Fifty-state strategy

In 1960, the first presidential election after the admission of Alaska and Hawaii, Richard Nixon pledged to visit all 50 states following his nomination at the Republican National Convention.

Many observers and commentators in succeeding years, such as Larry Sabato, have criticized Nixon's fifty-state pledge as a factor in his loss, suggesting that it forced him to place less emphasis on close states.

Eight years later, in 1968, Nixon ran for president again and won a three-way race against Democrat Hubert Humphrey and independent candidate George Wallace.

[3] In September, Obama scaled back his fifty-state strategy, abandoning Alaska and North Dakota and reducing staff in Georgia and Montana.

John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate made winning Alaska very unlikely for Obama, and she also had strong support in North Dakota.

In 1984 , Ronald Reagan won 49 states, losing only Minnesota (and the District of Columbia )
Despite visiting all 50 states, Richard Nixon won only 26 states and lost the 1960 election.
Howard Dean in 2008, during his time as chairman of the Democratic National Committee