They Also Ran: The Story of the Men Who Were Defeated for the Presidency (1943) is a non-fiction book about United States presidential candidates by American writer Irving Stone, known for his popular biographical novels of artists and intellectuals.

[1] He explores their places in history (and those of their victorious opponents), and tries to assess whether or not the American people made the "right" choice in choosing another candidate for that office.

[3] Boyd Lee Spahr, in The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, criticized the "lack of historical continuity" in the organization of the book, complaining that the grouping of candidates by profession did little to increase understanding.

He said: Mr. Stone wields a trenchant pen but his penchant for striking sentences, and perhaps his prejudices, lead him into exaggerations and inaccuracies, with the result that some of the sketches seem like campaign propaganda, post-mortem pro or con, rather than impartial biography.

[1]Spahr concluded that while Stone was entitled to his opinions, the inaccuracies decreased the book's value as a reference.