{"id":40912,"date":"2024-09-19T09:27:28","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T13:27:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=40912"},"modified":"2025-02-17T15:36:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T20:36:34","slug":"earle-presidential-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/earle-presidential-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Cornellians-in-Chief? A Roundup of Big Red Presidential Hopefuls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-large-font-size\">Over the decades, a handful of alums\u2014from a media magnate to an Esperanto fan\u2014have vied for the White House<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By <strong>Corey Ryan Earle \u201907<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Presidential election season is heating up\u2014and regardless of who wins, the Oval Office will once again be without a Cornellian. The University is one of three Ivy League institutions (along with Brown and Dartmouth) that has never had an alum serve as commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But over the last century, a handful of Big Red contenders have thrown their hat into the ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The earliest candidate was among Cornell\u2019s first graduates\u2014the third ever handed a diploma, to be exact. <\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"788\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-788x1024.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration of Corey Earle with the title Storytime with Corey\" class=\"wp-image-31441 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-788x1024.jpg 788w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-231x300.jpg 231w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-768x998.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-1181x1536.jpg 1181w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-1575x2048.jpg 1575w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-1215x1580.jpg 1215w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-608x790.jpg 608w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-304x395.jpg 304w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-385x500.jpg 385w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-192x250.jpg 192w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-96x125.jpg 96w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/02\/Cornellians_Corey_Illustration_v5-scaled.jpg 1969w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 788px) 100vw, 788px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Joseph Foraker 1869<\/strong> spent just one year on the Hill, transferring from Ohio Wesleyan University and graduating in the eight-member inaugural class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Active in Ohio politics, Foraker was elected a delegate to the 1884 Republican National Convention, where he received a single vote\u2014from fellow delegate Andrew Dickson White\u2014to be the vice-presidential candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"615\" height=\"769\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A.jpg\" alt=\"Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker\" class=\"wp-image-41067 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A.jpg 615w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-316x395.jpg 316w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-280x350.jpg 280w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-140x175.jpg 140w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-70x87.jpg 70w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/640px-Senator_Joseph_B._Foraker-A-100x125.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 615px) 100vw, 615px\" \/><figcaption>Joseph Foraker 1869<\/figcaption><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Foraker would serve two terms as Ohio governor and two as a U.S. senator. In hopes of garnering support for a third Senate campaign, he challenged William Howard Taft for the GOP presidential nomination in 1908. In the first round of convention balloting, he received just 16 votes to Taft\u2019s 702.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(Incidentally, Foraker was among Cornell\u2019s first alumni-elected trustees. \u201cI declined to consent to be nominated and do not want the office,\u201d he wrote to the <em>Daily Sun<\/em> prior to the balloting, \u201cbut if elected under such circumstances would consider it my duty to accept.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cornell\u2019s next presidential contender was <strong>Parley Christensen, LLB 1897<\/strong>, a Utah lawyer who once tried to help Butch Cassidy leave his outlaw lifestyle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christensen served in his state\u2019s House of Representatives as a member of the recently formed Progressive (or \u201cBull Moose\u201d) Party, advocating for direct democracy and workers\u2019 rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1920, he became the Farmer-Labor Party\u2019s first presidential nominee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>He campaigned on issues like women\u2019s suffrage, civil rights, an eight-hour workday, creating a federal Department of Education, and nationalizing the railroads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the party only made the ballot in 19 states, Christensen received 265,411 votes (about 1% of the total), finishing fourth and losing to Warren Harding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christensen would later travel to Russia to meet Vladimir Lenin; advocate for the use of Esperanto as a language of international understanding; and serve on the L.A. City Council.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"673\" height=\"842\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A.jpg\" alt=\"Parley_Parker_Christensen\" class=\"wp-image-41072 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A.jpg 673w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-632x790.jpg 632w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-316x395.jpg 316w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-280x350.jpg 280w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-140x175.jpg 140w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-70x87.jpg 70w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Parley_Parker_Christensen_circa_1920-A-100x125.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 673px) 100vw, 673px\" \/><figcaption>Parley Christensen, LLB 1897<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Decades later, a wealthy and media-savvy businessman who had never held public office would announce his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While that scenario may sound familiar, in this case it was <strong>Frank Gannett 1898<\/strong>, campaigning in 1940.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-819x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"Frank Gannett\" class=\"wp-image-41307 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-819x1024.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-240x300.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-768x960.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-1229x1536.jpeg 1229w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-1264x1580.jpeg 1264w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-632x790.jpeg 632w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-316x395.jpeg 316w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-280x350.jpeg 280w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-140x175.jpeg 140w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-70x87.jpeg 70w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-400x500.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-200x250.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138-100x125.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/168138.jpeg 1368w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 819px) 100vw, 819px\" \/><figcaption class=\"rkv-image-credit\">Rare and Manuscript Collections<\/figcaption><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Gannett had built a publishing empire by purchasing (and often merging) newspapers, including the <em>Ithaca Journal<\/em>, <em>Elmira Star-Gazette<\/em>, and <em>Rochester Times-Union<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frustrated by FDR\u2019s attempt to pack the Supreme Court, Gannett founded the National Committee to Uphold Constitutional Government in 1937, then ran for president as an opponent to New Deal policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His slogan: \u201cOur best bet is Frank Gannett!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a flair for media attention, Gannett arrived at the GOP National Convention in Philadelphia with three circus elephants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But his campaign ended there, as he received only 33 votes in the first round. (Wendell Willkie would eventually win after the sixth.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Foraker, Gannett was an alumni-elected trustee, serving over 20 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>His family foundation funded construction of a campus medical facility (opened in 1957 and replaced by Cornell Health in 2017) and the plaza outside the Schwartz Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1968, <strong>Edmund Muskie, LLB \u201939<\/strong>, became the first and only Big Red graduate to make the ticket of a major U.S. political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A U.S. senator and former governor of Maine, Muskie was the running mate to Democrat Hubert Humphrey in their campaign against Richard Nixon, losing the popular vote by less than 1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Muskie went on to be the Democrats\u2019 1972 frontrunner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"730\" height=\"913\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A.jpg\" alt=\"Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie\" class=\"wp-image-41069 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A.jpg 730w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-632x790.jpg 632w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-316x395.jpg 316w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-280x350.jpg 280w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-140x175.jpg 140w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-70x87.jpg 70w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Edmund_Sixtus_Muskie_cropped-A-100x125.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 730px) 100vw, 730px\" \/><figcaption>Edmund Muskie, LLB \u201939<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But his campaign unraveled after he gave an emotional speech in response to false claims about him, later revealed to have been crafted by the Nixon camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the on-camera speech, Muskie appeared to cry\u2014although the &#8220;tears&#8221; were alleged to be melting snowflakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-1024x720.jpeg\" alt=\"Alan Keyes\" class=\"wp-image-41090 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-1024x720.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-300x211.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-768x540.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-1264x889.jpeg 1264w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-632x444.jpeg 632w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-316x222.jpeg 316w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-400x281.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-200x141.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A-100x70.jpeg 100w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Alan_Keyes_21437711915-A.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>Alan Keyes \u201971<\/figcaption><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>What alum has made the most bids for the presidency?  That distinction belongs to <strong>Alan Keyes \u201971<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Receiving a single vote at the 1996 Republican convention and six in 2000, he pivoted in 2008 to be listed on three state ballots under \u201cAmerica\u2019s Independent Party,\u201d receiving a total of 47,746 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>(A former member of the Cornell Hangovers, he\u2019s perhaps one of the few Ivy League <em>a cappella<\/em> singers to run for the nation\u2019s highest office.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2008 election also included <strong>Rosa Clemente, MPS \u201902<\/strong>, as the Green Party\u2019s vice presidential nominee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Appearing on the ballot in 32 states, she and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney finished sixth with 161,797 votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But in fact it turns out that the Cornellian who was closest to the U.S. presidency never actually ran for office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1945, a series of circumstances following FDR\u2019s death left <strong>Henry Morgenthau Jr. 1913<\/strong>, then Secretary of the Treasury, as first in the line of succession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Morgenthau was a heartbeat away from the presidency\u2014for five whole days.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"574\" height=\"717\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A.jpg\" alt=\"Rosa_Clemente\" class=\"wp-image-41073 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A.jpg 574w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-316x395.jpg 316w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-280x350.jpg 280w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-140x175.jpg 140w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-70x87.jpg 70w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/Rosa_Clemente_Laura_Flanders_Show_2017-A-100x125.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px\" \/><figcaption>Rosa Clemente, MPS \u201902<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>An expert on Big Red lore,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/americanstudies.cornell.edu\/corey-ryan-earle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Corey Ryan Earle \u201907<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0teaches \u201cThe First American University,\u201d a wildly popular spring semester course on Cornell history.<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Top: A live elephant representing the Gannett campaign encounters a Democratic donkey at the 1940 Republican convention in Philadelphia. (Photo courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center \/ Temple University Libraries.) All other images via Wikimedia Commons, unless indicated.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">Published September 19, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Over the decades, a handful of alums\u2014from a media magnate to an Esperanto fan\u2014have vied for the White House<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":41071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[657],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-40912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-storytime-with-corey"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cornellians-in-Chief? 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