Presidential Candidate Announcements

"Well, if Kissinger can win the Peace Prize, I wouldn't be surprised to wake up and find out that I'd won the Preakness."
--Conrad 'Connie' Brean (Wag The Dog)

Interesting graphic from The Economist showing timing of US presidential candidacy announcements since the 1950s.

Two things stick out. One is that announcements have gradually occurred earlier in election cycles as campaigns lengthen. It would be interesting to piece this together all the way back to the founding of the republic. My sense is that earlier announcements and lengthening campaign cycles are recent phenomena--directly related to the increasing power of the chief executive.

The other observation is that, generally, timing of presidential candidate announcements has little bearing on who wins.