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>The most apt analysis I've read was that from a historical standpoint Clinton was trying to do something even very strong candidates have trouble doing - keepi

>The most apt analysis I've read was that from a historical standpoint Clinton was trying to do something even very strong candidates have trouble doing - keeping a party three terms in a row for the White House. There's only one president that's done it to date and it was George Bush, Sr following Reagan. The Democrats actually managed it back after the Great Depression. Three terms of Franklin Delano Roosevelt followed by one of Harry Truman.

kjbflsudfb 10y ago
Technically FDR was elected to 4 terms (not 3), but died in the 4th.
- rpeden 10y ago
  Didn't he die in his 3rd term? Truman was re-elected on his own in 1948.
  - Jtsummers 10y ago
    FDR in 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944 (death, succeeded by Truman); Truman in 1948.
    - rpeden 10y ago
      Thanks. I should've looked that up before commenting!
bryondowd 10y ago
Yep, and the Republicans did it 3 more times before that. And then there's Jackson/Van Buren three terms Dem which immediately follows the first big run of Thomas Jefferson and co running 7 terms as the Democratic-Republican party. So really, it's just uncommon in the last sixty-odd years.
- devonkim 10y ago
  So when the 22nd amendment was passed to limit the president to two terms in 1951 that seems to have changed the dynamics considerably.
  - kjbflsudfb 10y ago
    Maybe. Maybe not. We don't have a good control group to be able to know for certain. I think there is some psychological effect the term limit has on voters. For many the end of a second terms appeals to them as an opportunity of a fresh start (for better or worse), which may translate into electing a leader from a different party.