By Francis J. Gorman
December 20, 2020
President-elect Joe Biden will be the oldest person to become president of the United States. Let’s put that aside for a moment.
Fourteen vice presidents became president. Biden is only the second vice president to become president after a gap as a private citizen between service as vice president and their election to the presidency. Biden’s four-year gap was filled with writing and speaking engagements. Nixon is the other vice president elected after a gap. He had an eight-year gap as a private citizen that included an unsuccessful campaign for governor of California.
Most vice presidents never became president. There have been forty-eight vice presidents in our history, but only fourteen attained the presidency. Of these fourteen vice presidents, nine became President because of death or resignation of his predecessor: Tyler, Filmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and Lyndon Johnson because of death and Ford because of resignation. Theodore Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, and Lyndon Johnson went on to be as president on their own in 1922, 1904, 1948, in 1964, respectively.
Tyler, Filmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, and Ford were never elected president. Three tried, however. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee sought the Democratic nomination in 1868, but he lost due to his unpopularity among northern politicians. Chester A. Arthur lost the Republican presidential nomination in 1884 because he limited the patronage system by establishing the Civil Service Commission. Gerald R. Ford lost the 1976 presidential election to Jimmy Carter, in part because of his pardon of President Nixon.
Two vice presidents did not even try. John Tyler became president upon the death of William Henry Harrison, but he decided not to run for president in 1845 after a gossip-producing marriage to a woman 30 years younger. Millard Fillmore, severely criticized for his signing of the Fugitive Slave Act, likewise decided not to seek his party’s nomination for the presidency.
Of the other five vice presidents who became president, four did so immediately after their terms as vice president expired. John Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, and George H.W. Bush served as vice president and were elected President on their own in 1796, 1800, 1836, and 1988, respectively. Nixon served as vice president between 1953 and 1961 and was elected President in 1968 and 1972.
Other presidential comeback stories have mixed results. Grover Cleveland lost his bid to be reelected in 1888 to Benjamin Harrison, but he came back and defeated Harrison in 1892. Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency ended in 1909. He was succeeded by William H. Taft, but by 1910 Roosevelt was unhappy with Taft’s performance. When the Republicans nominated Taft over Roosevelt in 1912, Roosevelt bolted and ran for president as a nominee of the newly launched Progressive Party, unsuccessfully. Nixon’s comeback began awkwardly with the gubernatorial loss in 1962, gathered steam by promising to end the divisive Vietnam War, and ended badly in 1974 with a presidential resignation to avoid impeachment.
Why was Biden able to comeback? It’s too early to be definitive about any aspect of Biden’s nomination and election in 2020, but one reason Biden bridged the gap surely relates to Hilary Clinton. Because Barack Obama unexpectedly rose to prominence in 2007-08, Clinton did not receive the Democratic nomination. President Obama went on to serve two terms, and during this time there was a widespread acceptance among Democrats that Clinton should be nominated in 2016. Biden did not even seek the Democratic nomination in 2016. But after Clinton’s defeat in the Electoral College, attention shifted back to private citizen Biden.
Biden’s comeback has been focused and steady. After he announced his candidacy in April 2019, he went on to defeat a large field of Democratic contenders for the nomination, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. He overcame objections based on his age. He kept his composure and dignity while enduring personal and insulting attacks. With a broad-based message of empathy and unity and lots of help from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, Biden prevailed the 2020 election.
The complete President Biden story will be written years from now, but it’s already special and impressive.
(Image: Joseph R. Biden White House Photo, 2021)
© 2021 Francis J. Gorman
By Francis J. Gorman
January 10, 2021
Trump is no longer president. The January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol that Trump incited was not successful in overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Many rioters have been identified and charged by federal prosecutors. The insurrection is a permanent stain on Trump’s already-damaged reputation and a shocking event in the history of American presidents.
The January 6 insurrection makes clear the danger to our democracy of Trump’s authoritarian words in his January 20, 2017 inaugural address.
Turns out, the America first message in his address really meant “put Trump” first. The march down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol to “take back our country” was necessary to keep Trump as the President; a grasp to hold onto the power he assumed in his inaugural address.
The beginning of Trump’s inaugural address, reportedly written by Stephen Miller, gave merely “lip service” to the significance of transfer of power. However, he did not acknowledge the “peaceful” nature of the transfer, the most fundamental and important aspects of an election and inauguration.
Trump’s address:
(1) pandered to the discontent, even anger, of many Americans whose jobs and economic prospects were disrupted by technological changes in how we work and by global economic forces;
(2) contained authoritarian statements implying that Trump alone could right the perceived wrongs;
(3) was nationalistic and xenophobic; and
(4) was simplistic and deceitful in describing a future where there will be only winners or losers.
Pandering. The address immediately established divisions. It set “a small group in our nation’s capital” who against “the people [who] have borne the cost; between the federal government and the people; and between the United States and foreign nations. Trump called to the “forgotten men and women of our country” and promised “you will never be ignored again.”
Authoritarian. Trumps assumed the power to make all things right -- “That all changes, starting right here and right now . . .” Trump will stop this American carnage “right here and stops right now.” He declared “a new decree,” “a new vision will govern our land.” After stating “I will fight for you,” Trump assumes a royal “we” in bringing back our jobs, building new roads highways, and getting people off welfare, and putting our nation first. Implicit in the statements is that Trump has total power to do these things. In 2017, “I will fight for you,” and after he lost the election in 2021, “you must fight for me.”
Nationalistic and Xenophobic. Trump’s address is the most blatantly nationalistic and xenophobic inaugural address in the history of our nation. Foreign industry has been enriched at the expense of American industries; we defend other nations borders “while refusing to defend our own;” Buy American and Hire Americans; “America is totally unstoppable.” Singling out Muslims -- we will “eradicate completely Radical Islamic Terrorism from the face of the earth” -- and making them a common enemy.
Simplistic and Deceitful. Trump paints a world of winners and losers where “America will start winning again, winning like never before.” Trump promised “we will bring back our jobs;” and “we will bring back our wealth,” simple-sounding, deceitful promises regarding complex situations. And the signature slogan “We Will Make America Great Again,” as if merely saying it will make it so.
(Image: Donald Trump Official Presidential Photo)
© 2021 Francis J. Gorman
Francis J. Gorman
January 20, 2013
Inaugurations are more comfortable the second time around. For President Obama and Chief justice Roberts, it is not likely there will be a repeat in their encore performance of Robert’s flub of the words in the Presidential oath mandated by the Constitution.
Four years ago, both the President and the Chief Justice were doing the presidential oath for the first time. In administering the oath, Roberts misplaced the “faithfully.” The oath is “I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the United States,” but Roberts put faithfully after “United States,” momentarily throwing the President off track. Nothing too serious, but the two men repeated the oath the next day, correctly, just to be safe.
The President can say the oath by himself, without repeating the words spoken by the Chief Justice administering the oath. Franklin Roosevelt recited the oath on his own in 1933. But that would not foster cooperation between the branches of the federal government, something that is sorely lacking these days.
There is no reason why these two men cannot get it right this time. They both have experience with inaugurations, no reason to be nervous or jittery. Besides more experience, since the first inauguration Roberts has shown he can work with President Obama. Last year, Roberts wrote the majority decision upholding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, one of Obama’s signature accomplishments in his first term. There’s nothing the President can do about his 2005 vote against Roberts’ confirmation, but a smooth recitation of the oath next Monday will be a step in the right direction.
Obama and Roberts have lots in common. Both attended Harvard Law School, both held top positions on the law review, and both graduated magna cum laude – Roberts in 1979 and Obama in 1991. They made a special piece of history together four years ago. Not since 1857 had a president taking the oath and the Chief Justice administering the oath had the same alma mater. President Buchanan and Chief Justice Taney in 1857 shared Dickinson College as their alma mater.
Unlike the President, Chief Justice Roberts has a long and indefinite tenure ahead of him. Previous Chief Justices made many appearances at inaugurations to administer the oath -- John Marshall nine times and Roger Taney seven times, including Lincoln’s 1861 inauguration. Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago and has both political and academic reasons, now and in the future, to be interested in Roberts’ work on the Supreme Court.
With both feet on the ground, President Obama and Chief Justice Roberts will do just fine the second time around.
(Image: Obama, Family, and Roberts at Second Inauguration, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov)
© Francis J. Gorman 2013
By Francis J. Gorman
January 20, 2009
The inauguration of Barack Obama had special historic significance because he was the first African American to serve as President. When Chief Justice John Roberts administered the oath of office to Barak Obama, he was forever linked to this historic inauguration.
Previous Chief Justices made their mark on inaugural history through longevity. John Marshall (1801-1835) gave the oath nine times, more than any other person. Roger Taney (1836-1864) administered the oath to seven presidents, including Lincoln in 1861. Roberts has a long way to go to match these numbers.
Not that swearing in the president is a tough job. The oath is short and prescribed in Article II of the Constitution: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” It is now common to add “So help me God” at the end of the oath.
In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt recited the oath on his own. Every president since Roosevelt has taken the oath by placing his left hand on a bible, raising his right hand, and repeating the words spoken by the person administering the oath. Video clips at www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQhWtRW.KKA show the swearing in of every president from Franklin Roosevelt to Bush 43.
The Constitution does not require that the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court administer the oath. At George Washington’s inaugurations, the oath in 1789 was administered by a New York state court judge and in 1793 by an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
Deaths and assassinations presented urgent situations where the oath was not administered by the Chief Justice. William Cranch of the Circuit Count for the District of Columbia administered the oath twice -- to John Tyler after Harrison’s death in 1841 and to Millard Fillmore after Taylor’s death in 1850. After Garfield’s assassination in 1881, John Brady of the New York Supreme Court administered the oath to Chester Arthur, but just to be sure he took the oath two days later before Chief Justice Waite. John Hazel, a federal district court judge, administered the oath to Theodore Roosevelt after McKinley’s assassination in 1901.
There has been one father-son combination. John Coolidge, a notary and justice of the peace in Vermont, administered the oath to his son, Calvin Coolidge, after Harding’s death in 1923.
Only one woman has administered the presidential oath. Sarah Tilghman Hughes was a graduate of Goucher College and George Washington Law School who became the first woman to serve as a federal district judge in Texas. On November 22, 1963, she was summoned to Air Force One after Kennedy’s assassination to administer the oath to Lyndon Johnson.
Barack Obama and John Roberts share another first in inauguration history. Never before has the President and the Chief Justice had the same alma mater. Both graduated from Harvard Law School, Roberts in 1979 and Obama in 1991.
(Image: Barack and Michelle Obama First Inauguration, en.wikipedia.org)
© 2021 Francis J. Gorman
By Francis J. Gorman
January 8, 2005
As President Bush prepared his second inaugural address, he had to wrestle with how to handle the 600-pound gorilla in his midst, the War in Iraq. He was the seventh President to give an inaugural address in a time of war.
War is a difficult subject for any President. It is made easier in an inaugural address if he can say that war was forced upon a reluctant nation or that victory has been achieved or is in sight.
No President faced a challenge greater than the breakup of the Union that Lincoln faced. In his first inaugural address in March 1861, Lincoln’s conciliatory tone defending the Union did not bring back the seven Southern states that had seceded. But it did demonstrate Lincoln’s reluctance to wage war against the South, which he did a month later, nevertheless. In 2005, many Americans doubted that Bush had any reluctance to invade Iraq.
At the time of Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865, victory was in sight, and he delivered one of the most famous inaugural addresses. He called upon the nation to act “with malice toward none and charity for all” as it healed the wounds of the Civil War.
Victory was also in sight when Presidents Roosevelt and Eisenhower gave inaugural addresses near the end of World War II and the Korean War. World War II had been forced upon the nation after Pearl Harbor. As Germany’s military strength was collapsing, Roosevelt delivered his fourth and last inaugural address in January 1945. He called for a “just and honorable peace” which came later that year. Likewise, Eisenhower gave his first inaugural address in January 1953 when promising negotiations to end the Korean War were underway at Panmunjom. He laid out the principles guiding the way to peace, and in July an armistice was signed ending the fighting.
If President Bush had said that the end of the War in Iraq is in sight or that victory is certain, few would agree. Even in 2021, there is still a small contingent of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Unlike his predecessors, he could not point to an event that forced the invasion of Iraq, like the secession of states for Lincoln or Pearl Harbor for Roosevelt. If President Bush argued for a connection between 9/11
and Saddam Hussein, it would have been an effort unbecoming an inaugural address.
Other Presidents have given inaugural addresses at times when future casualties of war were inevitable. The War of 1812 was called “Mr. Madison’s War,” and President Madison had to speak to that war in 1813 when it was going badly. So, in his second inaugural address, he used just about all of it to justify the war.
President Wilson faced the uncertainty of committing combat soldiers to World War I when he delivered his second inaugural address. Delivered in 1917 a month before the declaration of war against Germany, the address was an exhortation for the nation to take on “the great task to which we must now set our hand.” Wilson eventually sent two million U.S. soldiers to Europe; and 116,000 of them did not return.
President Nixon gave two inaugural addresses during the Vietnam War, probably the most unpopular war in our history. Nixon’s first address was in 1969 and offered the American people an “era of negotiation.” Yet the fighting continued. By the time of his second inaugural address in January 1973, the end of the war was in sight, and Nixon was able to speak of “a new era of peace in the world.”
Like his predecessors, President Bush stated the reasons for the War in Iraq. He needed to articulate the principles that guide his war policies. He could build on his first inaugural address. The 2001 address called for promoting the spread of democracy throughout the world, calling democracy “a seed upon the wind.” President Bush also said he would confront problems rather than passing them on to future generations, including confronting “weapons of mass destruction.” Dealing with the War in Iraq was no easy task.
Finally, in times of war, domestic policies take a back seat. President Bush’s first inaugural address was surprisingly heavy on leadership in foreign affairs while light on domestic policies. His only specific domestic goals were reclaiming America’s schools, reforming Social Security and Medicare, and reducing taxes. For better or worse, reform of Social Security is the only remaining specific domestic objective that is likely to make it to Bush’s second inaugural address.
On January 20, 2005, President Bush joined six other Presidents who have delivered an inaugural address while American military men and women are fighting and dying. The nation and the world were watching and listening.
(Image: George W. Bush Official Presidential Photo)
© 2005, 2021 Francis J. Gorman
Copyright © 2021 Francis J. Gorman
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