Losing the White House: Depression Sets In

Losing ain't easy — especially after almost a year spent tirelessly campaigning to become the first female president in the nation's history.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. is the latest politican to feel what it's like to lose a chance at the White House. (Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., will likely feel a tremendous sense of disappointment and failure, according to former politicians who also lost their bids for the White House.

"You don't run as hard as we run and lose and feel good about it," former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis told ABCNEWS.com.

Dukakis, who was the Democratic Party nominee in the 1988 presidential election, eventually lost the election to George H. W. Bush.

Almost two decades later, Dukakis said he still thinks about what might have been.

"These days, I somewhat jokingly say that if I'd beaten the old man [Bush], we'd never have had the kid [current President Bush] and the country wouldn't be in this mess," said Dukakis. "I still feel that responsibility still."