Accidental president with best chances to become president in his own right

[President Johnson]

Which accidental president would have been most likely to become president through an election? Meaning, with staying on as vice president.

I think we can all agree that the 19th century guys (Tyler, Fillmore, Andy Johnson and Arthur) would never have been president without the death of their boss.


My ranking:

1.) Teddy Roosevelt: Great chance he would have been the Republican nominee in 1904, the end of McKinley's second term. Especially after Mark Hanna's death. The general election would have been a cakewalk. Probably he would have underperformed the real life margin, but still won clearly.

2.) Lyndon Johnson: VP Johnson could have won in 1968. However, I see the nomination as bigger obstacle since RFK would have run with the support of his term-limited brother. However, RFK could have declined the nomination as he never held an elective office. The Kennedys could have worked out a deal with LBJ: He gets the nod an picks RFK as VP in return. Without JFK's assassination, Nixon may have run again - and lost - in 1964. A 1968 race between LBJ and Rocky would have been a pure tossup.

3.) Harry S. Truman: With FDR not running again, VP Truman could have been a compromise candidate in 1948 for the Democrats. Unless Ike is the GOP nominee, Harry has a decent chance to win the election. However, I think he wouldn't have been interested much and retire at 64.

4.) Gerald Ford: Mr. Nice Guy could also have been a compromise candidate after the 1976 GOP race ends up in a deadlock between Rocky and the Gipper. Without Watergate and a relatively popular out-going Nixon, Ford would have won the general election.

5.) Calvin Coolidge: Very unlikely. He wasn't interested in the job and would have been replaced as VP in 1924 had Harding lived on.

[bagelman]

The establishment would be fighting against TR in 1904, and LBJ may fight against RFK in 1968 even if JFK takes his brothers side.