Dead Presidents

"You, Biden, Panetta: Old lips." -- President Obama, on why he wouldn't share sips from his smoothie with Larry David, Joe Biden, or Leon Panetta.

That's a great question.

Yes, former President John Quincy Adams spent the last 17 years of his life in the U.S. House of Representatives. In fact, he collapsed at his desk in the House while casting a vote and actually died in the U.S. Capitol building. The only other Presidents who held a different office after leaving the White House were Andrew Johnson, who briefly served in the U.S. Senate until his death, and William Howard Taft, who was appointed to the Supreme Court eight years after leaving the Presidency and was Chief Justice of the United States from 1921-1930. (I guess you could also include former President John Tyler, who served in the Confederate Congress shortly before his death after Virginia seceded from the Union.)

I can't imagine a modern President doing what Adams, Johnson, or Taft did. It's technically possible, but I just think it would be much more difficult now. It seems like it would feel like a demotion or a step backwards and, after exercising the vast powers of the modern Presidency, holding a legislative position or a Cabinet office would be frustrating. Instead of being an executive -- and not just any executive, but the chief executive of all chief executives -- a former President in the House would be one of 435 or one of 100 in the Senate. I feel like a former President would feel handcuffed by the lack of executive power in Congress or as a member of the Cabinet. It would also be risky for a a President to appoint a former President to their Cabinet, because there would always be questions about potential power struggles or competing loyalties -- kind of like the debates when there were two Popes living in the Vatican following Pope Benedict XVI's resignation and Pope Francis's election.

There was also some reasoning behind the post-Presidential political careers of John Quincy Adams, Andrew Johnson, and William Howard Taft. In Taft's case, he would have preferred a career entirely spent in the judiciary, rather than in political office. He had long hoped for an appointment to the Supreme Court, but the timing had never been right for him. When President Harding appointed him to the Supreme Court as Chief Justice, Taft was ecstatic. It was his dream job. Andrew Johnson's election to the Senate after his Presidency was seen as redemption for him after his disastrous time in the White House. Johnson was the first President to be impeached and had only survived removal of office by the narrowest of margins. To be elected to the Senate after all of that -- the same body where his impeachment trial had been held -- gave him a sense of vindication.

For John Quincy Adams, there were several reasons that made serving in Congress after his Presidency appealing to him. First and foremost was the fact that he had been in public service since he was a child. Adams went to Europe with his father during the diplomatic missions that John Adams held during the American Revolution, and was so brilliant and useful that he was private secretary to the U.S Minister to Russia when JQA was 14 years old! So, John Quincy Adams felt rudderless when he was not in public service. Getting elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1830 allowed JQA to be a voice in opposition to President Andrew Jackson, who had defeated Adams's bid for reelection to the White House in 1828. After facing off in bitter campaigns in 1824 and 1828, there was no love lost between Adams and President Jackson, and a seat in Congress ensured that Adams remained a potent political figure. In many ways, his 17 post-Presidential years in Congress were much more influential than JQA's single, four-year term in the White House. As perhaps the most outspoken supporter of the abolition of slavery of any elected official in the United States at the time, Adams was a one-man antislavery movement in the House at a moment when most of the nation wasn't ready to have that debate yet. Congressman Adams was also a major critic of the Mexican-American War and President Polk's actions in triggering the conflict. The post-Presidential Congressional service of John Quincy Adams helped shape his legacy as one of the most influential and accomplished public servants in American history.

So much can happen between now and 2028 that it's almost silly to guess, but I'll answer the question anyway.

I don't think Vice President Vance is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination. First of all, I just don't think people like him. I think a lot of voters -- even Republicans -- have a preference for other candidates, and the 2028 election will probably be one of those wide-open races since Trump can't run again. In my opinion, Marco Rubio has been vastly more influential in the second Trump Administration. Now, that isn't necessarily a good thing considering the foreign policy debacle that has been the Iran War, but with Rubio in the Kissinger role of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, I think he's established himself more than Vance.

With Trump out of the picture in 2028, I think there are a lot of Republicans who will be looking to run for President, so it's no guarantee that anyone from the Administration will even be the frontrunner. I'm guessing that Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley will almost certainly take a shot at the White House, along with a number of Governors. And, of course, Democrats are already lining up and testing the waters for 2028.

No, that's not true. There have been a number of Presidents who never lost an election at any level, especially if you're only focused on general elections and not including primary elections or unsuccessful party nominations.

If we're talking about positive impacts stemming directly from their Presidency, I think the answer is probably FDR.

I don't think Buchanan was a traitor or dumb. I think he underestimated the lengths that secessionists were ready to go towards the end of his term, particularly after Lincoln's election, and he was paralyzed by either fear or resignation that he was powerless to do anything to stop secession. It doesn't excuse him, though. Buchanan didn't want to start the war by making it look like he was taking action that could trigger hostilities. But his inaction allowed the embryonic Confederacy to build up early advantages that the South never should have been able to have once the war did start.

It is crazy to me that Buchanan's Secretary of War that you referenced -- John B. Floyd -- isn't as well-known as Benedict Arnold because Floyd was arguably an even bigger traitor. All of the Confederate soldiers were traitors, but Floyd should be remembered as one of America's biggest villains. He committed Treason (with a capital 'T') while he was a still not only a member of Buchanan's Cabinet, but the civilian leader second in command authority of the U.S. military behind only the President.

Ulysses S. Grant made sure to remind everybody of Floyd's treachery several times throughout his Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant (BOOK | KINDLE), suggesting in his section about the Battle of Fort Donelson where Floyd commanded the opposing Confederate forces, that Floyd was particularly anxious about being captured by Union troops when the Confederates were about to surrender (Floyd gave up command before the formal surrender and fled):

"General Floyd, the commanding officer, who was a man of talent enough for any civil position, was no soldier and, possibly, did not possess the elements of one. He was further unfitted for command, for the reason that his conscience must have troubled him and made him afraid. As Secretary of War he had taken a solemn oath to maintain the Constitution of the United States and to uphold the same against all its enemies. He had betrayed that trust.

Quick question - who was the tallest of FDR's VPs?

I think Henry Wallace was slightly taller than Truman, who I believe was 5'9". It definitely wasn't Cactus Jack Garner, who was only like 5'6".

It's hard to tell in photos where they are together. Here's Speaker Sam Rayburn, former President Harry S. Truman, former Vice President John Nance Garner, and Senate Majority Leader LBJ celebrating Garner's 90th birthday in 1958:

And here's a photo of James F. Byrnes (who would become Secretary of State a few weeks later), President Truman, and former Vice President Wallace at FDR's funeral in April 1945:

-- Madison C.

I completely forgot that I went on a little shopping spree recently on the LBJ LIbrary store's website, so it was a fun reminder when I checked my mail today. Note the badass original LBJ "Cinderella" stamps from 1964! I also love the plaid McGovern/Shriver button. Hubert H. Humphrey's "HHH" button is a good one, too.