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First election without incumbents in the
primaries since 1928
When a United States President leaves office, his vice president is
usually considered a leading candidate and likely nominee to succeed
him. In 2001, Vice President
Dick Cheney announced that he would never run for president, a
statement he reiterated in 2004. While appearing on
Fox News Sunday, Cheney stated: "I will say just as hard as I
possibly know how to say...
If nominated, I will not run; if elected, I will not serve. "The
2008 election therefore marks the first time since the
1928 election in which there is neither an
incumbent president nor an incumbent vice president running for
their party's nomination in the presidential election. The
1952 election was the last time neither the incumbent president
nor incumbent vice president ran in the general election, after
President
Harry S. Truman bowed out following his loss in the New Hampshire
primary and Vice President
Alben Barkley then sought but failed to win the Democratic
nomination. (Truman's name was on the
New Hampshire primary ballot but he did not campaign. He lost to
Tennessee Senator
Estes Kefauver and formally
withdrew his name from consideration.)
In the three most recent presidential
administrations featuring an outgoing two-term president — those
of
Eisenhower,
Reagan, and
Clinton — the incumbent vice president has immediately thereafter
run for president. (Richard
Nixon lost the
1960 election,
George H. W. Bush won the
1988 election, and
Al Gore
lost the
2000 election.)
In the
1968 election,
Lyndon B. Johnson initially decided to seek re-election. He
entered the New Hampshire primary and won. However, he had a national
poll conducted, which yielded results not in his favor. In a
nationally televised speech, Johnson announced to the public that he
would not seek re-election. Incumbent Vice President
Hubert Humphrey ran instead and was the eventual
Democratic Party nominee.
During this period, several former vice presidents have sought the
office of president as non-incumbents.
Henry A. Wallace was the
Progressive Party nominee in
1948. Nixon was elected in 1968.
Walter Mondale received his party's nomination in
1984.
Dan Quayle was unsuccessful in bids for nomination in
1996 and 2000.
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