In other words, which POTUS elections did the (a) general American public at the time see as all candidates being poor options, and (b) do current historians and political scientists generally agree as them having poor candidates?
In other words, which POTUS elections did the (a) general American public at the time see as all candidates being poor options, and (b) do current historians and political scientists generally agree as them having poor candidates?
A case could be made for 1976. The incumbent Gerald Ford was neither elected president nor vice president, and became VP after Agnew resigned before becoming president after Nixon’s resignation. He pardoned Nixon after the Watergate scandal, which was really unpopular with the American people. The challenger Jimmy Carter was an unknown before the Democratic primary, being the Governor of Georgia but was not seen as someone who would be more than that. It was a tight election with Carter barely beating Ford. It’s possible a stronger Democratic candidate would’ve won in a landslide, likewise a stronger Republican incumbent would’ve probably won easily.