What is the secret to getting elected President? Is it being the richest candidate or being the best looking? Is it based on how well you can read a teleprompter or tell jokes?
Actually the best way to be elected president in recent history is to be left handed.
Left handed men make up about 10% of the population (with women it is about 5%). For much of history, children were trained to only write with their right hand, so it is hard to tell which of our earlier presidents were natural lefties. The first left handed president of the modern age was Harry Truman. He beat right hander Thomas Dewey.
None of the next candidates for president were left handed until Gerald Ford who lost to Jimmy Carter and after that is where it really gets interesting:
Lefty Ronald Reagan beat righties Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.
Lefty George H. W. Bush beat righty Michael Dukakis.
Lefties were guaranteed a winner in 1992 when lefties George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Ross Perot all ran for president against each other.
Bob Dole who writes with his left hand lost to Clinton, but Dole was only left handed after his right hand was injured in World War II.
George W. Bush was right handed, but he didn't have to go up against a lefty because both Al Gore and John Kerry are right handed.
A lefty was going to win in 2008 because both Barack Obama and John McCain are left handed.
Given his spotty record during his first term, many people thought that Obama was vulnerable to defeat. However, challenger Mitt Romney was right handed.
So what are the odds that a lefty has won the presidential election seven times since 1980?
One in 10 million. (1/(0.1*0.1*0.1*0.1*0.1*0.1*0.1))
So who is going to win in 2016?
Hillary Clinton is right handed. Joe Biden is right handed. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is right handed.
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is right handed. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is right handed. Texas Senator Ted Cruz is right handed. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is right handed. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is right handed. Texas Governor Rick Perry is right handed. Florida Senator Marco Rubio is right handed. Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan is right handed. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is right handed.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is left handed.
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