The Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are announced at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, which help these parties--and the candidates--gain attention (good and bad). Candidates who don't belong to either of the major political parties don't typically enjoy the fanfare generated by the big conventions. So let's take a moment to acknowledge some also-rans of elections gone by.
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1. Eugene Debs: In 1898 Debs organized the Social Democratic Party of America. Starting in 1900, he ran a total of 5 times on the Socialist ticket. In his final campaign in 1920, which he ran from prison, he received almost 1 million votes.
2. Henry Wallace: After serving in various roles (including vice president) under several Democratic presidents, Wallace ran for president in 1948 as the candidate of the Progressive Party. He received 1,157,172 votes.
3. Ross Perot: Although elected class president for life by his United States Naval Academy classmates, Perot failed to get elected U.S. president when he ran as an Independent candidate in 1992.
4. George Wallace: Before his ill-fated campaign for the Democratic nomination in 1972, Wallace ran for president as candidate of the American Independent Party in 1968. During the 1972 campaign, Wallace was shot and paralyzed.
5. Teddy Roosevelt: Although he was president from 1901-1909, Roosevelt did not gain the Republican nomination in 1912. His supporters then nominated Roosevelt as the candidate for the Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party.
6. Robert La Follette: In 1924 La Follette, a former Republican, organized the League for Progressive Political Action. He unsuccessfully ran for president as that party's candidate in 1924.
7. Martin Van Buren: Being the 8th president of the United States wasn't enough for Van Buren. In 1848 he ran again, as the Free-Soil Party candidate. He didn't win any electoral votes, but did capture about 10 percent of the popular vote.
8. Strom Thurmond: A member of the Republican Party since 1964, Thurmond began his career as a Democrat. However, when the Democratic Party adopted a strong civil rights policy for its 1948 campaign, Thurmond ran for president as a Dixiecrat.
9. Millard Fillmore: In 1856 the American Party, a coalition of Silver Gray Whigs and Know-Nothings, nominated former president Fillmore to run for office of the president.
10. James Baird Weaver: In 1892 the People's Party nominated Weaver for the presidency. Although he lost, Weaver received over a million popular votes and 22 electoral ones, and several Populist candidates were elected to Congress.
11. John Anderson*: In 1980 the Liberal Party nominated Anderson, a longtime Republican, for president. It was the first time since 1944 that the Liberal Party had failed to support the Democratic candidate.
12. Ralph Nader: Nader ran for president in 1996, and was again on the ticket in 2000 as the Green Party candidate. In 2004 he decided to run yet again, this time as an independent.
13. Finally, there is Harold Stassen*, governor of Minnesota from 1938 to 1942. Stassen never actually received a nomination: He tried 7 times to get nominated by the Republican Party, but never did.
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