Why has only 1 congressman ever the won the presidency?

Starks

Starks

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Simple. The lower house has been deemed unworthy by the media and powers tha be within the parties.
 
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...
 
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.
 
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.
 
Grandson of Liberty said:
Millard Fillmore was a congressman. (had to look it up)
Click to expand...




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.
 
joenaab said:
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.
Click to expand...



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)
 
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
 
Jwaksman said:
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.
Click to expand...

For the record, I edited my post BEFORE you caught me. :p

Good call though. :)
 
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!
 
Ironically didn't Garfield also win the election for Senate when he became president.
 
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