Single Term Presidents and their Symbolic Value
By Elaura Lacey, Third Year History Student
Finally, after much anticipation and even more counting, we finally know the results of the 2020 US Presidential election. While it would be appropriate to focus on Joe Biden winning the race by a slim majority and a record number of votes, many are taking great satisfaction in Donald Trumps failure to secure his second term. Only ten other US Presidents have been unsuccessful for a re-election, and Donald Trump’s joining the mantel, and not very gracefully may I add. The particular framing of this loss holds a weight that can only be understood through the American psyche. There is definitely a symbolic difference between a president serving the maximum of eight years compared to just four years and this separates the great presidents from the proverbial ‘losers’ of American political history. How does popularity impact the legacy of a president in history? How important are Presidents in defining eras in American history? Why is there so much pressure for presidents to win re-election?
Since 1789 and out of a total of 44 presidents there have only been ten (now eleven including Trump) who have only held office for four years. This isn’t including John F Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln who were assassinated before having the opportunity to run for a second term. It’s been 28 years since the last president failed to win re-election, and that was George H W Bush in 1992. Before him, other single-term presidents included Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford. What’s striking about these outcomes is that in modern American politics, it’s relatively common for Presidents to win a second term in the White House. Therefore, to lose a re-election doesn’t just correlate a decline in support but also represents a judgement on the publics behalf that highlights ineptness in the office.
This idea of failure, but also humiliation, can be seen in the rhetoric around election campaigns. For example, in 2010 Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced that one major aim of his in the presidential campaign was to make Democratic President Barack Obama a “one-term president”, giving this title significant value in determining the legacy of his presidency. American journalist Robert W. Merry suggested in his 2012 book ‘Where They Stand’ that presidential elections are ultimately referendums by which the current president is evaluated and judged by the American voting public. He suggests that the presidential status of one candidate overshadows the fair assessment of the other because ultimately, Americans like to vote in confidence. The loss of a re-election, therefore, indicates not only a decline in popularity and confidence from the initial election but almost a rejection and criticism of the president in office, determining the way in which those four years will be epitomized in the history books.
It will be interesting to see how Donald Trump’s time in office will be remembered by future historians, but his single-term status, as well as general character and questionable decision-making, foreshadows a not-so favourable appeal. In 2017, C-SPAN’s Presidential Historians Survey was updated after reaching out to 91 historians to comprise a ranking system of US presidents based on key leadership qualities. This survey, like others of the sort, hold the same figures in the top ten with Lincoln, Washington, FDR and Theodore Roosevelt posing as reoccurring national favourites. From this survey, presidents who lost re-elections such as George H.W Bush (ranked 20th), Gerald Ford (25th), and Herbert Hoover (36th) rank much lower. Other factors must be included to the formation of public memory regarding these figures; the 1930s Depression for example pins the face of Hoover to a time of turmoil and hardship, making him appear unfavourable in comparison to others.
The legacies of presidents therefore seems to be underpinned by how they’re perceived by the American public more so than their political contributions. The status of only securing a single-term in office becomes perhaps the most prevailing mark of failure on a President’s record that stays firmly put in the minds of the American people. Of course, this exploration is incredibly shallow and only serves to illuminate questions surrounding recent events; more research would have to be undertaken to fully comprehend the gravity of single-term presidencies. However, from this we can begin to understand Trump’s decision to hide on golf courses as he struggles to swallow the reality of being ‘fired’ by the American people.
Bibliography
‘George HW Bush: What makes a one-term president?’, BBC News, accessed 9.11.2020 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20861048
Merry, R., Where They Stand: The American presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians (Simon & Schuster, 2012)
C-SPAN Survey on Presidents 2017, C-span.org accessed 9.11.2020 https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2017/
Cover Image Credit: Element5Digital on Unsplash