Even clouds dark as those cast by the ethically challenged, paranoid, narcissistic buffoon currently serving as America’s commander-in-chief have silver linings, at least for some people. For example, in retrospect the nation’s last three chief executives are all looking mighty attractive these days.

Even their most strident critics would likely prefer Barack Obama at his most aloof, George W. Bush at his least articulate, or Bill Clinton with his fly open to the delusional, double-talking, increasingly incoherent charlatan currently occupying the White House.

It’s hard to imagine a Hillary Clinton presidency starting off this disastrously, even if, like Obama, her hands were tied by a Congress determined to see her fail. But it does encourage speculation about what might have happened if the 2016 presidential election, or for that matter any of the six prior ones, had turned out differently.

But in order to do that it’s instructive to look back at the last half-dozen major-party candidates American’s voters rejected in order to install (and in three cases subsequently re-elect) the nation’s most recent commanders-in-chief.

Hillary Clinton, a former first lady, Secretary of State, and United States Senator from New York, has devoted her entire adult life to public service trying to improve the lives of those who live in the country she loves.

Mitt Romney, who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2012, was an unqualified success as a businessman who later won a term as the Republican governor of an overwhelmingly Democratic state.

No recent also-ran in a national election can match John McCain’s “service to the nation” credentials. A decorated Vietnam veteran, he was brutally tortured during five and a half years as a prisoner of war before returning home to represent Arizona in the United States Senate for thirty years (and counting).

Like McCain, John Kerry, who lost the election of 2004, was decorated for valor during the Vietnam conflict after enlisting (rather than being drafted) for military service. He too has served the nation in a variety of positions, including Secretary of State under President Obama and senator from Massachusetts.

Al Gore, who won the popular vote but controversially lost the Electoral College in 2000, was another Vietnam vet who came home and served his home state (Tennessee) in both Congress and the Senate prior to running for president.

Bob Dole, who failed to prevent Bill Clinton’s re-election in 1996, was a decorated World War II veteran who later spent a combined 35 years in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives representing his home state of Kansas. Clinton had won his first term in the White House by besting then-incumbent George H.W. Bush, himself a pilot who had served with distinction in the Second World War.

It’s at least plausible any or all of this distinguished sextet would have served with honor and distinction as president. But what about another unsuccessful candidate, one who’ll quietly turn 83 years old next week?

The Connecticut-born son of immigrants from Lebanon, Ralph Nader turned down a Princeton scholarship because his family could afford the tuition, and felt scholarships should go to students who could not.

He was virtually unknown when he first attracted national attention in 1965 by writing “Unsafe at any Speed,” an indictment of the American auto industry that prompted General Motors to unsuccessfully attempt to discredit him by tapping his phone and hiring prostitutes to try and lure him into compromising situations.

Aided by seven volunteer law students dubbed “Nader’s Raiders,” his courageous, brutally honest characterization of the Federal Trade Commission as ineffective and passive led to reforms making the agency into a proactive advocate for consumers.

Later an environmental activist and vocal opponent of nuclear power, his (and his associates’) efforts convinced lawmakers to enact, among other important legislation, the Freedom of Information Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Consumer Product Safety Act.

Ralph Nader still lives exceptionally modestly. He never married, opting to forego family in favor of a career fighting tough battles to make life better for his fellow human beings. His three presidential campaigns, considered quixotic by critics, were based on principle. He didn’t chat up potential donors, win tax breaks for big corporations, or kowtow to special interests.

Paradoxically many of the people he fought for didn’t fully appreciate (or even notice) his efforts on their behalf. Even worse, most didn’t (and in many cases still don’t) realize how badly they needed the sort of advocacy and protection he’s provided them with for decades.

The question of which still-living defeated major-party candidate might have made the best president is irrelevant. In his remarkable life Ralph Nader has done more for everyday Americans than all the other also-rans combined.

Literacy teacher/freelance writer Andy Young wishes to point out there are only 1,429 days until Inauguration Day 2021.