Norton's Also-Rans Gallery

Location:  The First State Bank, Downtown Norton

Hours:  Banker's hours, Monday through Friday

Photos Copyright Harland J. Schuster.  Please do not use without permission.

Kansas native son, Alfred Landon, who lost the Presidential election of 1936 to Franklin Roosevelt, is just one of many unsuccessful Presidential candidates in this unique gallery in the mezzanine of The First State Bank.  Only one other such gallery exists in the United States, and that gallery is located in the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D. C.

Former bank president W. W. Rouse, always interested in history and politics, was inspired to start the gallery after reading the book, "They Also Ran" about unsuccessful Presidential candidates throughout the history of the United States.  Rouse managed to collect portraits, arranged in chronological order, of all major party candidates who ran unsuccessfully for the nation's highest elected office.  Below each image, is a brief, sometimes opinionated, essay about the candidate.

The bank continues to add to the gallery, even though Rouse retired and has since passed away several years ago.  To walk the gallery and read the essays is a history lesson of a most unique nature.

But there's a lot more than just history to be learned here.  There's a life lesson to be gleaned from what some have called "The Hall of Losers".  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  No person is a loser unless they fail to believe in themselves, and no one pictured here, with the courage and strength of convection strong enough to run for President, fits that description.  Take instead, as a lesson from this place, the example of Thomas Jefferson who's portrait is the first to hang here.  Though defeated by John Adams in the election of 1796, he none the less shook off defeat, running again against Adams in 1800, this time successfully.

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