Who is the only US PRESIDENT who was NEVER ELECTED to NATIONAL OFFICE?

[AviatorTom]

In this year (2024) of elections in many different countries (France, UK, Germany, ...), and the upcoming US Presidential election in November, let's ask an interesting politics question...

Who is the only US President who was never elected to a National Office?

The Correct Answer will be given in a few days.

Updates

1 y

Congratulations to most of you who got the correct answer... Gerald Ford

Richard Nixon's Vice President, Spiro Agnew, resigned due to investigations when he was governor of Maryland, and Gerald Ford, House Minority Leader, was selected as Vice President. When Nixon later resigned due to Watergate, Ford became President. Since the highest office Ford ever had was as a representative of a congressional district in Michigan, he is the only President never elected to a national office.

[Lliam]

Gerald Ford, a member of the House of Representatives from Michigan and Speaker of the House, was appointed vice president by Richard Nixon following the resignation of Spiro Agnew. When Nixon resigned, Ford became president.
He was never elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency. He was defeated by Jimmy Carter in the next election.

[AviatorTom]

@Lliam Correct, except that Ford (a Republican) was House Minority Leader, not Speaker of the House. The House was ruled by Democrats at the time.

[Lliam]

Oops, you're right.

[LiamS95]

That would be Gerald Ford. I think I got his first nsme right at any rate Ford was not elected as President nor was he the Vice President.

[CrazyGirl2]

Oh I KNOW that one. It was Gerald Ford! He was appointed to the position of VP when Nixon’s VP resigned over tax charges. Then when Nixon resigned, Gerald Ford Became the first President to never be elected to office.

[CrazyGirl2]

Thank you for the MHO, Tom. I really appreciate it, sweetie.

[chrissykerdock]

gerald ford speaker of the house because the vp also resigned

[KostasKouvalis]

Oh damn. I never knew Ford was Speak of the House. I mean, I know Spiro Agnew was Nixon's president, but I guess I must've thought that Ford was VP in his second term. I just remember the scene from "That 70's Show", or Red shouting, "How the hell do you pardon, Nixon?"
And I remember Nixon's speech where he said he shall resign the presidency effective noon tomorrow, at which point Gerald Ford will take his place. But I must've missed the part where he said Ford was speaker. I never knew we had a moment in US history where a Speaker of the House actually become president.

[AviatorTom]

@chrissykerdock Correct, except that Ford (a Republican) was House Minority Leader, not Speaker of the House. The House was ruled by Democrats at the time.

[KostasKouvalis]

That makes it even weirder. How the hell did he become president?

[OlderAndWiser]

Does "never elected to national office" also mean never elected to the US House or Senate?

[AviatorTom]

No, it doesn't

[loveslongnails]

The answer is Gerald Ford, but I would also make a case for G. W. Bush. The Florida Supreme court ruled that no recount could be held in time to satisfy a Federal deadline for the election results, thereby throwing out all the votes from the "hanging chads" fiasco. The votes in question were from a heavily populated Democratic district, making the whole thing even more questionable than it already was.

By not allowing a re-vote, or even a recount and simply throwing out the votes in question, the Florida court essentially appointed Bush as President and disenfranchised thousands of voters. The SCOTUS was even more unmoved by the whole situation. What resulted was the worst 8 years of Republican rule in recent history, only to be outdone by Trump, a feat I never imagined possible.

[KostasKouvalis]

Fuck! I should know this! I'm certain I learned this before. I wanna say either Lyndon Johnson or Gerald Ford, but I'm not really sure. Or Teddy Roosevelt. I don't know, I feel it should be more than one, because if they were vice president and assumed office, they technically weren't elected and that happened many times in American history.

Wait. "NATIONAL OFFICE". I'm not sure what that means.

I'm gonna say Lyndon Johnson, because if I recall correctly, there was something strange about how he became president. Lyndon Johnson. Final answer

[Dargil]

5 presidents had never been elected to public office before becoming president: Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Herbert Hoover, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Donald Trump. Most of these had, however, been appointed to several prominent offices.

[Cubus]

Easy, Gerald Ford. The only US president not to be elected as president, nor elected as vice president.

[llorando]

Gerald Ford, who was never elected VP or president.

[docster]

That would be the globalist, Gerald Ford.

[Amy10223]

Ford?

[beefcakebradybatson]

Donald John Trump.

[SaoirseS]

Gerald Ford

[exitseven]

Gerald Ford.