CNN’s John Roberts made a mistake today when writing about the historic significance of this election saying “It IS, after all, the first election since 1960 that an incumbent President or Vice President haven’t been in the race.” Which isn’t true, Eisenhower’s Vice President Richard Nixon ran in 1960.

To find a general election in which neither a sitting or former President or Vice President wasn’t running you must go to 1952 the year in which Harry Truman decided he would not run but only after competing in the New Hampshire primary where he lost. In addition Truman’s 74 year-old Vice President Alben William Barkley also ran for the party nomination announcing on July 6 1952. His bid was rejected by part bosses and he withdrew on July 20th of the same year. 1952 was the last election in which no incumbant POTUS or VPOTUS ran in the general election. However to find an election year like 2008 in which no sitting or former POTUS or VPOTUS is up for the nomination, we must look further to 1928

In the 1928 election no sitting or former presidents or Vice Presidents ran for either the party nomination or in the general election in either the Democratic or Republican party. Vice President Charles Dawes was considered as a potential candidate but was quickly rejected both because of his disastrous stay as VP and because president Coolidge told the party it would be a personal affront to put him up.