solid record of voting.......He He:D
steph3n
02-01-2008, 05:18 PM
Lincoln
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 05:18 PM
James Garfield was the only man to go straight from Congress to the White House. And then proceeded to get assassinated less than a year into his first term...
joenaab
02-01-2008, 05:19 PM
Something else interesting is that I'm not sure many senators have, at least not in my lifetime. And so far it looks like it will be McCain vs. Clinton, so without an upset by RP, a Senator would win.
Grandson of Liberty
02-01-2008, 05:19 PM
Millard Fillmore was a congressman. (had to look it up)
edited: nevermind, wasn't elected.
Mystile
02-01-2008, 05:19 PM
well House Representatives hold a lot less power than Senators do, and there's more of them and are not as well known individually. It's quite a big jump from Congressman to President.
LandonCook
02-01-2008, 05:19 PM
James Garfield was the only man to go straight from Congress to the White House. And then proceeded to get assassinated less than a year into his first term...
Thats reassuring...
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 05:21 PM
Millard Fillmore was a congressman. (had to look it up)
Yes, he was a congressman. But he was only elected to be Vice President. He became President when Zachary Taylor died.
Several Presidents were congressmen at one point or another. But the ONLY President to be elected straight from Congress was James Garfield.
All other Presidents (save the founding fathers) were Senators, Governors, Vice Presidents or war heroes before becoming President.
sgrooms
02-01-2008, 05:21 PM
Thats reassuring...
same thought
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 05:23 PM
Something else interesting is that I'm not sure many senators have, at least not in my lifetime. And so far it looks like it will be McCain vs. Clinton, so without an upset by RP, a Senator would win.
The last active Senator to get elected President was John Kennedy in 1960.
The last few Presidents were Governors or Vice Presidents:
George W Bush (Governor)
Clinton (Governor)
George H W Bush (Vice Prez)
Reagan (Governor)
Carter (Governor)
Ford (never elected - promoted from Vice Prez)
Nixon (Governor)
Johnson (Vice Prez)
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 05:28 PM
The real reason has nothing to do with Congressmen being lower on the totem pole than senators. It's that when you're in a legislature you have to take positions (by voting) on major issues. And what is politically expedient changes with time. So you end up getting killed on your record.
Edwards, Kerry, Gephardt and Hillary were all personally anti-War but voted for the Iraq War because they thought they needed to in order to become President. They saw what happened to anti-war Democrats after the success of the first Persian Gulf War. I'm sure Obama would have voted for the war, too, and for the same reasons.
But since Obama wasn't in the Senate, he can now back-track and pretend to take whatever position he wants. He can claim he was anti-war in 2003 and nobody can contradict him because there is no voting record to go back to.
It's rare for a legislator to have a perfect record of consistency, like Dr. Paul. In fact, I can't think of another. That's probably why I've spent hours canvassing for him, come to think of it....:D
Goldwater Conservative
02-01-2008, 05:30 PM
I'm a history buff and I dont know who it is... who is the one guy?
James Garfield is the only one to have been elected directly from the House, and I didn't have to look that up. :)
Grandson of Liberty
02-01-2008, 05:31 PM
Yes, he was a congressman. But he was only elected to be Vice President. He became President when Zachary Taylor died.
Several Presidents were congressmen at one point or another. But the ONLY President to be elected straight from Congress was James Garfield.
All other Presidents (save the founding fathers) were Senators, Governors, Vice Presidents or war heroes before becoming President.
For the record, I edited my post BEFORE you caught me. :p
Good call though. :)
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 05:33 PM
While we're on Presidential trivia, here are two of my all-time favorites:
Who was the only President to get a speeding ticket while living in the White House?
Who was the only President to never marry?
And no cheating on wiki!
Goldwater Conservative
02-01-2008, 05:48 PM
Who was the only President to get a speeding ticket while living in the White House?
No clue, but I'm going to guess Teddy Roosevelt. I can see him racing cars, horses, kangaroos, you name it.
Who was the only President to never marry?
James Buchanan. Some people think he may have been a homosexual.
fez2008
02-01-2008, 05:52 PM
While we're on Presidential trivia, here are two of my all-time favorites:
Who was the only President to get a speeding ticket while living in the White House?
Who was the only President to never marry?
And no cheating on wiki!
Who does this president sound like?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_coolidge
Goldwater Conservative
02-01-2008, 05:59 PM
Who does this president sound like?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_coolidge
A little like this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland
...and maybe this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler
:)
Ironically didn't Garfield also win the election for Senate when he became president.
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 06:09 PM
No clue, but I'm going to guess Teddy Roosevelt. I can see him racing cars, horses, kangaroos, you name it.
James Buchanan. Some people think he may have been a homosexual.
You are correct on the second count.
Actually, the only President to get caught speeding was Ulysses S Grant. Yes... speeding tickets pre-date the automobile.
Redcard
02-01-2008, 06:10 PM
Senators are Congressmen too.
nodope0695
02-01-2008, 06:11 PM
Something else interesting is that I'm not sure many senators have, at least not in my lifetime. And so far it looks like it will be McCain vs. Clinton, so without an upset by RP, a Senator would win.
JFK was a Senater wasn't he? Of course thats well before my time:D
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 06:12 PM
Ironically didn't Garfield also win the election for Senate when he became president.
Back then there were no Senate elections... at least in most states. That's what the 17th Amendment was for. But you are correct, Garfield was selected by the state party to fill an open Senate Seat just prior to his getting the presidential nomination.
Jwaksman
02-01-2008, 06:17 PM
Remember, it's not abnormal for candidates to run for two different seats at the same time. Back in 2000, Joe Lieberman was the Democratic Nominee for Vice President, as well as the party's nominee for Senate in Connecticut. This actually angered Democrats, if you recall, because Connecticut's governor was a Republican. If Lieberman had been elected Vice President, his Senate seat would have been given to a Republican and the Democrats would have been one more seat further from a majority. They believed they could have held onto the seat with another Democrat if Lieberman had chosen not to seek re-election.
fedup100
02-01-2008, 06:23 PM
Why does a frog bump his ass when he hops?
Senators are Congressmen too.
damn, you beat me.
Representatives and Senators are coequal parts of Congress.
fez2008
02-01-2008, 06:37 PM
A little like this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland
...and maybe this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tyler
:)
Probably close to cleveland on foriegn and economic policy.
Tyler similarities in Honesty, vetos
Coolidge similarities in libertarian streak, domestic policy, foriegn policy and honesty.
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