Losing Iowa doesn’t always spell disaster — just ask Bill Clinton or Donald Trump

Winning isn’t everything in the Iowa caucuses. Just ask Donald Trump.

Monday night looms large in the election process for both parties. Iowa is the first state to consider the presidential field in each presidential campaign cycle; a strong showing can give a candidate momentum, and a terrible showing can thin the field.

But losing in Iowa doesn’t always spell disaster for those who dream of occupying the Oval Office. Over the years, several candidates who fell short in the Iowa caucuses went on to win their party’s nomination.

One very vocal Democrat who lost in Iowa never went on to win much, but at least he became an enduring political meme.

Ahead of the 2020 Iowa caucuses, we present an incomplete list of the contest’s most notable losers.

Bill Clinton (D), 1992

Who won: Tom Harkin

You know who had a terrible Iowa caucuses night? The 42nd president of the United States, Bill Clinton. As the governor of Arkansas, Clinton had been seen as a viable candidate, but he came in fourth with a measly 2.8 percent, according to the Des Moines Register. Iowa’s native son, Sen. Tom Harkin, won the state’s Democratic caucuses handily, but Clinton wasn’t finished yet.