''They Also Ran: The Story of the Men Who Were Defeated for the Presidency'' (1943) is a non-fiction book about United States presidential candidates by American writer

Irving Stone Irving Stone (born Tennenbaum; July 14, 1903 – August 26, 1989) was an American writer, chiefly known for his biographical novels of noted artists, politicians, and intellectuals. Among the best known are '' Lust for Life'' (1934), about the ...

, known for his popular biographical novels of artists and intellectuals. An updated edition was published in 1966, with brief analyses of the 1944 through 1964 elections.

Summary

Stone evaluates several unsuccessful candidates for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

, from the elections of 1824 through 1940. He explores their places in history (and those of their victorious opponents), and tries to assess whether or not the American people made the "right" choice in choosing another candidate for that office.

Structure

Stone groups the also-rans by profession, rather than listing them in chronological order. For example, the first section assesses newspapermen

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congres ...

and

James M. Cox James Middleton Cox (March 31, 1870 July 15, 1957) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 46th and 48th governor of Ohio, and a two-term U.S. Representative from Ohio. As the Democratic nominee for President of the Unite ...

. Coincidentally Stone happens to rate them favorably compared to the candidates who were elected: Grant and Harding.

Reception

The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' described ''They Also Ran'' as "a fascinating and challenging book." The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' praised it as "a brilliant idea ... brilliantly executed". Boyd Lee Spahr, in ''

The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography The ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the history of Pennsylvania. It has been published by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania since 1877. It is regarded as a prestigious historical ...

'', criticized the "lack of historical continuity" in the organization of the book, complaining that the grouping of candidates by profession did little to increase understanding. He particularly criticized the text for numerous errors related to several different candidates, and said that Stone did not reflect the consensus of historians on many candidates. He said:

Mr. Stone wields a trenchant pen but his penchant for striking sentences, and perhaps his prejudices, lead him into exaggerations and inaccuracies, with the result that some of the sketches seem like campaign propaganda, post-mortem pro or con, rather than impartial biography. In addition, factual errors are fairly numerous.Boyd Lee Spahr, "Review: ''They Also Ran'' by Irving Stone"
''The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography,'' Vol. 69, issue 1, January 1945; pp. 82-83

Spahr concluded that while Stone was entitled to his opinions, the inaccuracies decreased the book's value as a reference.

1966 edition

The book was published in an updated edition in 1966, incorporating material on elections from 1944 to 1964. It included the sections noted below:

Influence

*The book inspired the Also-Ran Gallery, founded in

Norton, Kansas Norton is a city in and the county seat of Norton County, Kansas, Norton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,747. History Norton was founded in 1872. Like the county ...

in 1965, a collection of black-and-white portraits of unsuccessful presidential candidates that is displayed within the First State Bank building.Teresa Mendez. "Kerry joins the also-ran club"
''The Christian Science Monitor''. 8 November 2004, accessed 7 October 2014

Notes