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Post by american2006 on Jun 12, 2021 20:35:09 GMT
Assume the 22nd Amendment is never passed, say it dies in Congress or fails to get the votes of the states. What other US Presidents could of gotten a third term? Maybe Eisenhower, Reagan or Obama?
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jun 13, 2021 10:48:11 GMT
Assume the 22nd Amendment is never passed, say it dies in Congress or fails to get the votes of the states. What other US Presidents could of gotten a third term? Maybe Eisenhower, Reagan or Obama?
Their all possibilities although I get the feeling that Eisenhower wasn't really that interested in a 3rd term and Reagan may have been getting too old, plus some of the skeletons had started to come out of the cupboard. Similarly with Obama I don't know if he would have been that eager for a 3rd term given the stress he was facing.
Other options might be Nixon if he avoided the Watergate scandal or Clinton if he can keep his coalition together and similarly avoid some of his sexual escapades coming out.
However with all of them there is also the question of voter fatigue with the same man after 8 years. Roosevelt was a special case both because he was so popular with his actions during the depression and also the crisis of WWII. For the 5 people mentioned above only Reagan's successor was from the same party albeit that in most cases the result was very close. [Kennedy in 1960, Bush junior in 2000, Trump in 2016] If the sitting President had gone for a 3rd term that would have inspired both some personal loyalty and also a "we want a change" mood and which would have been more powerful would have been difficult to tell.
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Post by american2006 on Jun 13, 2021 14:51:33 GMT
Assume the 22nd Amendment is never passed, say it dies in Congress or fails to get the votes of the states. What other US Presidents could of gotten a third term? Maybe Eisenhower, Reagan or Obama?
Their all possibilities although I get the feeling that Eisenhower wasn't really that interested in a 3rd term and Reagan may have been getting too old, plus some of the skeletons had started to come out of the cupboard. Similarly with Obama I don't know if he would have been that eager for a 3rd term given the stress he was facing.
Other options might be Nixon if he avoided the Watergate scandal or Clinton if he can keep his coalition together and similarly avoid some of his sexual escapades coming out.
However with all of them there is also the question of voter fatigue with the same man after 8 years. Roosevelt was a special case both because he was so popular with his actions during the depression and also the crisis of WWII. For the 5 people mentioned above only Reagan's successor was from the same party albeit that in most cases the result was very close. [Kennedy in 1960, Bush junior in 2000, Trump in 2016] If the sitting President had gone for a 3rd term that would have inspired both some personal loyalty and also a "we want a change" mood and which would have been more powerful would have been difficult to tell.
That is all true but voter fatigue is a relatively new concept post 22nd amendment, as before hand the GOP or the Democrats either dominated for decades. It would be interesting to see some of those matchups, such as Eisenhower vs JFK, Clinton vs Bush, or most especially Obama vs Trump. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jun 13, 2021 21:41:31 GMT
Their all possibilities although I get the feeling that Eisenhower wasn't really that interested in a 3rd term and Reagan may have been getting too old, plus some of the skeletons had started to come out of the cupboard. Similarly with Obama I don't know if he would have been that eager for a 3rd term given the stress he was facing.
Other options might be Nixon if he avoided the Watergate scandal or Clinton if he can keep his coalition together and similarly avoid some of his sexual escapades coming out.
However with all of them there is also the question of voter fatigue with the same man after 8 years. Roosevelt was a special case both because he was so popular with his actions during the depression and also the crisis of WWII. For the 5 people mentioned above only Reagan's successor was from the same party albeit that in most cases the result was very close. [Kennedy in 1960, Bush junior in 2000, Trump in 2016] If the sitting President had gone for a 3rd term that would have inspired both some personal loyalty and also a "we want a change" mood and which would have been more powerful would have been difficult to tell.
That is all true but voter fatigue is a relatively new concept post 22nd amendment, as before hand the GOP or the Democrats either dominated for decades. It would be interesting to see some of those matchups, such as Eisenhower vs JFK, Clinton vs Bush, or most especially Obama vs Trump.
Yes but prior to FDR there was an acceptance of the two terms limit as set by George Washington. Parties could stay dominant for decades, most noticeably the Republicans after the civil war until pretty much 1932. Continued support for a party is a different thing to for a person at least until politics becomes intensely personality driven.
Eisenhower v Kennedy could well be interesting if the former was persuaded to stand again and Kennedy ended up as the Democratic candidate still. Obama v Trump I would expect would go to the former as he was a much better and more popular campaigner than Hilary Clinton and I think he would be better able to play on Trump's weakness. However in both cases I could see their opponents arguing against the sitting candidates looking for a 3rd term.
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jun 27, 2021 18:56:40 GMT
Assume the 22nd Amendment is never passed, say it dies in Congress or fails to get the votes of the states. What other US Presidents could of gotten a third term? Maybe Eisenhower, Reagan or Obama? Eisenhower and Reagan might have issues with their health, do not think it is a good thing for them to serve a 3rd term. |
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kyng
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Post by kyng on Jun 28, 2021 16:17:53 GMT
Let's see:
Eisenhower: Probably not (due to health issues)
Kennedy: Maybe he doesn't get assassinated, has two successful terms, and runs for a third in 1968 (but that's impossible to know - and besides, "What if JFK wasn't assassinated?" is a matter for another thread anyway!)
Johnson: No. He was so unpopular that he didn't even run in 1968, when he was eligible!
Nixon: I don't think I need to explain this one.
Ford: He's not going to be a three-termer when he wasn't even a two-termer.
Carter: Ditto.
Reagan: Probably not (due to age). If he wins the 1976 GOP Primary, then maybe he serves three terms from 1977-89, but that's another alternate history for another thread.
Bush 41: As with Ford and Carter, he's done after his first and only term.
Clinton: Probably not (due to impeachment).
Bush 43: Even if he runs in 2008, there's no way on Earth that he gets re-elected.
Obama: Seems to be the first reasonable possibility. I don't think he'd run again in 2016 (he'd let Hillary have a go)... but, what about 2020? The OTL Democratic primary field wasn't very inspiring IMO, and it was won by Obama's VP running for "Obama's third term". But he's very old, and he's not got the charisma that Obama had... so, why not have Obama running for Obama's third term?
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jun 28, 2021 16:19:49 GMT
Nixon: I don't think I need to explain this one. Only in the Watchmen universe. |
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kyng
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Post by kyng on Jun 28, 2021 16:21:34 GMT
Nixon: I don't think I need to explain this one. Only in the Watchmen universe. Or in Back to the Future:  But, fortunately, that's not the world that we live in!!!! |
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lordroel
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Post by lordroel on Jun 28, 2021 16:27:23 GMT
Only in the Watchmen universe. Or in Back to the Future: But, fortunately, that's not the world that we live in!!!! Seems he is more successful in AH Timelines than in reality. |
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Post by american2006 on Jun 28, 2021 21:13:13 GMT
Only in the Watchmen universe. Or in Back to the Future: But, fortunately, that's not the world that we live in!!!! Oh deer. Any president seeking a fifth term is scary, considering the only four-term President had the worst economic downturn and a World War, I wonder what would force 5 terms. |
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stevep
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Post by stevep on Jun 29, 2021 10:16:58 GMT
Or in Back to the Future: But, fortunately, that's not the world that we live in!!!! Oh deer. Any president seeking a fifth term is scary, considering the only four-term President had the worst economic downturn and a World War, I wonder what would force 5 terms.
Fighting off the 2nd alien invasion?  Good point on what is likely to make people cling to the man they know.
Of course the other alternative is even worse but probably outside the scope of this thread. I.e. President X wins his 6th term with 86% of the vote. As happens so much in such pristine examples of democracy as Russia, Belarus etc.
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Post by american2006 on Jun 29, 2021 14:07:38 GMT
Oh deer. Any president seeking a fifth term is scary, considering the only four-term President had the worst economic downturn and a World War, I wonder what would force 5 terms.
Fighting off the 2nd alien invasion? Good point on what is likely to make people cling to the man they know.
Of course the other alternative is even worse but probably outside the scope of this thread. I.e. President X wins his 6th term with 86% of the vote. As happens so much in such pristine examples of democracy as Russia, Belarus etc.
I don’t know which ones worse. I doubt Nixon would go as far as to overthrow democracy, but a second alien invasion? Let’s hope not. |
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kyng
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Post by kyng on Jul 3, 2021 20:28:58 GMT
Or perhaps Biff Tannen is Nixon's main opponent - in which case, I dare say Nixon would be the lesser of two evils!!!
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Good point on what is likely to make people cling to the man they know.