From Crosscut: “The last politician to run a serious race for president from this state was the legendary Sen. Henry “Scoop” Jackson in 1976. His credentials were impeccable.
Widely regarded as smart, effective and informed, Jackson, a Democrat, was respected in both parties. When Jack Kennedy won the Democratic nomination for president in 1960, brother Bobby, his campaign manager, wanted Jackson on the ticket. Alas, JFK opted for Lyndon Johnson from Texas, and Scoop was given the chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee as a consolation prize. In 1969, Republican President Richard Nixon asked Jackson to be his secretary of defense, which the senator turned down.
When he finally stepped up to run in ’76, Jackson had organization, money and the support of organized labor. His stalwart support of the war in Vietnam made him a pariah among the anti-war left, but the war was over, and Jackson had a superb liberal record on civil rights, the environment and labor issues. He had never lost a race.