The US has its first presidential rematch since 1956, and other facts about the Biden-Trump sequel
WASHINGTON — Just when the Americans thought they were out, Joe Biden and Donald Trump pulled them back in.
The sequel to the 2020 elections has been officially set now that the president and his immediate predecessor have secured their parties’ nominations. Biden and Trump have set up a political movie that the country has seen before — even if the last version was in black and white.
The last presidential rematch came in 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower again defeated Adlai Stevenson, his Democratic opponent four years earlier.
Grover Cleveland, meanwhile, served as the country’s 22nd and 24th presidents, winning elections in 1884 and 1892.
As sequels go, fans of politics and film can hope that the Biden-Trump rematch ends up like the critically acclaimed “The Godfather II” instead of the oft-derided “The Godfather III.” But the Biden-Trump rematch is expected to take its place alongside historical analogues dating back to the country’s founding.
Here’s how it stacks up in history:
Sixty-eight years ago. After Eisenhower defeated Stevenson in 1952, winning all but nine states, the incumbent president faced Stevenson again four years later and pulled off an even bigger landslide.
There are other examples of presidential race rematches, but they occurred much earlier in American history.
Republican President William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the 1896 election and then again in 1900. In 1836, Democrat Martin Van Buren defeated William Henry Harrison of the Whig Party, but Harrison won a rematch between the two and took over the presidency. four years later.
John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson faced each other twice for the presidency. The first time was in 1824, when Adams prevailed, and the second time was in 1828, when Jackson became president by defeating the incumbent Adams.
Then there was John Adams, a Federalist who was the nation’s second president, and Thomas Jefferson, the third and a Democratic-Republican. Both vied for the presidency in the first-ever contested presidential election to succeed George Washington in 1796, in which Adams won and Jefferson was elected vice president. Four years later, Jefferson ran against and defeated the incumbent Adams.
Only one so far.
Grover Cleveland is the only president in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms. He has successfully accomplished what Trump is now trying to do: win back the White House from the opponent who took it from him.
Cleveland, a Democratic crusader against corruption and governor of New York, narrowly won the 1884 presidential election. Four years later he won the popular vote again, but was defeated in the electoral college by Republican Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland ran against Harrison again in 1892, this time easily winning a second term.
Other former presidents have tried and failed to regain their former posts.
After serving two terms until 1877, Ulysses S. Grant again sought the Republican nomination in the 1880 election, but lost to James A. Garfield after a congressional battle. A third term would have been allowed then because the 22nd Amendment, which limited presidents to two terms, was not ratified until 1951.
Three former presidents tried unsuccessfully to win back the White House with parties different from the one they were part of when they won it – with Teddy Roosevelt coming closest.
Roosevelt, a Republican, became president when William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 and re-elected in 1904 – but chose not to seek another full term in 1908, stepping aside for his hand-picked Republican Party successor, William H. Taft.
Roosevelt later became disenchanted with Taft and challenged him for the Republican nomination in 1912. When that failed, Roosevelt ran for president on his own Progressive ticket, which became known as the Bull Moose Party after the former president joked that he felt “as strong as a bull moose.” Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the November election, but Roosevelt came in second, winning 88 electoral votes, compared to only 8 for Taft, the incumbent president.
Millard Fillmore became president after Zachary Taylor, the last president elected with the Whig Party, died in 1850. Fillmore unsuccessfully sought the Whig presidential nomination in 1852. Four years later he ran for president with the Know-Nothing Party, but lost every president. state except Maryland.
Democrat Martin Van Buren was president from 1837 to 1841 and lost his re-election bid to Whig Party candidate William Henry Harrison. Eight years later, Van Buren attempted a comeback with the Free Soil Party, but failed to gather electoral votes.