It is hard to believe, but 2012 is the first year since 1900 where not one sitting Senator is running for the Presidential nomination of either major political party, not including incumbent Presidents and Vice Presidents.
Only one former Senator, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, is attempting the run for the White House, but with 47 Republican Senators in office, one would think that at least two or three would be seeking the GOP nomination, but that is not the case.
In the lifetime of the author, there have always been numerous Senators competing for the nomination of either party, as the comment often made is that the Senate consists of 100 individuals who envision themselves as future Presidents, and think they belong in the White House!
And yet, in actual fact, only three Presidents elected since 1900 have come directly from the US Senate–Warren G. Harding in 1920, John F. Kennedy in 1960, and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidents Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon reached the Presidency after having been Vice President, following time in the Senate.
But otherwise, in reality, it is the office of Governor which has been the favored route, as with Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush.
Also, Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge reached the Presidency, after having served as Vice President, but first being Governors of their states.
At the same time, Senators who have lost the Presidency include Barry Goldwater, Hubert Humphrey, George McGovern, Walter Mondale, Al Gore and John Kerry.
Governors who have lost the Presidency include Charles Evans Hughes, James Cox, Al Smith, Alf Landon, Thomas E. Dewey, Adlai Stevenson, and Michael Dukakis.
But notice all of the Senatorial losers are since 1964, while all but Dukakis among losing Governors are before 1960!
So if you add up Senators and Governors who have run for President, we come up with the following statistical totals:
Senators elected–6
Senators defeated–6
Governors elected–8
Governors defeated–7
So since 1976, we have seen four Governors elected President, and only Obama coming from the Senate.
Is this an institutional factor, that the Senate is less outstanding and prestigious in its membership than it has been in the past? Or is it just a blip on the political spectrum, which will be reversed starting in 2016? We shall see!