The Best Losing Presidential Candidates

The Best Losing Presidential Candidates

Here is a historical question for you:

What do Adlai Stevenson, George McGovern, Daniel Webster, and Wendell Willkie have in common?

Each of these talented, admirable men ran for President and lost.

And each was an outstanding person who might well have made a great President.

In this unique multimedia presentation, I will share my list of the ten best men to run for President and lose.  I’ll offer fascinating glimpses into the men, their times and the campaigns.  In addition to learning about the candidate himself, we will explore why each man failed in his bid and do a bit of speculation on the different directions our country might have taken had the election been decided differently.

Consider all the ways history might have changed if elections had gone differently. For instance, how would America have responded on the morning of 9-11 if Al Gore had been elected  President? Can we guess in what ways World War II have been different if Wendell Willkie had been President on Pearl Harbor Day? We can speculate as to whether the Civil War have been fought if Stephen Douglas had beaten Abraham Lincoln?  It’s fun to think about and debate!