Last election between two candidates who would've both been great presidents

[PBrunsel]

1968

Wallace or Nixon, eh?

Or perhaps Richard K. Troxell.

E. Harold Munn was the Prohibtion nominee in 1968 if I have my history right. So Mr. Toxell was the Constitution party nominee.

Roght as usual! And Merry Christmas!!

Thanks NewFederalist, and a Merry Christmas to you.

[© tweed]

1996.

[afleitch]

1960, 1968, 1996

[WalterMitty]

1996.

[skybridge]

I don't think there ever was such an election between major party candidates.

[GOP = Terrorists]

1796

Why 1796 and not 1800?  Jefferson's growing partisanship? Sedition Act?

[Frodo]

1948, 1952, 1956, 1960, 1968, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004

[© tweed]

2000, 2004

Ehhh...?

In 2004 neither candidate would have been a good president.

[Q]

I'm not so sure what "great president" entails, but I think 1996 was a contest among 2 men who both would have done a good job.

[True Democrat]

I say 1956.

I agree.  Another election like this is 1940.

Here's a new list:

1956, 1952, 1948, 1940, 1992 maybe, 1796, maybe a few others too

[Dr. Cynic]

Here's my list:

1940
1944
1948 (Excluding Thurmond and Wallace)
1952
1956
1996 (I kinda liked Dole, but supported Clinton)

[George W. Hobbes]

1996 and 1992.

I'm a fan of Perot.  ::shrugs::

[DanielX]

"Great"? Probably not since 1912, if even then (assuming Greatness is independent of policy).

"Pretty Decent"?
1996: Dole, Perot, and Browne.
1992: Bush, Perot
1988: Bush, Paul
1980: Reagan, Anderson, Clark
<big break>
1924: Coolidge, Davis
1912: Roosevelt, Taft
1904: Roosevelt, Parker
1888/1892: Cleveland, Harrison
1884: Cleveland, Blaine
1860: Lincoln, Bell, maybe Douglas
1836/1840: Van Buren, Harrison
1796/1800: Adams, Jefferson
1789/1792: Washington, Adams

[Flying Dog]

1944

[7,052,770]

1912--Roosevelt, Wilson, Debs, and Taft were all great

[Virginian87]

1948 was the last time this happened.  Both Dewey or Truman would have made great presidents.  My grandparents voted for Dewey.  They were New Yorkers and thought he did a fine job as the "boy wonder governor" of the Empire State.

[Michael Z]

1948.

[Lincoln Republican]

1968, Nixon, Humphrey

[Reignman]

1956

[Boris]

1956, maybe 1968 (Nixon, Humpherey)

[© tweed]

Wow, 1968 gets alot of mention around here.  Nixon was a crook and Humphrey was a Johnson hack that smiled while Americans were being murdered at a clip of 17 a day.  (And don't give me the bs about how Johnson hung his political career over his head; because that can be refuted in two ways.  One- if Humphrey resigned in 1967 and decried the LBJ Vietnam policy, he becomes a hero of the anti-war left and probably makes it to the general election ballot.  Two- Humphrey cared more about being president than being right.  This is true for alot of people, but hell, it isn't a good thing nor is it a defense.)

[True Democrat]

I'll do good presidents, great is too hard.

1996: Clinton and Dole
1992: Clinton and Bush
1968: Nixon and Humphrey
1964: Johnson and Goldwater
1960: Nixon and Kennedy
1952 and 56: Eisenhower and Stevenson
1948: Truman and Dewey
1940: FDR and Wilkie

I think 1948-1968 was really the Golden Age for American politics.  Great candidates for President.

[Republican06]

I would probaly say 1948 between Truman and Dewey. Harry Truman was a moderate Democrat who belived in a strong National Defense. He would not fit in todays Democratic party

[gorkay]

If you really insist on greatness, I'm not sure it ever happened, but here are a couple nobody have mentioned:

1884- Cleveland was an outstanding President, and Blaine certainly had the qualifications to have been a good one.
1848- Polk was one of our better Presidents, and Henry Clay definitely had the goods to have been a good one.

[Dr. Cynic]

I can't mention 1968, because I don't believe Nixon was a good President. I think Boss Tweed has it wrong on HHH. He would not have been nominated if he had broke with Johnson on Vietnam. He lacked the organization and funds in 1968, and would've done far worse without the support of LBJ.