Who Wants To Be Vice President?

Dr. Patrick Cox of the University of Texas at Austin had this to say about former Vice President John Nance Garner regarding the position of Vice President.  “When it comes to commentary about the office of vice president of the United States, no statement is more repeated than John Nance Garner’s observation that the office “is not worth a bucket of warm spit.”  Garner served Franklin D. Roosevelt as Vice President during Roosevelt’s first two terms.  Garner never became President of the United States.  Only 14 Vice Presidents have become President of the United States.  The last being George HW Bush, who served as Vice President under Ronald Reagan (1981-1989).  Bush became President in 1989 and served until 1993.  He lost to Bill Clinton for re-election in 1992.  Clinton’s Vice President, Al Gore, was the last Vice President to unsuccessfully run for President.  Gore lost to then-Governor George W. Bush in 2000.

Why haven’t there been more Vice Presidents who have become President?

 

Electoral College Results Since 1964

There are 538 available Electoral College votes in this year’s Presidential election.  That total has remained the same since 1964.  Below are the Electoral vote totals for each Presidential election since 1964.

1964:  Lyndon Johnson (D) 486, Barry Goldwater (R) 52

1968:  Richard Nixon (R) 301, Hubert Humphrey (D) 197, George Wallace (I) 40

1972:  Nixon (R) 520, George McGovern (D) 17, John Hospers (L) 1

1976:  Jimmy Carter (D) 297, Gerald Ford (R) 240

1980:  Ronald Reagan (R) 489, Carter (D) 49

1984:  Reagan (R) 525, Walter Mondale (D) 13

1988:  George H.W. Bush (R) 429, Michael Dukakis (D) 112

1992:  Bill Clinton (D) 370, Bush (R) 168

1996:  Clinton (D) 387, Bob Dole (R) 151

2000:  George W. Bush (R) 271, Al Gore (D) 266

2004:  Bush (R) 286, John Kerry (D) 251

2008:  Barack Obama (D) 365, John McCain (R) 173

What do you think this year’s Electoral vote total will be for the 2012 Presidential Election?