Over the decades, Michigan governors have played pivotal roles in presidential campaigns. Not this year.

Worried about re-election in 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt lured popular ex- Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy to come back from a diplomatic post in the Philippines to run for governor.

As it turned out, FDR ran stronger in Michigan than the successful Murphy, who was governor 1937-38 and later appointed by Roosevelt as attorney general and then to the Supreme Court.

With a press flurry after they huddled in 1960 on Mackinac Island, 1949-1960 Governor G. Mennen Williams endorsed John F. Kennedy for the Democratic nomination and was instrumental in rounding up support among party liberals.

Republican Governor George Romney (1963-69) virtually shunned 1964 GOP presidential nominee Barry Goldwater ("I accept but do not endorse" him) and made his own unsuccessful bid for the 1968 nomination.

Republican Governors William G. Milliken (1969-82) and John Engler (1991-2002) had important roles along the trails that brought George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush to the White House.

Thanks in part to Milliken, Bush I defeated Ronald Reagan in Michigan's 1980 Republican presidential primary. Bush has said he likely would not have been selected as Reagan's running mate at the Republican National Convention in Detroit had it not been for his Michigan showing. During an October 19, 1986, appearance in Traverse City, according to the Detroit Free Press, Bush said:

"If I had to single out one or two people in the whole country to whom I owe the deepest debt of gratitude, certainly Governor Bill Milliken would be there. He's been outstanding in every way. I can't believe he's out of public life."

Milliken's chummy relationship with Bush the father later faded and never jelled with the son. In fact, Milliken supported John McCain over Bush in the 2000 Michigan primary won by McCain and the 2008 state primary won by ex-Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, son of George.

During the general election campaign, Milliken became disenchanted with McCain but stopped short of publicly supporting Democrat Barack Obama, as did such prominent moderate Republicans as ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell and ex- Governor William Weld of Massachusetts, as well as former longtime state Senate Republican Floor Leader Phil Arthurhultz of Whitehall, who in October blitzed northern Michigan to promote "Michigan Republicans for Obama."

Engler, an early and stalwart supporter of George W. Bush, got some flak because as incumbent governor he failed in his 1992 vow that Michigan would be Bush's "firewall" against Bill Clinton, who carried the state by about 316,000 votes.

But what Engler did early on in assembling Republican governors behind Bush's 2000 quest for the nomination was as critical a role as a Michigan governor has played in helping an eventual president get nominated.

Governor Jim Blanchard (1983-1990) played an important early role in helping Clinton, a fellow founder of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, win nomination in 1992. Clinton named Blanchard ambassador to Canada.

Blanchard was an early leader of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful Michigan primary bid, a victory diminished by the fact that eventual nominee Barack Obama and some other contenders did not compete because the primary was earlier than allowed by party rules.

And what of current Governor Jennifer Granholm?

She was an early supporter of Senator Clinton for the Democratic nomination (even before Granholm's endorsement, First Gentleman Dan Mulhern raved about prospect of having a two-for-one with Bill Clinton back in the White House).

Granholm subsequently became part of Team Obama and had a high-profile gig playing the role of Sarah Palin in helping Obama running mate Joe Biden prep for the Veep debate.

But McCain's abrupt surrender by pulling out of Michigan ended its status as a battleground state - and opportunity for Granholm to be a heralded pivotal player in her home state.

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.