Has a Former Secretary of the State Department

[SwampG8r]

ever been elected president?

[BrklynLiberal]

1. According to Wikipedia...

Particularly in the early years of the republic, the post was regarded as a natural stepping-stone to the Presidency. Secretaries of State who later occupied the White House included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan. Secretaries who unsuccessfully ran for President (either before or after their service at the State Department) were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, William H. Seward, James G. Blaine, Walter Q. Gresham, John Sherman, Elihu Root, William Jennings Bryan, Charles Evans Hughes and Edmund Muskie.

[SwampG8r]

3. so back in the old days

but not lately?

[BrklynLiberal]

5. Doesn't look that way..

[whistler162]

2. The last one was James Buchanan

[CalGator]

4. a few have.

I admit, I had to look it up.

Thomas Jefferson was the first SOS.
James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan also served as SOS then President. Obviously, that means it isn't a recent trend to do both.

[Wilms]

6. Senator, you're no Thomas Jefferson n/t

[lapfog_1]

7. not in the modern era.

nor do they typically serve more than 4 years. Only 4 in the modern era have, Cordell Hull, John Foster Dulles, Dean Rusk, and George Shultz.