# List of former presidents of the United States who ran for office

This is a list of former presidents of the United States who ran for office (the presidency, a seat in Congress, or governor) after leaving office as president. It does not include presidents who sought reelection to a consecutive term while still in office. Prior to the passage of the 22nd Amendment, presidents could run for re-election without restriction; Donald Trump is the first president to win a non-consecutive term since its passage.
Some presidents have been recruited, requested, or drafted to run again. This list, however, only includes those presidents who actively campaigned.

## Presidency

This list only includes former presidents who ran again for president.
| President | Previous term | Reason the president first left office | Year of attempted comeback | Result | Notes |
| Martin Van Buren | 1837–1841 | Defeated in the general election | 1844 | Lost | Failed in his attempt to win the nomination of the Democratic Party |
| Martin Van Buren | 1837–1841 | Defeated in the general election | 1848 | Lost | First nominee of the newly formed Free Soil Party |
| Millard Fillmore | 1850–1853 | Denied nomination by his party | 1856 | Lost | Nominee for the American Party (Know Nothing) |
| Ulysses S. Grant | 1869–1877 | Retired | 1880 | Lost | Failed in his attempt to win the nomination of the Republican Party |
| Grover Cleveland | 1885–1889 | Defeated in the general election | 1892 | Won | First president to succeed at his comeback attempt of winning a non-consecutive term. |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 1901–1909 | Retired | 1912 | Lost | Nominee of the Progressive Party (Bull Moose), after he was denied the nomination of the Republican Party. Survived an attempted assassination during the campaign. |
| Herbert Hoover | 1929–1933 | Defeated in the general election | 1940 | Lost | Failed in his attempt to win the nomination of the Republican Party |
| Donald Trump | 2017–2021 | Defeated in the general election | 2024 | Won | Second president to succeed at his comeback attempt of winning a non-consecutive term. Sustained a felony conviction and survived two attempted assassinations during the campaign. |

## Other elected office

| President | Presidential term | Reason for leaving office | Year of election | Office | Result | Notes |
| James Madison | 1809–1817 | Chose not to run again | 1829 | Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829–1830 | Won | Represented Orange County, Virginia |
| James Monroe | 1817–1825 | Chose not to run again | 1829 | Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829–1830 | Won | Represented Loudoun County, Virginia. |
| James Monroe | 1817–1825 | Chose not to run again | 1829 | Presiding officer of the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 1829–1830 | Won | Withdrew on December 8 due to failing health. |
| John Quincy Adams | 1825–1829 | Defeated in the general election | 1830–1846 (9 elections) | U.S. House of Representatives | Won | Only former president to serve in the House, served until his 1848 death. |
| John Quincy Adams | 1825–1829 | Defeated in the general election | 1833 | Governor of Massachusetts | Lost | Continued in House after defeat. |
| John Tyler | 1841–1845 | Denied nomination by his party/withdrew from race | 1861 | Confederate States Congress | Won | Died before he could take office (had served in unelected Provisional Congress). Only former president to ever run for an office outside the United States. |
| Andrew Johnson | 1865–1869 | Denied nomination by his party | 1872 | U.S. House of Representatives | Lost | Ran as an Independent and finished 3rd in the general election. |
| Andrew Johnson | 1865–1869 | Denied nomination by his party | 1874 | U.S. Senate | Won | Only former president to serve in the Senate, served until his 1875 death. |

## Major appointed office

| President | Previous term | Reason first left office | Year of appointment | Office | Result | Notes |
| William Howard Taft | 1909–1913 | Defeated in the general election | 1921 | Chief Justice of the United States | Confirmed | Only former president ever to serve on the Supreme Court, served until his 1930 resignation. |