Finis.

Ok, I’ve got nothing.

Just like this empty pamphlet about the Statesmanship and Political Achievements of General Winfield Scott Hancock:

(His opponents put out an blank pamphlet and I love it.)

Coulda, shoulda, woulda

It’s not that I didn’t try. I planned to actually share why it’s a good idea even though it seems unnecessary and counterproductive on the surface. Despite everything I read, watched, and listened to, I still don’t understand why we have the Electoral College.

Instead, here are a handful of people who won the popular vote and would have been president if not for the Electoral College. And one unknown. This is a pretty high failure rate — nearly 11% of the time, the loser wins! And that loser winner has the opportunity to change the entire trajectory of the country and perhaps the world. [global warming]

1 Andrew Jackson

Right out of the gate, I thought this one is a tad meh since he did ultimately become president on the next go-round.

I was wrong to dismiss it so quickly.

In 1824, he lost to John Quincy Adams. (Just one of the four people running for president from the same party.) I was about to declare that the rules were different then and gloss over this one, but then it got interesting! At the time, a majority was required and Jackson didn’t have it. The last place candidate, Henry Clay, was eliminated from the running. BUT! He was Speaker of the House. Blah blah blah boring details, the House made Adams president despite Jackson having more of the Electoral College and popular vote!

JQA then made Henry Clay Secretary of State; Jackson was furious about this corrupt bargain. But not as furious as he would be four years later, when he blamed his wife’s death on John Quincy Adams.

______________________

2 Samuel Tilden

Since I read about Rutherford B. Hayes, I’ve been fond of him. And not just because of his piercing eyes.

Believed women were superior to their male counterparts! Can you imagine? Nowadays, a competent, successful woman could be bypassed for a job she’s highly qualified for in favor of a far less qualified job candidate.
Wasn’t opposed to slavery originally. But get this! When he learned more, he changed his mind. Did you know that’s a thing one could do when they gather new information? This could be a game-changer. His wife, Lucy, was staunchly opposed. To slavery. Not to changing one’s mind. Without pestering or nagging, she managed to have influence over Rutherford.
Not to give Hayes too much unearned credit — he still didn’t take Black people seriously. He wasn’t mean, but he was condescending. But on the 5 million or so Black people in the country, he understood “They are not aliens or strangers… they are here by the misfortune of their fathers and the crime of ours.”
Wounded five times during the Civil War; had four horses shot from under him.
Passionate about prison reform. According to Eugene Smith, he believed county “jails were training schools for crime” and that spreading wealth would reduce crime. He also believed in reforming offenders.
Supported Black voting rights, fighting for and protecting both the 14th and 15th amendments.
Believed education was key to lifting up both Black people and those in poverty.

All of that said, the note I doodled years ago about this election was: “Not even gonna try to explain this crazy-ass presidential election. Hayes went to bed thinking he lost… a bunch of stuff happened… not trying to minimize it or make light of crap that is still happening today.”

Sigh.

Thank goodness Past Heather didn’t know what was ahead.

How cute was the old-timey way to write “etc.”? &c &c &c. Not really a time-saver. Particularly when typing it out. I can’t find the ampersand without looking at my keyboard.

“Rutherfraud’s” election has since popped up in other books. Basically, to seal the deal on his presidency, he ended Political Reconstruction … really screwing everything up in ways that are still evident today.

The Vice President's Black Wife: The Untold Life of Julia Chinn, by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers. Find more doodles from this book in this post.

One can’t help but wonder where we would be today if Samuel Tilden, winner of the popular vote, had become president instead.

______________________

3 Grover Cleveland, but without interruption

Benjamin Harrison booted him out of office, despite losing the popular vote. Apparently, it was a super-corrupt election in which both candidates bought votes. Can you even imagine a candidate buying votes? [Checks notes.] Oh crap.

In any case. It couldn’t have helped Cleveland that his VP was out giving stump speeches like “I am not quite as well as I ought to be... I want to speak. But I am too unwell.” Yeah. The oldest VP candidate at the time, Allen G. Thurman, actually said that. “The Democratic Party will be obliged to transport the old gentleman about the country to show the people he is alive,” quipped a guy in Ohio’s congressional delegation.

Either Thurman aged very gracefully or extensive liberties were taken with the campaign posters. Though 74 years old, he appears to be in his 50s or so.

A Man of Iron: The Turbulent Life and Improbable Presidency of Grover Cleveland, by Troy Senik

______________________

4 Al Gore

I’m not going to dig too deep into this one, but I started listening to Fiasco and yikes. George W. Bush ended up prevailing. There were hanging chads and his brother was governor and all sorts of stuff.

Two interesting things I learned in my recent reading:

Al Gore asked Dick Goodwin (who previously worked for JFK and LBJ) to write both his victory and concession speech.
Two attorneys who argued against each other in Bush v. Gore were hired to defend two same sex couples in California after Prop 8 stripped their right to marry.

An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Check out my wrap-up post for more doodles from this book. Just think of where we might be with climate change if things turned out differently nearly a quarter century ago. (Eek!)

______________________

5 Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton is one of four Clintons who ran for president. And one of three who lost. That’s not quite fair. George Clinton didn’t get the official nomination.

I’m not going to get into details here. This isn’t ancient history. I’m sure you know all about it. [But her emails!] If you want to know how Hillary stacks up to the other Clintons, I pulled together this post. Plus, you can see what George Clinton looks like without any pants on so there’s that.

______________________

6 Kamala Harris…?

Hear me out.

Yes, I know somehow a convicted felon spewing vile hate managed to secure the Electoral College and the popular vote. For that, I am deeply disappointed. Angry. Confused. In shock. Scared. And so grossed out. I also lack the vocabulary and eloquence to fully explain how I’m feeling, so I’ll let this quote speak for me:

“If you think you love freedom, but you don’t care if it applies to everyone, what you actually love is privilege.”

freedhearts.org

In any case, if he didn’t serve as the 45th president, would he have run again…?

Without him winning the first time (thanks, Electoral College), I doubt he’d have run again. I’m not a political scholar. You all know I’m more likely to tell you which presidents were recruited by the NFL or which were cheerleaders at Yale or which were sold into indentured servitude by their mothers than to provide any substantive information. (Ford, W., and Andrew Johnson respectively. Also FDR and Reagan cheered at their respective schools.) However, the last time a Republican lost the presidential election and was given a second attempt was Richard Nixon! A long time ago. Perhaps 2024 would have brought forth a different Republican candidate. Someone more, well, palatable. Less fear-inducing (or fear-inspiring, I suppose, depending on which side you’re on).

Or maybe he would have run, but maybe Joe Biden wouldn’t have been his initial competition — there wouldn’t have been the whole “the only person who has beaten Trump” component.

Maybe a replacement candidate would have been selected sooner.

Or perhaps, Kalama Harris would still have been the nominee — but running against a different candidate with a less, shall we say, dedicated following. Or maybe she would have just had more time to prepare.

Guess we’ll never know.

Unsure about getting rid of the Electoral College?

Check out A Lesson in Basic Civics for People Who Stubbornly Defend the Electoral College.

“It’s a system that was designed to protect slavery and still functions to protect white people from having to engage with a browning country. It’s working exactly like it was intended, and that is its biggest problem.”

Elie Mystal

TLDR?

Watch How the Electoral College Works and/or The Trouble with the Electoral College to appreciate how nonsensical the Electoral College is, but with less reading and more stick figures.

PS

I stumbled on this forgotten chart while looking for Cleveland info. It’s clearly a few years old, but check it out — three presidents won the popular vote [at least] three times! Both Jackson and Cleveland fell victim to the Electoral College and/or other weird old-timey rules. FDR went ahead and won it a fourth time, too.

Show off.