The Second-Term Curse

This article, by John Steele Gordon, explains that Obama was elected to serve another term as president, yet it discusses that most of the former presidents elected to serve more than one term grew less successful after their first term.  Gordon begins the article using logos in which he explains that Obama is the sixteenth president to be elected to a second term.  He then includes examples of presidents who served disastrous second terms, and he states that the only truly successful second terms were served by Monroe, Jackson, and Theodore Roosevelt.  Gordon proceeds to categorize reasons for the failures of these presidents.  He begins with legal issues: Reagan was part of the Iran-Contra scandal, and Clinton was impeached for his involvement with Monica Lewinsky.  Grant's secretary was involved in the whiskey ring; Jefferson's Embargo Act failed.  Gordon continues to explain other reasons for these presidents' failures.  He discusses how these presidents often overstepped their responsibilities.  For example, Franklin Roosevelt wanted to "pack the court" but this was against stated laws in the Constitution.  Woodrow Wilson kept the country out of World War I during his first term, but only a month into his second term, he ironically declared war.  Since Gordon does not go into explicit detail with these examples, he is able to keep the tone of the article light-hearted but cautionary.  His inclusion of these anecdotes makes the public aware that second terms are statistically and obviously less successful than first terms, so the public should lower their expectations of Obama in his new term.  However, Gordon ends the article with a bit of hope, though awfully sarcastic: "Second terms are hazardous at best.  But no modern president is likely to suffer the humiliation that James Madison experienced in 1814 during his second term.  That was when the British invaded the country and burned the nation's capital."  With this quotation at the end of the article, Gordon seems to promise the country that although second terms usually are not a good thing, there was a president who set a precedent for rock-bottom.  With this sarcastic humor, Gordon reassures the audience that, although the past indicates that Obama's second term will not be good, it cannot be too bad.


Source: The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition