Presidential Losers #5: Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Again

What patriotic heart does not beat just a little faster at the mention of those immortals who led this great nation of ours: Garfield, Polk, Taylor.  But what of the also-rans, the near-misses, and wannabes?  In short, what of the losers?  This blog shall honor those who sought the laurel of leadership, but won only the cabbage of loser-ship.

One thing you can say about Ol’ Pinckney: he was no quitter. He lost in big in 1804, and by golly, he came right back in 1808 and lost big again. 

He even stuck with his same running mate, determined that someone named Rufus would be in the executive branch.  

He didn’t lose quite as big this time; he was helped by a trade embargo that had pissed off the New England States. Also, the Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison wasn’t quite the superstar Jefferson had been. 

Pinckney never ran again, I’m sorry to say.  But… on July 4, 1726 – precisely half a century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence – former presidents, long-time rivals, and founding fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died, neither one probably aware that Charles Cotesworth Pinckney had also died, exactly eleven months and nineteen days earlier: August 1, 1825! Coincidence? I’ll let you decide.

Results

James Madison: 122

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney: 47