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Every One-Term US President Who Lost Reelection, Ranked
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Vote up the US presidents who deserved a second term.
When the president of the United States is voted into office, there's the possibility that he'll be there for up to eight years. This hasn't always been the case - the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution established this two-term limit in 1951. Still, though two terms is the maximum, there's no guarantee the commander-in-chief will sit in the Oval Office that long. Untimely death, choosing not to run for a second term like Lyndon Johnson, and losing a reelection bid are all possible.
Incumbent presidents losing reelection has happened 10 times in US history. Various factors have influenced the overall outcomes of each election, but nearly one-quarter of the presidents of the United States have “one-term” as a qualifier for their term in office.
Looking at who, when, and what influenced their failed bids to remain president reveals as much about the candidates as it does about the historical context of their presidencies. With that in mind, it may seem like some one-term presidents should have been given a second chance in hindsight. Who do you think should've won a second term?
Year He Ran For Reelection: 1888
Opponent: Benjamin Harrison
What Happened: Grover Cleveland was the first Democratic president after the American Civil War. Once in office, Cleveland tried to prevent any economic favoritism by his administration, attempted to regulate railroads on the federal level, and lowered taxes.
Cleveland's opponent, Benjamin Harrison, had received the Republican Party nomination on the eighth ballot at the convention. He gave speeches from his front porch and made no promises of special favors to supporters. His campaign asserted that “Grover must go," but politician Matt Quay of Pennsylvania also said when he heard Harrison won,
How close a number of men were compelled to approach… the penitentiary to make him President.
Cleveland's efforts gained him the majority popular vote in 1888, but he lost the Electoral College 233 to 168. Cleveland ran again for the presidency in 1892 and won. He holds the distinction of serving as president for two non-consecutive terms in office.
Should've had a second term?Year He Ran For Reelection: 1992
Opponents: Bill Clinton and Ross Perot
What Happened: When George H.W. Bush became president in 1988, it was on the heels of serving as President Ronald Reagan's vice president for eight years. Bush benefitted from the success of his predecessor, but also faced a world changed by the fall of the Soviet Union.
Driven by his commitment “to make kinder the face of the nation,” Bush promoted democracy worldwide militarily and diplomatically. By 1992, his presidency could not overcome a struggling economy and increased domestic strife.
Bush had a formidable challenger in Democratic nominee Bill Clinton, but also had to face independent candidate Ross Perot. It's not entirely clear how much Perot's candidacy affected Bush's loss, but Perot did receive nearly 20 million votes. Many observers view this as paving Clinton's way to the Oval Office.
Perot didn't receive any electoral votes, but Clinton won 370 to Bush's 168 votes.
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Year He Ran For Reelection: 1829
Opponent: Andrew Jackson
What Happened: When John Quincy Adams won the presidency in 1824, it was only after the House of Representatives voted him into office over Andrew Jackson, the candidate who won the popular vote. No candidate had enough electoral college votes, thus sending the election to Congress.
Four years later, Adams and Jackson again vied for the job of president. In a campaign characterized by mudslinging, Adams' supporters accused Jackson of being married to an adultress since his wife, Rachel, was not legally divorced yet. Meanwhile, Jackson's backers alleged Adams had hired a prostitute for the Russian emperor.
After Adams won in 1824, he appointed another candidate, Henry Clay, as secretary of state. This led to Jackson's claim that Adams and Clay reached a “corrupt bargain” to keep him from becoming president. When Jackson ran again in 1828, his animosity toward Adams and the damage he'd done to the president's reputation fueled his ultimate win.
Much like his father had done to Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams did not attend his successor's inauguration in March 1829.
Should've had a second term?Year He Ran For Reelection: 1800
Opponent: Thomas Jefferson
What Happened: After his first term in office, Federalist John Adams faced off against Democratic-Republican (anti-Federalist) Thomas Jefferson for the position in 1800.
Adams and Jefferson had both vied for the presidency in 1796, and the former emerged the victor.
When Adams and Jefferson ran against each other in 1800, the campaigns were bitter, rife with hatred, and full of insults hurled from both sides. A supporter of Jefferson wrote the following about Adams:
Ye will judge without regard to the prattle of a president, the prattle of that strange compound of ignorance and ferocity, of deceit and weakness; without regard to that hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.
Anti-Jefferson newspapers alleged his election would mean “murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will openly be taught and practiced" across the country and that “our wives and daughters [may be] the victims of legal prostitution.”
Members of the Electoral College voted for their top two candidates in 1800, which meant Adams, Jefferson, and their running mates, Charles C. Pinckney and Aaron Burr, respectively, were essentially on equal footing. Jefferson and Burr tied and, in a subsequent vote in the House of Representatives (as was stipulated in the Constitution), Jefferson won. Burr then became vice president.
Adams did not attend Jefferson's inauguration in March 1801 but notoriously packed judgeships across the US with members of the Federalist Party.
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Year He Ran For Reelection: 2020
Opponent: Joe Biden
What Happened: The presidential election of 2020 pitted long-time politician and former Vice President Joe Biden against incumbent Donald Trump. Trump's four years in office saw many “firsts” for the United States, including the use of social media as a dominant form of communication to the American public. Trump made numerous judicial appointments, implemented strict border and immigration controls, and sought to protect US interests in foreign trade worldwide.
The onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2019 and the response by the Trump administration complicated the end of Trump's presidency. As the 2020 election approached, Biden received the Democratic Party nomination while Trump secured that of the Republicans. Both men campaigned amid the pandemic, notably participating in debates under unprecedented circumstances.
After votes were cast on and before November 3, 2020, Biden won 306 electoral college votes to Trump's 232 votes. In the popular vote, Biden emerged victorious with 81.3 million to Trump's 74.2 million.
Trump refused to accept the election outcome, but Biden was sworn in as president on January 20, 2021.
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Year He Ran For Reelection: 1980
Opponent: Ronald Reagan
What Happened: During Jimmy Carter's presidency, the United States was plagued by economic stagnation, high inflation and interest rates, and fuel shortages. Overall, Carter's foreign policies proved successful. He oversaw an agreement between Israel and Egypt in 1978, established diplomatic relations with China, and worked with the Soviet Union to limit nuclear weapon production, but the Iran hostage crisis at the end of his term ultimately tainted his reputation with voters.
Carter was nominated for reelection by the Democrats, while Ronald Reagan received the Republican nomination in 1980. Reagan was charismatic and well-spoken, ultimately dominating the debates between the two men. On October 28, 1980, just days before the election, Reagan famously asked,
Are you better off today than you were four years ago?
Based on election results, the answer was “no.” Carter won just 49 electoral votes to Reagan's 489 votes.
Should've had a second term?
