In fact, in all of American history, only one president has been shown the door by the voters after one term only to come back four years later and be elected to a second non-consecutive term. That was Grover Cleveland, but that was 131 years ago.
Being turned away by the voters after you've sought the highest office in the land doesn't leave you many avenues for a comeback. Again, in my lifetime, only one person who was nominated by a major political party and lost the presidential election has come back to win the office on a second try. That was Richard Nixon, and we all know what happened to him.
Through the course of his whole life, Donald Trump has loathed the term "loser" and he's tried to avoid it at all cost. He understands the dire implications of being tagged a loser, no matter what your endeavor or line of business. And even though he's unquestionably experienced major professional setbacks, he's always shown a remarkable capacity for shifting gears, moving on and diverting attention from any failures. Indeed, he's been quite a magician in that regard.
But the sort of rabbit that Trump is trying to pull from his hat now would require a masterstroke. True, in some ways Grover Cleveland's loss of the presidency in 1888 mirrored Trump's because, like Trump Cleveland lost key swing states that he won in his first victorious bid for the office. And, in at least one state Cleveland's opponents allegedly engaged in fraudulent voting practices. Sound familiar?
But unlike Trump, Cleveland actually received a plurality of the popular vote in his re-election bid. Which is probably one of the reasons why the Clevelands seemed so confident they'd be returning to the White House that upon leaving, First Lady Frances Cleveland told a a staffer: "I want you to take good care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want to find everything just as it is now, when we come back again
And yes, like Trump Cleveland continued to maintain a hold on the imagination of his party, so much so that anti-Cleveland elements of the party were unable to create a coalition large enough to deny Cleveland the nomination in 1892. As a result, Cleveland was easily nominated by his party on the first ballot. Foreshadowing what may happen next year, the former president then went on to once again face President Benjamin Harrison who previously wrested the White House from him. In the end, Cleveland won both the popular and electoral vote in historic fashion. But it's important to remember that the vote was split because of a third party populist candidate and that inured to Cleveland's advantage.
Similarities and dissimilarities. There's no way to definitively say that what happened to Grover Cleveland gives us any guide to the 2024 presidential election. After all, Cleveland was only 55 (still a vigorous campaigner) when he won in 1892 and was returned to the White House, whereas Trump would be 78 in a similar situation. And again, that was more than 130 years ago and the only time that this has ever happened. Still, one can never say never. For example, it had been 152 years since a sitting vice president had been elected president when George H. W. Bush was elected in 1988 ending what appeared to be a long-standing jinx. And one should never underestimate Donald Trump or discount the vagaries of history.
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