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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures."
-- Daniel Webster
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Tuesday, July 27, 2004 :::
James Taranto has an article at opinionjournal.com in which he goes over some of the voting streaks and other related trivia in presidential elections past. For instance, no Republican has ever been elected without carrying Ohio, but George W. Bush was the first Republican since 1880 to win without California and the first Republican since 1888 to win without Delaware.
Taranto barely touches on the alarming similarities between Bush and John Quincy Adams. For those of you who may not have realized:
Only two presidents have served two terms as vice-president and immediately been elected president following those terms. They were John Adams and George H. W. Bush. Both were one-termers; Adams lost to Thomas Jefferson, while George H. W. Bush lost to William Jefferson Clinton (Jefferson and Clinton had both previously served as governors of southern states). Adams and Bush had sons they named after themselves (middle names excepted), John Quincy Adams and George Walker Bush. Both J. Q. Adams and G. W. Bush managed to win the presidency while losing the popular vote (although it can be argued that the popular vote in Adams' case was not representative since several states did not then hold popular elections). Both lost the popular vote to candidates from Tennessee, Andrew Jackson and Al Gore.
One other related curiosity: The last president, among those who served at least one full term, to leave office without vetoing a single bill was John Quincy Adams. George W. Bush has yet to veto a bill.
All of this, of course, is as useless as the statistics Taranto cites, but fun nevertheless.
::: posted by Eric at 9:31 PM
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