Who are the most famous losing candidates (who were never President?)

[Nichlemn]

I found myself thinking about this when I thought that even if Trump loses, he's so notorious and his nomination so unprecedented that he'd probably go down in the history books and in popular memory to an extent unlike almost any past candidates.

What candidates in the past could give him a run for money? Try to correct for recency bias. (Mitt Romney is probably the most well-known right now, but that's almost entirely an artifact of him being the most recent losing major party nominee. He'll very likely fall into relative obscurity as time passes).

Some thoughts:

- Stephen Douglas, 1860. Probably more for the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 than the 1860 election itself. His association with Lincoln will likely keep his name around longer than almost all others that fall out of living memory.

- William Jennings Bryan, 1896, 1900 and 1908. A highly consequential figure in the Democrat Party's embracing of liberalism. Also known for the Scopes Trial.

- Barry Goldwater, 1964. Conservative icon, also notable for the scale of his defeat and the drastic change in party coalitions.

- Robert F. Kennedy, 1968 and Ted Kennedy, 1980. Depends if you count primary candidates for the purposes of this question. Their notoriety is perhaps mainly due to their brother being President, however.

Not sure that we can reliably judge more recent candidates. Michael Dukakis is pretty obscure now and seems destined to become a footnote. Bob Dole might do a little bit better, due to his long political career and some post-Presidential product endorsements. Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Al Gore might do better due to their Vice Presidencies, and Gore's climate activism. John Kerry probably won't be that well-remembered unless he does something really significant as Secretary of State. John McCain might be remembered as "the guy that lost to the first black President", but I doubt his PoW status is really notable enough for him to be remembered for decades. Mitt Romney will likely be another Dukakis.

[Nym90]

Henry Clay, who might have been the most influential political figure of the first half of the 1800's, despite never winning his Presidential bids.

[LLR]

If primaries count, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. If not, the ones you listed seem good.

[Gunnar Larsson]

Wouldn't consider Robert F. Kennedy a losing candidate (rather a shot one..). Otherwise I mostly agree with you. Of the recent ones I would say that Al Gore is the most famous one, due to the controversial election and his activism.

If you include primaries (and assuming that Hillary will become the Democratic candidate) I would guess that Bernie will have a decent shot (at least compared to other recent ones).

[kcguy]

That guy who "defeated" Truman.  But only because of the election night coverage.

[Pragmatic Conservative]

I think Al Gord  will be well remembered despite his loss. For one Gore was a 2 term VP, but secondly the events surrounding the 2000 election will be rembered for a while. Their really has not hen an election with that much ambiguity  and controversy associated with it in the weeks after election night in recent American presidential election history. 2000 also set new standards for when exit polls are released and states are called. That is why I think Al gore and the 2000 election will be well remembered.  

[Pragmatic Conservative]

Some other people
Ralph Nader- for his involvement in the 2000 election and consumer activism.
George McGovern-magnitude of loss
George Wallace-involvement in the opposition to the civil rights act.
Thomas Dewey-lost what has been argued by some as the biggest election upset in USA history.

[Roemerista]

Don't forget these famous, famous men also ran and lost:

George McClellan
Winfield Scott Hancock

[sportydude]

Michael Dukakis because of his wife.
Al Gore, of course.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

Al Gore, of course.

This, plus any of the more recent ones.

[Santander]

Perot, for mounting a credible third-party bid twice.

[StateBoiler]

Aaron Burr (he shot Alexander Hamilton).
Henry Clay.
Stephen Douglas.
William Jennings Bryan.
Thomas Dewey ("Dewey defeats Truman").
Barry Goldwater.
George Wallace.
Maybe Ross Perot. People now never talk about him, but he's more up in the air in 30 years time.

Can't say Gore. No one today speaks of Samuel Tilden.

[sportydude]

Can't say Gore.

Well, believe it or not, he received the Nobel Peace Prize. That makes him famous by default.

[hopper]

If primaries count, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. If not, the ones you listed seem good.

Yeah I think Jackson's 1988 Presidential Run sticks out not so much the 1984 one though.