Unluckiest U.S. politicians

[Fuzzy Bear Loves Christian Missionaries]

Stephen A. Douglas would likely have been elected President if the Democratic Party hadn't split in two, and if John Bell hadn't run as a 3rd party candidate.  Douglas finished 2nd in the popular vote, but 4th in the electoral college, carrying only Missouri and (for reasons I don't understand) receiving 3 of New Jersey's 4 electoral votes.  He was gracious in defeat, and he may well have gone on to have been a conciliatory figure (possibly Lincoln's running mate in 1864 on the Party of the Union if the issue of the state of Lincoln's residence could have been resolved), but he died of typhoid fever in 1861.