The Next Great Political Comeback?
With the 2024 Presidential election less than one year away, America is gearing up for a rematch of the 2020 Presidential election. President Trump and Joe Biden both appear to be virtual shoe-ins for their respective party’s presidential nomination.
At the current time, President Trump is leading Joe Biden in nearly every major 2024 presidential poll. The Real Clear Politics (RCP) average shows Trump head by 2.4%!
What’s even more interesting is that President Trump is polling significantly better now than he was one year before the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The RCP average had Clinton ahead by 4% in November 2015 and Biden ahead by almost 10% in November 2019.
If Trump’s polling lead continues into 2024, then he holds a solid chance of defeating incumbent Joe Biden in the 2024 Presidential election.
From a historical perspective, Trump’s potential victory over Biden in 2024 would qualify as one of the greatest political comebacks in American history. Almost everyone wrote off President Trump in early 2021. Many political commentators and politicians–including “RINO” US Senator Bill Cassidy to former Congressman Liz Cheney–betrayed President Trump following the January 6 protests in early 2021. Yet, President Trump is in quite a strong position to become America’s next President in January 2025.
Only a handful of American presidents have lost a presidential election and came back to win another one. So for the rest of today’s article, we’re going back in time to learn about two different US Presidents who overcame the odds and completed two of the greatest comebacks in American political history.
1. Richard Nixon
In my opinion, Richard Nixon’s ascension to the presidency in 1968 is one of the most remarkable comebacks in American political history.
Before Richard Nixon became president in 1968, Nixon faced John F Kennedy for the 1960 presidential election. In a close and potentially stolen election, Nixon lost to JFK by an “official” margin of 120k votes–out of over 68 million votes cast. Then two years later, Nixon ran against incumbent California Governor Pat Brown and lost again. Two consecutive losses is essentially a “death knell” in American politics.
After two straight political defeats, the entire news media wrote off Nixon’s political career. In fact, Nixon gave an infamous “last” press conference after losing California’s 1962 Gubernatorial election. In this press conference, Nixon told the media that “you don’t have Nixon to kick around anymore because, gentleman, this is my last press conference.”
The Liberal news media of the 1960s hated Nixon almost as much the modern “Fake News media” hates President Trump. The parallels are eerily similar.
After Republicans were decimated in the 1964 Presidential election cycle, Richard Nixon’s political career rose from the ashes, and he became the GOP’s presidential nominee in 1968. Then, Nixon defeated Democrat candidate Hubert Humphrey in the general election to become the 37th President of the United States.
Nixon’s comeback is one of the most impressive stories in American history. If you want to learn more about Nixon’s comeback, then go check out Pat Buchanan’s book The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose from Defeat to Create the New Majority.
2. Grover Cleveland
Only one US President in American History has served two non-consecutive terms. That President is Grover Cleveland–who is both the 22nd and 24th President in US History.
Cleveland won his first presidential election in 1884. As the incumbent in 1888, Cleveland lost to Republican candidate and former Civil War General Benjamin Harrison in the 1888 Presidential election.
But fortunately for Cleveland, the third time was a charm. Four years later, Cleveland would ago on to defeat Harrison in their rematch election in 1892. Following his victory in the 1892 presidential election, President Cleveland made American history as the first president to lose as an incumbent and then win a second non-consecutive term.
Of course, Grover Cleveland was not one of the most well-known or consequential presidents in American history. That being said, his political comeback does show a historical precedent for President Trump’s desire to serve for two non-consecutive terms as President.
Heading into 2024, let’s hope that President Trump follows in Grover Cleveland’s footsteps and becomes America’s 2nd president to serve non-consecutive terms! Our country should could use another four years of an “America First” leader, so we must all play our part to ensure President’s victory next November.
