Will Election For Speaker of the House devolve into pre Civil War anarchy?

[jimmy olsen]

So the latest is that Paul Ryan is being pressured into the job, but of course he doesn't want it, since it is a death knell for anyone who has aspirations beyond the House, which of course Ryan does.

Well, he better hurry up and move up to Senator or Governor, as I don't think any House plebe has ever made it through a presidential primary in recent memory.

Last person to go from the House to the Presidency without being a Senator or Governor in between was Garfield, and that has a big asterisk.  The only others were Lincoln and Madison--and Madison was Secretary of State in between, and in those days, being Secretary of State was the usual path to the White House.  Even Lincoln didn't go directly from the House to the Presidency;  his failed Senatorial bid against Douglas came in between.  So basically you go from being a Representative to being President approximately once in, well, never.

He did run for VP, maybe that will be enough?

[Tonitrus]

Last person to go from the House to the Presidency without being a Senator or Governor in between was Garfield,

GHWB did it, though he had several other prominent positions in the interim.

"Interim" being key...I'd say that once you're VP, you moved well past being a House plebe.

And I was including even candidates.  I think even among the losing presidential contenders, you won't find many.

[Eddie Teach]

Bush hadn't been veep first time he ran and he was never a senator or governor. He found a different path(including DCI, how cool is that?)

[Tonitrus]

Bush hadn't been veep first time he ran and he was never a senator or governor. He found a different path(including DCI, how cool is that?)

He also didn't survive the primaries, which was my original contention.