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Ross Perot , Ralph Nader , Bob Barr . They are among the most high-profile third party candidates to appear on the ballot during a presidential election.
They campaigned fervently, often observing that Democrats and Republicans were the same, declaring the two-party system was broken, frequently kvetching about not being allowed at the debates, all while making a lasting impression upon our collective consciousness.
After the agony of inevitable defeat, the camera truck and embed reporter drove off, the posters came down, and life went on for these plucky politicians.
So where have all the third-party candidates gone?
Our intrepid Mediaite research team sleuthed out their current whereabouts:
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Ralph Nader Ralph Nader , seen here chillaxin' with comedian Pauly Shore , is perhaps the most recognizable contemporary third party figure.
"I believe in I.F. Stone's dictum that in all social justice movements, you've got to be ready to lose. And lose and lose and lose. It's not very pleasant, but you have to accept this if you believe in what you're doing," Nader explained.
He has been accused of spoiling the 2000 election for Democratic nominee Al Gore by stealing liberal votes away from him. He ran less successfully in 2004 and 2008.
Today he continues to live modestly on $30,000 a year, and reportedly "could possibly be cajoled into another run." But Nader recently said he's grown tired of running. 'You have millions of people who say run, run, run,' he said. 'Then you put yourself out there and find they are voting for Obama. Until they become mature, until they realize that if they generate 5 to 8 million votes behind a progressive third-party candidate for leverage, what is the point? Why should people try four or five times? Let someone else do it."
Ross Perot H. Ross Perot received 19,741,065 votes in 1992, winning a greater share of the vote than any other tertiary candidate since Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. He ran again less successfully in 1996.
While he never was elected to public office, he continues to remains active in philanthropy and business. In recent times, he touted a website about his passion -- charts -- on the now defunct perotcharts.com.
Despite endearing journalists and voters with his unique style, he did not leave quite the same impression on former President George HW Bush .
"I think he cost me the election, and I don't like him," Bush said in a recent HBO documentary.
Watch a clip below from his aborted perotcharts.com:
Bob Barr Bob Barr ran on the Libertarian Party ticket in 2008 and received 523,686 votes, 0.4% of the national vote, which was the second highest number of votes nationwide that a Libertarian Party presidential candidate has ever received.
Barr supported fellow Georgian Newt Gingrich 's primary run in 2012, saying that 'I'm very comfortable and happy supporting Newt."
John B. Anderson John B. Anderson received 6 million votes -- 7% of the total-- as an independent candidate in 1980 in his race against Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter .
Since his unsuccessful run, he continued to tirelessly advocate for fair elections, in particular instant run-off voting, and founded FairVote, which promotes electoral reform.
He endorsed Obama in 2008 and now lives half the year in Fort Lauderdale, and is a visiting professor at the Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University.
Pat Buchanan Pat Buchanan received the Reform Party nomination in 2000 and garnered 448,895 votes, or 0.43% of the total. His surprising success in Florida rose awareness of the flawed butterfly ballot, which many say hurt Vice President Al Gore 's electoral chances.
He went on to be a successful cable news pundit for many years on MSNBC until a controversial book he wrote, Suicide of a Superpower , landed him in hot water with the network. He was indefinitely suspended in January 2012 and let go from the network soon after.
Watch Buchanan's defense of himself on Fox News below:
Ezola Broussard Foster Pat Buchanan shocked many politicos when he picked retired teacher Ezola Foster as his Vice Presidential running mate in 2000, the first African-American to have been nominated for vice president by an Federal Election Commission-recognized ticket.
Buchanan said he picked Foster for her advocacy against government involvement in education. "The schools are failing not because there's not enough money, but because there is too much government involvement," Foster said at the time. While unsuccessful in her run for office, she helped pave the way for other African-Americans to get involved on the national stage.
Foster currently lives in Los Angeles and remains active in tea party politics, speaking at rallies. She is outspoken in her opposition to many of President Obama 's policies.
Watch a speech she gave at a tea party event in 2009:
Winona LaDuke Winona LaDuke -- a Native American activist, environmentalist, and Harvard educated economist -- ran with Ralph Nader in 1996 and 2000 as the vice presidential nominee of the United States Green Party. "It's really going to be lousy if [Bush] gets in," she told Salon. "But I can't stand to continue this [election] process where the whole thing gets degraded and goes into a downward spiral. I mean, look at the choices, and they're getting worse."
LaDuke went back to supporting Democrats in the 2004 election and supported Barack Obama in 2008.
She is currently the executive director of both Honor the Earth and White Earth Land Recovery Project. She continues to speak about the environment, releasing a book in 2011 entitled the Militarization of Indian Country . She also is considering another run for office'this time for tribal council of the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota.
Patrick Lucey Patrick Lucey had been a two-term governor of Wisconsin and Ambassador to Mexico when he was tapped to join John B. Anderson's 1980 independent ticket. His public life since the 1980 election has been relatively quiet, but he made headlines just last year when he abruptly switched his endorsement in a Wisconsin Supreme Court election from the incumbent to the challenger, citing a lack of civility from incumbent David Prosser .
Admiral James Stockdale James Stockdale was Ross Perot 's running mate in 1992, and will always be remembered for famously asking "Who am I? Why am I here?" during the 1992 Vice Presidential Debate. While he received much flak for this statement, Stockdale later explained, "I am a philosopher."
According to the New York Times, Stockdale said "he drew his inspiration from the writings of Epictetus, a former Roman slave who was an adherent to the teachings of the Stoics."
He passed away in 2005 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease. Watch his famous debate moment below:
With contributions from Mediaite intern Jack Friedman .
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