This Guy May Have Lessons for Trump

Grover Cleveland won non-consecutive terms, and Hugh Hewitt looks at how
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 11, 2020 8:55 AM CST
This Guy May Have Lessons for Trump
This photograph provided by the Library of Congress shows Grover Cleveland in 1888.   (AP Photo/Library of Congress)

On Thursday, a columnist laid out why a 2024 run by President Trump won't happen. Not so fast, writes conservative Hugh Hewitt in the Washington Post. Hewitt draws lessons from the example of Grover Cleveland, the only man to win nonconsecutive terms in the White House. He first won in 1884, but when he lost re-election, Cleveland retreated to New York to practice law. In those intervening years, Cleveland stayed out of the political fray until it was time to run again. "Trump is unlikely to follow this course, but doing so would enable him to keep careful account of [the] successes and failures of the Biden-Harris team before running on the latter," writes Hewitt. If nothing else, Trump might want to ration his availability for interviews, suggests Hewitt, thus keeping himself in demand.

"Memoirs and a presidential library and museum will help the next four years fly by," writes Hewitt. "If he stays out of daily fights, his successes"—Hewitt ticks off Operation Warp Speed, progress on Mideast peace, his imprint on the courts, etc.—"will grow in comparison to the deadlock ahead." Hewitt also notes that Cleveland attended his successor's inauguration after his first loss in a "model of sportsmanship." Trump hasn't said whether he will attend Joe Biden's swearing-in. In regard to Trump's challenges of the election, Hewitt is confident the president will leave in orderly fashion next month. For now, though, he needs to satisfy his supporters that he is doing "everything within the law to preserve his tenure." (Read the full column.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X