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President Barack Obama: Comeback Kid, or starting the long slide down?
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Here at Viral History, President’s Day is an obsession. It lasts all month !!!
First, we’ll have a surprise Guest Blogger to celebrate Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday. Don’t miss it. Mark your calendar for February 11. (Click here.)
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| One-termer Rutherford Hayes. Don’t be like him. |
Then, all month, we’ll look at Role Models for Barack Obama to Avoid: six one-term presidents and the blunders that cost them the White House.
Two years into his term, having survived a self-described “shellacking” in mid-term elections, Obama stands at a cross
roads. He can build on his success in the recent lame duck Congress and good reviews of his Arizona speech to make himself a new “comback kid.” Or he can continue a long slide into decline.
How to avoid the latter? Each of the six presidents listed below shared with Obama the same initial flurry of public good will. Each, when elected, came respected as a talented, well-intentioned, high-toned man with good pedigree and high expectations.
Yet, within four years, each managed to fumble the ball:
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John Quincy Adams (1825-1829);
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Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881);
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William Howard Taft (1909-1913); (Click here for the first three.)
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Herbert Hoover (1929-1933);
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Jimmy Carter (1977-1981); and
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George H. W. Bush (1989-1993).
In February, we will present snapshots of these six (in fact, all eleven one-term losers) to see what went wrong and what Obama could learn.
All that, plus plenty of faces, cartoons, and the usual fare. Hope to see you here. We value your clicks.
Boy, I just love making this another contest.
Durkin
About 15 years ago my wife and I were driving through northern Ohio and we saw the sign for the Hayes house and gave. We stopped and took the tour of the house and the adjacent library. It truly opened my eyes on him. He was an outstanding individual. Somewhat like Jimmy Carter, he did more good after he got out of the White House.