Other successful dark horse candidates for the United States presidency include : Perhaps the two most famous unsuccessful dark horse presidential candidates in American history are Democrat William Jennings Bryan , a three-term congressman from Nebraska nominated on the fifth ballot after impressing the 1896 Democratic National Convention with his famous Cross of Gold speech ( Bryan would go on to receive the Democratic presidential nomination twice more and serve as United States Secretary of State ) , and Republican businessman Wendell Willkie , who was nominated on the sixth ballot at the 1940 Republican National Convention despite never having previously held government office and having only joined the party in 1939
1896 Democratic National Convention
1896 Democratic National Convention
Dark horse