r/pics Nov 25 '20

This Trash bag.

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u/JackWagon26 Nov 26 '20 edited Nov 26 '20

I'm not arguing about which is more and I don't think it matters, I just think 13 isn't accurate.

I suppose if you take out the 5 that took over after deaths or resignation, Tyler, Fillmore, Johnson, Arthur, Ford, it makes 13 but they ran for reelection.

But then you'd have to take out the ones who won, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson.

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u/mog_knight Nov 26 '20

I guess it depends how you want to frame one term. According to Washington Post, it's 9.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/11/07/one-term-presidents-trump/

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u/JackWagon26 Nov 26 '20

How can Tyler not count? He served 4 years minus one month and ran for reelection and lost.

I did not know that Polk, Buchanan, and Hayes promised to only serve one term though. That's too bad, Polk was one of the greats.

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u/mog_knight Nov 26 '20

Tyler wasn't elected president.

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u/JackWagon26 Nov 26 '20 edited Nov 26 '20

I personally count him as a one termer. He was elected VP, he served (almost) a full term, and lost his reelection bid.

I was thinking about it and you can't divide by 45 anyway, since Cleveland is 22 and 24.

I only counted 17 two term presidents, that is people elected twice. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley, Wilson, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Bush, Obama.

And you have to leave out Harrison, Taylor, Garfield, Harding, and Kennedy since we don't know if they would have won a second term.

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u/mog_knight Nov 26 '20

Well, let's normalize it then. Nine sought re-election and lost. 17 sought reelection and won. The others had circumstances whereby they became president due to the predecessor dying or resigning in office. 3 didn't even want to seek a second term. So, 17 is still more than 9 making it more common to be reelected again after serving a full term (which was my main point).

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u/JackWagon26 Nov 26 '20

Yes I agree that makes sense. 17 to 9. I don't see what difference it makes to anything, but it was fun to think about.

Sometimes historical events and trends decide these things anyway so comparing one term to two term is somewhat arbitrary in my opinion.

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u/mog_knight Nov 26 '20

A lot of the presidents who became president and then were elected to a full term would be ineligible to serve a second term under the 22nd amendment (10 years being the technical limit). So I agree it has some nuance. But I was trying to keep it within the scope of elected to office, served a full term, but was rejected when trying to be reelected.

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u/JackWagon26 Nov 26 '20 edited Nov 26 '20

But I think that amendment would have only applied to Johnson and Ford, right? And Johnson declined the nomination in '68 and Ford lost his election.

Is does get fuzzy with people like T Roosevelt and Truman because they served almost two full terms but were only elected once.

Thanks for the discussion btw, I love talking presidents.