Greatest Presidents that never were

[Rockefeller]

Margaret Chase Smith

[big bad fab]

Tilden, George McClellan, McArthur, Gary Hart, McCain would all have been "kewl" in a way...
And Patton would have been so fun !

[CitizenX]

Democrats

Robert Kennedy
Hilary Clinton

Republicans

McCain, millennium version not the reboot (I hate sequels)
Colin Powell


Other

Bloomberg (Can't believe this one hasn't come up yet)

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

Bobby Kennedy and Barry Goldwater.

[Peter the Lefty]

If we can include people that never ran but should've, it would be: Eugene V. Debs, Norman Thomas, Robert M. La Follette, Henry A. Wallace, Wayne Morse, George McGovern, Ralph Nader, Paul Wellstone, Bernie Sanders, Hiram Johnson, and Barry Commoner.  Not necessarily in that order.  (though for me, Debs would still top the list). 

[Rhodie]

Al Smith and Jack Kemp

[Putting the 'red' in 'redneck' since 1991]

Henry Clay, Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey.

[Mikestone8]

If we can include people that never ran but should've, it would be: Eugene V. Debs, Norman Thomas, Robert M. La Follette, Henry A. Wallace, Wayne Morse, George McGovern, Ralph Nader, Paul Wellstone, Bernie Sanders, Hiram Johnson, and Barry Commoner.  Not necessarily in that order.  (though for me, Debs would still top the list). 

Er, McGovern did run.

[Senator Snowstalker]

Nearly all of them ran at some point.

[Spanish Moss]

Eugene Debs, Ralph Nader

[Peter the Lefty]

If we can include people that never ran but should've, it would be: Eugene V. Debs, Norman Thomas, Robert M. La Follette, Henry A. Wallace, Wayne Morse, George McGovern, Ralph Nader, Paul Wellstone, Bernie Sanders, Hiram Johnson, and Barry Commoner.  Not necessarily in that order.  (though for me, Debs would still top the list). 

Er, McGovern did run.

I didn't say that the list didn't include people who didn't run.  Though actually, I have some revisions to make for the list. The new and improved version:
Top 5 best Presidents that never were: Eugene V. Debs, Robert La Follette, Bobby Kennedy, Bernie Sanders, George McGovern.  (haven't figured out the order yet, and it's possible that I never will)

Honorable mentions: Norman Thomas, Ralph Nader, Paul Wellstone. 

[後援会]

Al Smith
Wendell Wilkie
Pete DuPont
Paul Tsongas

[frihetsivrare]

Barry Goldwater, Eugene McCarthy, George McGovern, Ron Paul

[Speaker Dereich]

William Jennings Bryan. So much. Henry Clay and Colin Powell too. I'd be interested to see a MacArthur presidency. Oh, and Ross Perot wouldn't be a great president but he'd be a hilarious one.

[Peter the Lefty]

Oh, and some additions that just occurred to me:
Eleanor Roosevelt
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Abraham Ribicoff
Fredrick Douglass
Lyman Trumbull

[Wolfentoad]

1. McGovern
2. Al Gore, Jr
3. Humphrey

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

As much as I admire McGovern (I'd gladly vote for him), I doubt he'd be a good President.

George was great as a legislator and as a spokesman for ideas. I don't see him as an executive type. Truth be told, he was just too good man to be President.

[MATTROSE94]

Democrats
William Jennings Bryan
James Cox
Al Smith
Adlai Stevenson (maybe)
Estes Kefauver
Wayne Morse
Eugene McCarthy
Robert Kennedy
Hubert Humphrey
George McGovern (maybe)
Edmund Muskie
Frank Church
Ted Kennedy (maybe)
Jerry Brown (maybe)
Paul Tsongas
Lloyd Bentsen
Paul Wellstone
Al Gore Jr.
Howard Dean

Republicans
Henry Cabot Lodge Sr.
Hiram Johnson
Charles Evans Hughes
Wendell Wilkie
Thomas Dewey
Robert Taft
Richard Nixon (1960 version)
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (maybe)
Margaret Chase Smith
Jacob Javits
Barry Goldwater
Nelson Rockefeller
George Romney (maybe)
Mark Hatfield
Howard Baker
John Anderson
Bob Dole (maybe)
Jack Kemp (maybe)
Colin Powell
Ron Paul (maybe)
Jon Huntsman

[Mideast Assemblyman MadmanMotley]

Ron Paul (though he still COULD be president, I find it unlikely. Also I'm not adding Rand to the list because he's still young.)
Barry Goldwater
George Romney
Ross Perot
Dan Quayle (had he not been Bush's VP)
Robert Kennedy
Paul Laxalt
Howard Baker