The news that former Republican Governor Charlie Crist of Florida, who left the GOP in 2010 and became an Independent, has now registered as a Democrat, and is certain to run for Governor again in 2014 in the Sunshine State, brings to mind the interesting list of famous party switchers in American history, whether from one party to the other, or from one party to an independent or third party.
This is nothing new at all, and some of the most courageous and outstanding political leaders, many of them historic, have done the same thing that Charlie Crist has done.
Among the best known are the following:
Future Or Past Presidents Who Switched Parties
Martin Van Buren
Millard Fillmore
Abraham Lincoln
Theodore Roosevelt
Ronald Reagan
Presidential Candidates Who Switched Parties
Martin Van Buren
Millard Fillmore
Theodore Roosevelt
Robert La Follette, Sr.
Wendell Willkie
Henry A. Wallace
George Wallace
John Anderson
Pat Buchanan
Senators Who Switched Parties
Robert La Follette, Jr.
George Norris
Henrik Shipstead
Wayne Morse
Harry Byrd, Sr.
Strom Thurmond
Richard Shelby
Ben Nighthorse Campbell
Robert Smith
Jim Jeffords
Joe Lieberman
Arlen Specter
US Congressmen Who Switched Parties
Donald Riegle, later Senator
Phil Gramm, later Senator
Others Who Switched Parties And Later Identity
William Seward, Senator And Secretary of State
Salmon Chase, Senator, And Chief Justice Of Supreme Court
Raymond Moley, Brain Trust Adviser to FDR
Jesse Helms, Senator
John Connally, Governor and Secretary Of The Treasury
Trent Lott, Senator
Elizabeth Dole, Senator
Hillary Clinton, Senator And Secretary Of State
Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State
Jeane Kirkpatrick, United Nations Ambassador
William Bennett, Secretary Of Education And Drug Czar
Rick Perry, Governor
Susana Martinez, Governor
Norm Coleman, Senator
Michael Bloomberg, Mayor Of New York City
John Lindsey, Mayor Of New York City
Rudy Guiliani, Mayor Of New York City
Howard Dean, Governor
Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense
Carolyn McCarthy, Congresswoman
James Webb, Senator
Charles Barkley, National Basketball Association Star
Arianna Huffington, Journalist And Blogger
Lowell Weicker, Senator
Lincoln Chafee, Senator
Jesse Ventura, Governor
What an ALL STAR list this is, 51 individuals, a lot of the most outstanding political talent in American history!