1. Jimmy Carter (D-GA) 1976, 1980
But… Carter won.
Yes, in one election and by 2%.
In 1976, Carter ran against Gerald Ford, the man who had pardoned Richard “I am not a crook” Nixon. Ford had already lost the support of the Democrats for pardoning their arch enemy, but he also managed to lose any hope of Republican support by granting amnesty to draft-dodgers. In fact, a young Ronald Reagan came within spitting distance of unseating an incumbent president at the Republican Party’s convention in Kansas City, MO (that hasn’t happened in almost 200 years).
So no one liked Ford. So what?
So Ford’s authority as president was anything but certain, he had enemies to his left
and his right, and, in a debate, he showed off his lack of skills by saying, “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe,” to which the moderator replied, “I’m sorry, what?” His Federal Reserve’s policies lead to runaway inflation and he presided over the highest unemployment rates the country had seen since WWII.
Wow. Carter must have won in a landslide!
Not exactly...
After the Democratic Convention, Carter held a 33% lead in the polls. However, after
Playboy published an interview with Carter in which he admitted to having “lusted in my heart” for women other than his wife, Carter’s lead began to slowly collapse like a flan in a cupboard. Ford closed the gap in debates and by attacking the former Georgia governor’s experience.
When the polls closed on November 2, 1976, no one was sure who would win. Carter had lost his 33% lead and Ford looked like he might win a second term, despite being a thoroughly underwhelming candidate. NBC didn’t announce that Jimmy Carter had won Mississippi (and passed 270 electoral votes) until 3:30am on November 3. The 27 states that Ford won were and remain the most states won by a losing candidate.