Senator Barack Obama announced for president on February 10, 2007 in Springfield, Illinois. In a rousing speech quoting Abraham Lincoln in cold weather he set off on his quest for the presidency that very few thought would end in triumph as it, of course, did.
Senator Hillary Clinton announced her presidential candidacy on January 20, 2007 with a post on her website saying "I'm in. And I'm in to win."
The GOP frontrunner at that time former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani entered the Republican presidential race during an interview with Sean Hannity on FOX News.
The former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney made his announcement in Dearborn, Michigan the state where his father was once the governor.
And who can forget that the former senator from Alaska Mike Gravel announced a full thirty months before the 2008 election on April 17, 2006 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
And, fifty years ago then Senator John F. Kennedy officially announced his decision to run for the presidency a mere ten months before the general election.
Times have certainly changed since JFK's announcement. If someone waited until ten months before the election we would already be in the middle of the primary season and the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary would have been held.
Does it really matter how early you announce for president? It certainly did not help Mike Gravel in 2008 but it may have helped an obscure former governor of Georgia named Jimmy Carter who announced at the end of 1974.
In addition, to when you announce, is the symbolism of where you announce. Obama , in Springfield, Illinois invoked his connection to Abraham Lincoln setting the stage for his long campaign to the Oval Office.
When Bobby Kennedy announced for president in the 1960's he chose to make his announcement in the same Senate room as his late brother did in 1960.
As soon as the midterm elections are over and the results calculated look for a possible early announcement this December and then there will begin a flood of presidential announcements in January and February.
Some candidates may take the Hillary Clinton approach and announce on their websites or Facebook or Twitter. Some may go on a late night talk show and announce to a national audience. Most though will choose somewhere important and symbolic to their lives in their home states when they announce.
The Donald as in Donald Trump is now putting himself forward as a possible presidential candidate. Certainly a man who likes publicity, he could announce at one of his luxury properties in New York or elsewhere to give the image of a successful businessman.
The Governor of Mississippi Haley Barbour could set up microphones on the Gulf Coast and talk about what a superb job he did in rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina. If the GOP gains seats in governors' races, Barbour, the head of GOP Governors' Conference, can take credit for the gains. Barbour could announce for president with all the new GOP governors at his side.
If Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels decides to throw his hat into the presidential ring he could make his announcement at the Indianapolis 500 race track and show he is a fan of the Indy Racing and NASCAR circuit and connect with the large number of race fans from North Carolina to California who are key voters.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal could stand on an offshore oil rig and make his bid for the presidency official by bashing BP and telling all of us how he helped solve the oil spill crisis and proved his leadership in this environmental disaster.
With so many of the possible GOP presidential candidates connected to FOX News we should look for some announcements on that unbiased channel. Mike Huckabee will have to decide soon whether he wants to be a talk show host or try again for the presidency. He obviously could announce on his own popular television show.
Sarah Palin has the perfect opportunity to announce in Alaska with the beautiful mountains behind her or if she announces soon she could do it on Dancing With The Stars as she watches her daughter in the audience. That way if she is actually booed it will be for her announcement and not for people upset with scoring by the judges on something not connected to her.
Since Palin needs to beef up her foreign policy skills she could announce from Afghanistan or another trouble spot around the world which would make for even more news than she normally generates.
Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum also have ties with FOX News so they could announce on television during one of their commentaries. Since Gingrich is an historian he will probably choose something and somewhere symbolic to announce his presidential bid.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty could announce in a canoe on one of the hundreds of beautiful lakes in his state. And, Mitt Romney could actually announce in the state where he was governor-Massachusetts.
There will be other candidates like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich and possibly some big winners in the midterm elections who will become national political celebrities.
From the top of Trump Tower to the Indianapolis 500 to the lakes of Minnesota to the offshore oil rigs of Louisiana there will be well set up sites for presidential announcements beginning this December or early next year.
Historically, presidential announcement speeches have been pretty forgettable and not that inspiring.
So get ready. There is an unpopular president in the White House defending some unpopular policies and there will be many Republican candidates coming out of the woodwork to announce and the announcements will be coming soon.
The big question: Will a Democrat from the left or right of the party challenge Obama for the nomination? Don't bet against that happening.