Stassen, 80, Opens 8th Presidential Bid
Harold Stassen, boy wonder of the Republican Party 49 years ago, launched his eighth campaign for the White House on Tuesday. He said that he hopes to force discussion of the issues.
Winning is “not the primary concern,” he said. “My primary concern is to move America.”
Stassen, 80, waged only token campaigns in recent election years, but he told reporters: “I’ll try to win. I’ll do the best I can.”
The perennial also-ran in presidential politics, a lawyer who served three terms as governor of Minnesota, made his first bid for the White House 40 years ago.
He was hailed as the “boy wonder” of Minnesota politics when he was elected governor in 1938, at age 31. He was reelected in 1940 and 1942, but has held no elective office since he resigned in 1943 to go on active duty with the Navy.
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