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Joe Biden's Hitting the Campaign Trail But History's Against Him if He Runs for President in 2020

September 23, 2017 - 6:00am
Joe Biden
Joe Biden

This week, former Vice President Joe Biden started getting politically active again but, if history is any guide, he might have a hard time in 2020 if he wants to make a third bid for the presidency. 

Biden recorded a call to help Democratic candidate Annette Taddeo who is running in a special election for an open state Senate seat in South Florida. 

"We have a real shot to elect a strong Democrat and proven leader, Annette Taddeo to the state Senate,” Biden said. “If you believe we need stronger schools, protect access to affordable health-care and stronger communities then you need to make your plans to vote for Annette Taddeo.” 

Taddeo certainly welcomed Biden’s help. 

“I am truly honored to have the support of Vice President Biden," Taddeo said on Thursday. “This is a people-powered campaign and I am thrilled that he has joined us as we fight for higher-paying jobs, better public schools and affordable health-care in Miami-Dade. Our residents need a state senator who will be a champion for working families, not the special interests who only care about their own bottom-line. We will keep having the important conversations with the people of SD40 as we work to get out the vote and win." 

Also this week, Biden went to bat for former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, the Democrat who will have an uphill fight in winning the special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he became attorney general. 

Biden’s left the door open to running for president in 2020. While he stumbled out of the gate in the 1988 election and never took off despite some solid debate performances in 2008, on paper at least, Biden would have been a better presidential candidate for Democrats in 2016 than Hillary Clinton was. He didn’t have her baggage and probably would have done better than Clinton did with blue collar voters in states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. 

But history offers little encouragement for Biden if he decides to make another try at the presidency. With the exception of Richard Nixon, former vice presidents who have been out of office fare poorly when they make bids at the White House. This was especially true in the 19th century. John C. Calhoun, who was vice president under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson, may have been one of the most important political leaders in the first half of the 19th century but his efforts to win the presidency went nowhere. While the presidential race was wide open in 1844, Richard M. Johnson, who was vice president under Martin Van Buren, never materialized as a major contender that year. Levi Morton, who was Benjamin Harrison’s understudy, didn’t have much of a chance against William McKinley at the 1896 Republican convention. 

Things didn’t change much in the 20th century. Charles Fairbanks, who was often at odds with Theodore Roosevelt when he was his vice president, lost out to Charles Evans Hughes as the GOP looked for a candidate to topple Woodrow Wilson in 1916. Undeterred, Fairbanks decided to seek his old job back as Hughes’ running mate but Wilson won the general election. After FDR dumped him from the ticket in favor of Harry Truman, Henry Wallace made a leftist third party presidential bid in 1948 but fared poorly. 

Nixon, who spent eight years as Dwight Eisenhower’s vice president, bounced back from the 1960 presidential election and losing the 1962 California gubernatorial election to win the presidency in 1968. His Democratic opponent--Hubert Humphrey who was LBJ’s vice president--wasn’t as fortunate. Humphrey returned to the U.S. Senate but he lost out to George McGovern in the Democratic primaries in 1972. Supporters tried to get Humphrey to run one more time in 1976 but he stayed out of the race, encouraging fellow Minnesota Democrat Walter Mondale to run.

Mondale went on to be Jimmy Carter’s vice president but his presidential ambitions were dashed in 1984 when Ronald Reagan buried him in a landslide. While George H.W. Bush became the first sitting vice president to be elected president in his own right since Van Buren won the presidency in 1836, his understudy didn’t fare as well when he ran for president. Dan Quayle sought the Republican presidential nomination in the 2000 election cycle but his campaign never got on track. Quayle bowed out after a poor performance in the Iowa strong poll. 

At the very least, it’s safe to say Biden won’t try to follow the footsteps of two former vice presidents who ran for their old jobs. Besides Fairbanks, Adlai Stevenson, Grover Cleveland’s second vice president and the grandfather of the future presidential hopeful, was William Jennings Bryan’s running mate in 1900, four years after his vice presidency ended. 

While there are some exceptions, including Nixon and Bush, most former and sitting vice presidents stumble when they run for president. Sitting vice presidents are often lost in the shadows of their bosses while the public usually forgets about former VPs. 

Biden of course faces other hurtles as well if he tries again for the White House. He’ll turn 78 in November 2020 and has been on the political stage for well over four decades. If voters are hungry for change--like they were in 1992, 2000, 2008 and 2016--Biden doesn’t exactly fit the bill.  History also provides little encouragement if Biden makes one last charge at the presidency. 

Comments

JOE MY PARTNER AND I LOVE YA ,MAN.YOU SEEM TO BE HONEST AND VERY SINCERE. YOUR LOSS IS ALL AMERICA's LOSS. JOE ARE YoU REALLY HEALTHY ENOUGH TO RUN AGAINST THAT BASTARD? He is a liar. cheat. Filthy man who is ruining this nat ion. I'm 81 yr.old and I as a Marine in the 50's and love this nation with all my heart. We hate to see what this fool is doing and the Republicans are NOT LOOKING AT . JOE STAY THE COURSE AND BE HAPPY DOING ANY THING LIKE ALWAYS FOR US. LOVE YOU AND YOUR WIFE GEO/Joy

Ford assumed the presidency from Nixon in 1974 and lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Joe missed the boat, if he had any chance, to run against President Trump. I completely understand that he was still grieving his son's death, but then was the time. To attempt to toss out President Trump, while he's proving to be so much more successful than Obama ever was, is a fool's risk.

Really? With Russia hacking investigation consuming Trump's presidency, he (Trump) will lose the election the second time around. Polls have shown that Trump is not very popular now and some of his actions are grounds for impeachment. History has shown that president candidates like Trump will lose reelection. Last one was George Bush I. Next time, check the facts before blurting out things. It's not impossible that Biden can win the election but the age factor is against Biden same way it is against Trump. Trump will be 74 in 2020 and Biden is nearly 80 by then.

Are you on crack, it's illegal. Trump is a joke and doesn't deserve to wipe Obama's ass, Trumptard.

Please clean up your language. I agree with you that Trump is crazy but I wouldn't have used foul language to describe any President regardless of party. It's disrespectful to those who are in office for our own good reasons. I know Trump is abusing the power but Americans voted him to become President and they can vote him out.

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