World Quiz: Losers of Presidential Elections: 10 Questions | U.S. Government

Answer: George H W Bush and Ross Perot

In the 1992 election Bill Clinton first won the Presidency. Among the defeated was President George H W Bush. Bush won 168 electoral votes to Clinton's 370 electoral votes in the election of 1992. Perot did not win any electoral votes in that election (although he did capture 19% of the popular vote). No one can predict what would have happened if Perot had not run. Carter (D) and Anderson (I) lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Dewey (R) and Thurmond (I) lost to Truman in 1948. Humphrey (D) and Wallace lost to Nixon in 1968. Wallace represented the "American Independent" party in the election of 1968.

In other elections, Wallace was a Democrat who favored segregation (Wallace won the election of 1962 to become Alabama's governor).

Answer: George McClellan

In 1864 Lincoln actually won reelection. In 1860 Lincoln was elected and he defeated, among others, Stephen Douglas (the famous Lincoln-Douglas Debate occured in 1858, when Lincoln and Douglas were running against each other for the Senate seat from Illinois - Douglas won that election). For his reelection to the Presidency Lincoln defeated Democrat George McClellan (a former Union general in the Civil War). Tilden was "named" President after a controversial 1876 election.

This election was mentioned many times during the Bush-Gore drama that followed the 2000 election. Buchanan (D), the only President so far from Pennsylvania, was President immediately before Lincoln, and some say a lack of action on his part led to the Civil War.

Answer: John Quincy Adams

In 1828 Andrew Jackson (D) was first elected to the Presidency (he won reelection in 1832), and his main competition in 1828 was John Quincy Adams of the "National Republican" Party. James Monroe, famous for his doctrine, was of the "Democratic-Republican" Party, and he won the Presidential elections in 1816 and 1820. William Henry Harrison, a Whig, won the election of 1840.

His stint as President was the shortest - he was sworn in in March of 1841, and, thanks to an excessively long inaugural address, he died of pneumonia in April of 1841. John Tyler took over when William Henry Harrison died. William Henry Harrison was the grandfather of President Benjamin Harrison. Aaron Burr was never President (he was Vice-President during Jefferson's first term). Burr is probably most famous for shooting and killing Alexander Hamilton during a duel.

Answer: Gerald Ford

Ford lost to Jimmy Carter. Reagan won in 1980 and 1984 with George Bush on the ticket. Barry Goldwater lost in 1964 to Lyndon B. Johnson. Nixon, who was Eisenhower's Vice President, lost in 1960 to John F. Kennedy. Nixon won in 1968 and 1972, but by 1976 he had resigned.

Answer: John W. Davis

Coolidge was a Republican who became President when Warren G. Harding died in 1923 (no, Harding was not assassinated). Coolidge won reelection in 1924, and he defeated the Democrat Davis along with Progressive Robert LaFollette. Hoover was President when the Great Depression started, and he lost in the 1932 election to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Willkie was the Republican who lost to FDR in 1940. Stevenson lost twice to Eisenhower, in 1952 and 1956.

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

Wilson did defeat Roosevelt in this election. Roosevelt was running for the Progressive Party (also called the "Bull Moose Party"). Wilson also defeated, among others, Republican William H. Taft and Socialist Eugene V. Debs. Wilson won the Presidency in the election of 1912 and was reelected in 1916. William McKinley was President from 1897 to 1901, when he was assassinated.

Theodore Roosevelt, then of the Republican Party, became President upon McKinley's death. Grover Cleveland was the President from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897, the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms. Benjamin Harrison was President from 1889 to 1893 and he "broke up" the two terms of Cleveland.

Answer: John Adams

John Adams became Washington's Vice-President for both terms. While Samuel Adams may always be "a good choice" (the beer anyway), this patriot was not a major candidate in this election. James Madison, often said to be the author of the Constitution, was President from 1809 to 1817. George Washington had no official party designation.

Answer: Bob Dole and Ross Perot

John Anderson lost in the 1980 election to Ronald Reagan. Ralph Nader did run for president in 1996. He got 0.71% of the popular vote. Perot got 8.4% of the popular vote in the election of 1996. Perot still did not win any electoral votes. Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998.

Answer: Walter Mondale

Mondale named Geraldine Ferraro his running mate - the first female ever to be a Vice-Presidential candidate for a major party. George Bush (the first President Bush) was Vice-President for both of Reagan's terms.

Answer: William Jennings Bryan

The 1900 Presidential election was not that close - 292 electoral votes for McKinley, and 155 electoral votes for Bryan. James M. Cox was the Democrat who lost to Warren G. Harding in 1920. Horace Greeley was editor of the New York Tribune and lost to Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 (when Grant won reelection), and Greeley was the candidate of the "Liberal Republican" Party.

He died before the second inauguration of Grant. Greeley is famous for the saying "Go west, young man." James G. Blaine was a Republican who lost to Grover Cleveland in 1884.