Senators and the peaceful transition of power

As we reflect on the tumultuous three months that culminated in the inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president on Jan. 20 and look back at past transitions of power, we’ve come across a remarkable fact: Five times since 1961, members of the United States Senate who ran for president have participated in the certification of their opponent’s victory.

Twice—Richard M. Nixon in 1961 and Al Gore in 2001—they even had to preside over the official certification of the electoral colleges attesting to their defeat by John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush, respectively. It was the same role former vice president Mike Pence fulfilled last month in rejecting calls to overturn the Electoral College certification.

In contrast to the lies about voting fraud, spurious lawsuits, violence, and ultimately insurrection that attended this year’s transfer of power, we are struck by how often senators from both parties rose to what must have been an extraordinarily difficult and humbling occasion—and did the right thing and brought honor to the Senate and to American democracy.

Here’s a look back at senators who showed us the right way to handle defeat in a presidential campaign:

Richard Nixon (1961)

Prior to the 1960 election, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy had been colleagues in both the House and the Senate. During their 1960 presidential contest, Kennedy was a senator from Massachusetts while Nixon served as vice president and, therefore, president of the Senate. The 1960 election was incredibly close. Although JFK won the electoral college, 303 to Nixon’s 219, he won the popular vote by fewer than 117,000 votes—the closest margin since Grover Cleveland defeated James Blaine in 1884 by 62,670.

Voting irregularities reported in Illinois and Texas prompted many Republicans, including outgoing President Dwight Eisenhower, to urge Nixon to contest the results. Nixon refused, declaring, “I could think of no worse example for nations abroad, who for the first time were trying to put free electoral procedures into effect, than that of the United States wrangling over the results of our presidential election, and even suggesting that the presidency itself could be stolen by thievery at the ballot box.” Nixon was praised by many for his statesmanship, and by others for his savvy recognition that contesting the results would earn him a reputation as a “sore loser” and doom any hopes for a future political comeback.

On January 6, 1961, as Congress gathered to ratify the Electoral College ballots certifying Kennedy as the next president, Nixon spoke from the House rostrum.

“This is the first time in 100 years,’’ Nixon said, “that a candidate for the Presidency announced the result of an election in which he was defeated and announced the victory of his opponent. I do not think we could have a more striking and eloquent example of the stability of our constitutional system and of the proud tradition of the American people of developing, respecting, and honoring institutions of self-government.

In our campaigns, no matter how hard fought they may be, no matter how close the election may turn out to be, those who lose accept the verdict, and support those who win.’’

Nixon congratulated Kennedy and incoming Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson—at that point a senator from Texas—and offered “my heartfelt best wishes, as all of you work in a cause that is bigger than any man’s ambition, greater than any party. It is the cause of freedom, of justice, and peace for all mankind.’’ While Nixon would ultimately go on to win the presidency in 1969 but resign five years later in the disgrace of Watergate, his Senate remarks that day in January 1961 have been held up as a high-water mark of his public service.

Al Gore (2000)

The outcome of the election of 2000 came down to 537 votes in the state of Florida—the declared margin of victory for then-Texas Governor George W. Bush over then-Vice President and former Senator Al Gore. After conceding to Bush on election night, Gore later withdrew his concession as the results tightened. Bush and Gore then pursued 36 days of litigation that led to the U.S. Supreme Court ending ongoing recounts in Florida by a 5-4 ruling that effectively made Bush president-elect with 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266.

Gore re-conceded in remarks that quoted another famous member of the Senate: “Almost a century and a half ago, Senator Stephen Douglas told Abraham Lincoln, who had just defeated him for the presidency, ‘Partisan feeling must yield to patriotism. I'm with you, Mr. President, and God bless you.’ Well, in that same spirit, I say to President-elect Bush that what remains of partisan rancor must now be put aside, and may God bless his stewardship of this country … I accept the finality of this outcome.’’

On January 6, 2001, presiding over certification of the results as Vice President, Gore gracefully brought the matter to its conclusion, saying "May God bless our New President and our new Vice President, and may God bless the United States of America."

Four more stories: Goldwater, Humphrey, Kerry, and McCain

On four other occasions since 1961, sitting members of the Senate were defeated in their bids for the presidency—but on only one occasion was that senator present for the Electoral College certification of his opponent (John McCain in 2009, described more fully below). However, all four had set the tone for a peaceful and respectful transfer of power prior to their opponent’s certification.

• After getting crushed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1964 election, Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona read aloud the wire he sent his opponent, which congratulated him on the victory and stated, “I have no bitterness, no rancor at all. I say to the President as a fellow politician that he did a wonderful job.” Goldwater, whose Senate term was expiring anyway, left the Senate on January 3, 1965, three days before the certification of the Electoral College ballots by Congress. Goldwater thus did not have to participate in the certification of his defeat by Johnson.

• Hubert Humphrey, who served 22 years as a senator from Minnesota, was Johnson’s vice president and president of the Senate when he lost to Richard Nixon in 1969. Humphrey quietly declined to participate in the ceremonial certification of the electoral college ballots, but in his November 1968 concession speech, Humphrey read aloud the congratulatory telegram he had sent to Nixon: “I have done my best. I have lost. Mr. Nixon has won. The democratic process has worked its will, so now let’s get on with the urgent task of uniting our country.”

• John Kerry, then in his 20th year serving as a senator from Massachusetts, unsuccessfully challenged President George W. Bush in the 2004 election. Some cited alleged irregularities involving voting machines in Ohio, and many urged Kerry to challenge Bush’s 286-251 Electoral College victory. Kerry declined and conceded the day after the election, stating, “In America, it is vital that every vote count, and that every vote be counted. But the outcome should be decided by voters, not a protracted legal process.” On the day of the certification on January 6, 2005, Kerry was traveling to the Middle East to thank American troops for their service in Iraq. In a 2016 CNN interview, Kerry expressed confidence he had done the right thing in conceding. “It was important for our nation to not question that,’’ Kerry said, “and to move forward.”

• After losing the 2008 election to fellow Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, Senator John McCain of Arizona spent a portion of his concession speech urging his supporters to stop booing the president-elect, and acknowledged the historical significance of the first African-American president. “The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly,” said McCain, “I had the honor of calling Senator Barack Obama to congratulate him on being elected the president of the country we both love … my heart is filled with nothing but gratitude for the experience, and to the American people, for giving me a fair hearing before deciding that Senator Obama and my old friend Senator Joe Biden [Obama’s vice presidential running mate] should have the honor of leading us for the next four years.” The Congressional Record shows that McCain was present for the Electoral College certification of Obama on January 6, 2009—but does not record that McCain made any remarks on the floor that day.