Zyobot
Just a time-traveling robot stranded on Earth.
Winning in a landslide of 486 electoral votes and 61.1% of the popular vote, the 1964 victory achieved by President Lyndon B. Johnson currently holds the record for the largest share of the popular vote won by a modern president--a tally that narrowly exceeded FDR's 1936 victory over Alf Landon, and was only rivaled by a handful of presidents since then. So, with that in mind, which post-1900 presidential candidates--whether they actually held office or not--could've surpassed LBJ's share of the popular vote, had circumstances been tweaked in their favor?
The only plausible contenders I can think of right now include an incumbent FDR, 1972 Richard Nixon and 1984 Ronald Reagan--all of whom "merely" approached that proportion of the popular vote, although they all blew past LBJ in the Electoral College at least once. Maybe also Warren G. Harding in 1920, though I know less about him than post-WW2 presidents. I've also seen Herbert Hoover racking up 493 electoral votes in 1928, RFK in a 1968 where Nixon's corruption is exposed early and he gets assassinated, and George H.W. Bush going up against Jesse Jackson in 1988 as suggestions in a version of this thread that I've posted elsewhere on the Web.
Thank you in advance,
Zyobot
The only plausible contenders I can think of right now include an incumbent FDR, 1972 Richard Nixon and 1984 Ronald Reagan--all of whom "merely" approached that proportion of the popular vote, although they all blew past LBJ in the Electoral College at least once. Maybe also Warren G. Harding in 1920, though I know less about him than post-WW2 presidents. I've also seen Herbert Hoover racking up 493 electoral votes in 1928, RFK in a 1968 where Nixon's corruption is exposed early and he gets assassinated, and George H.W. Bush going up against Jesse Jackson in 1988 as suggestions in a version of this thread that I've posted elsewhere on the Web.
Thank you in advance,
Zyobot