They Never Had a Chance to Spit

John Nance Garner, vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt, is attributed with the quote he made to then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, who was considering an offer to be John F. Kennedy’s running mate, “I’ll tell you, Lyndon, the vice presidency isn’t worth a bucket of warm spit.” Johnson accepted JFK’s offer anyway and throughout political history many individuals joined the national ticket for a chance to be elected to a job that “wasn’t worth a bucket of spit”. Losing the presidency is one thing, losing a job “not worth a bucket of spit” is another. In our history, 14 vice presidents went on to become president. History knows about them, and you would probably recognize their names. There have been 48 other individuals who served as vice president, and most of us would be hard-pressed to name who they were. Likewise, some of us could name a few of the 54 individuals who ran for president on a major party ticket and lost, but only a real true-blue political trivia enthusiast would recognize individuals who ran unsuccessfully for the vice presidency. This book is about the individuals who never even had the “chance” to spit. Who never had the opportunity to create their own “bucket of warm spit.” These individuals were never within one heartbeat of the presidency. They are the men and women who had a brief moment on the national stage, and then, in defeat, moved on to other adventures. What happened to them? The book is interesting, a bit educational, and enjoyable. It is in no way an in-depth biography of these individuals, but rather a quick answer to that question. It’s just a small peek at what happens to someone who “doesn’t even get the chance to spit.”


Our political process puts a national ticket on stage. The candidates are under a microscope. The presidential running mates, due to the period between the convention and election, have a brief moment to make history. The loser walks away and is often forgotten. What do they do? Where do they go when the bright lights dim? How do they impact the national scene? Did they return, like Franklin Roosevelt did to make history? Do they quit politics and go home to just practice law or write poetry?


Is there life after you lose the vice presidency? This book takes a look behind the curtain to let you know the stories about former losing vice presidential candidates and it may surprise you. Some of them impacted American in other ways, and some did not. All of them have a tale to tell. All of them found out that while they may never have had a “chance to spit”, they all came to realize that there is life after running for vice president and losing the election. Even one of them, who made a conscious effort to vanish from the public scene became part of a national advertising campaign that resurrected him and answered the question; “Do you recognize me”.


This book gives you the chance to recognize a few others.