Quick question: Has an incumbent President ever been challenged in the Primarys after 4 years?

[TeamJordan23]

That is after 4 years of his term. Just wondering. It was raised in a conversation with someone. I said I don't anyone ever has in modern political history.

[davepc]

1. Bush Sr. narrowly won some early primaries to Buchanan in '92.

[QC]

2. Carter. Teddy Kennedy challenged him. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

3. Wasn't Carter challenged?

[evlbstrd]

4. LBJ knew he would be.

He declined to run.

[phillysuse]

6. Gene McCarthy challenged him and was doing well in

Wisconsin. LBJ withdrew the weekend before the Tuesday of the Wisconsin primary.

I was there! Clean For Gene!!!

[nichomachus]

5. 15 Democrats challenged Carter in 1980 -- Kennedy was the most prominent

[JoFerret]

7. 1980

.

[KitchenWitch]

8. Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter in 1980

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. And the lesson here: Both Carter and Poppy lost. The General, that is. Not the primary.

So if anyone out there is looking forward to a "Democratic" challenge in 2012, Hope you like president Twit RoMORMONey :scared:

[Skwmom]

13. These are different times. The U.S. economy and financial system are getting ready to implode.

And we are spending our way into bankruptcy. We owe WAY MORE than the 11 trillion they talk about.

So, yeah I could see a successful 2012 challenge that could lead to a win in the general election (especially if you are viewed as an economic savior). That is why I can't figure out why anyone would want to risk alienating so many of the very people who worked so hard to get them elected. Yeah, they might make the Clinton supporters happy but where do you think there loyalty really lies? If a 2012 challenge were to occur, who do you think they would support?

[liberalpragmatist]

10. Truman, LBJ, Carter all faced major challenges

Truman was eligible for a 3rd term, but was challenged in 1952 by Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee. After being defeated, Truman withdrew from his reelection bid.

Johnson was challenged first by Eugene McCarthy, then by Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 -- he withdrew because he feared he wouldn't win the nomination or would be fatally wounded even if he did.

Carter was challenged by Ted Kennedy in 1980. It was a serious bid, but Carter was saved by Iran hostage crisis. Nevertheless, Kennedy won a bunch of primaries and it exposed the degree of unpopularity for Carter, even among Democrats.

George H.W. Bush was also challenged by Pat Buchanan, but though he won the New Hampshire primary, he was not a serious candidate.

[quiller4]

12. Kefauver defeated Truman in the New Hampshire primary

then Truman withdrew and a host of other Democrats entered the race including Stevenson, Humphrey, Russell, Barkley, Kerr and Harriman.

[Lancer]

11. Franklin Pierce. Not only challenged but booted off the ticket (1856)

Pierce was a dark horse Democrat who won the WH in 1852. He was an utter catastrophe as President -- Ostend Manifesto, Kansas-Nebraska Act, etc. -- and while there weren't primaries as we know them in those days, Pierce could not get his party's renomination in 1856. (They went with Buchanan, who replaced Pierce as the worst president up to that time.)

Pierce's life story is actually extremely sad. Because he seems to have been a genuinely good man, the failure of his presidency is all the more disappointing. The country was simmering, brewing and festering in the decade leading up to the Civil War. Pierce was totally unable to preside over it, and neither was Buchanan. Pierce was also an alcoholic whose wife left him, and who died of cirrhosis at 66.

[grantcart]

15. wow that was a downer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_Pierce

he buried all three of his children including the last one who died in a train accident in front of Pierce.


Became an alcoholic and ran over a woman with his carriage.


Supported the south during the Civil War.


Well the fact that he wasn't put on the convention ballot until the 35th ballot and wasn't nominated until the 49th might have been an indicator that he wasn't obvious Presidential material lol,

[totodeinhere]

14. I thought it was common knowledge that Kennedy challenged Carter in 1980.

But I guess not.

[LeftishBrit]

16. Yes. Reagan challenged Ford in 1976 (does that count as Ford had only been there 2 years?) and Ted

Kennedy challenged Carter in 1980. Both were unsuccessful.

[BlooInBloo]

17. Yes.

[NewJeffCT]

18. Many thought Carter too conservative

so, he was challenged from the left by Kennedy and others. I know my father didn't trust Carter because of all the talk about religion - he ended up voting John Anderson in the election.