Peter Cooper, at 85 years old, was the oldest person to be nominated for US presidency in 1875. He formed the Greenback Party and died at 92. William Jennings Bryan was the youngest nominee at 36, while Ralph Nader and Pat Paulsen ran multiple times but were never elected.
The oldest person nominated for the presidency of the United States was Peter Cooper, who formed the Greenback Party and was its first candidate in 1875. At the time, Cooper was 85 years old. Although his bid was unsuccessful, the Greenback Party received enough support to elect 15 representatives to Congress. Instrumental in the installation of the first transatlantic cable, Cooper served as president of the North American Telegraph Company and of the New York, Newfoundland and London Telegraph Company. He died in New York on April 4, 1883, aged 92.
Learn more about US presidential candidates:
The youngest presidential candidate on record is William Jennings Bryan, who was first nominated by populists in the Democratic Party in 1896. Bryan, who was 36 at the time, lost to William McKinley. Bryan would run twice more, in 1900 and 1908, but was never elected.
Ralph Nader sought the nomination for president on several occasions but was never elected. Nader ran five times, first in 1992 as a write-in candidate in the New Hampshire primary. He later ran for the Green Party in the 1996 and 2000 elections and as an independent in 2004 and 2008.
Comedian Pat Paulsen first ran for president in the 1968 race, using the opportunity to poke fun at serious candidates while occasionally engaging in some serious commentary on social issues. Never elected, Paulsen ran for office from 1972 to 1996, a year before his death.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
