What next for one-term President Donald Trump?
There perhaps nothing that will hurt Donald Trump more than being a one-term wonder.
Politics is a cruel game, there is no second place, and falling short is both brutal and public. For a man with an ego that the world has come to know, the last six weeks as a caretaker President will rankle. He could be the first President since John Adams not to attend his successor’s inauguration.
As he slinks out the backdoor to the White House, Trump will join the undignified list of the single-term Presidents. From Bush Snr to van Buren, each name is forever tied with the ignominy of failure, the stench of that last unrealised dream. Now Trump will have to cope with that too.
Former President Trump will now have to find a role. A quiet retirement does not seem his style. He is a man made for Twitter rages and late night talk shows, and may well continue to menace the entire political establishment from the sidelines, while trying to cash in on his fame as the former leader of the free world.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Recent one-term Presidents have found a variety of ways to funnel their frustrations into new works.
President Carter, the peanut farmer who lost out to Ronald Reagan second time around, founded one of the world’s most effective charities. His Carter Centre has led the fight against parasitic worms for nearly four decades — reducing cases of the African Guinea worm from 3.5 million per year to fewer than 30. The programme has saved countless lives, and delivered dividends for economic growth amongst the world’s poorest.
Closer to politics, President Ford used his legacy to become a key Republican party insider, almost becoming vice-President again under Reagan. Herbert Hoover, the Republican who floundered in the Great Depression, followed a similar course, advising Truman and Eisenhower on effective executive government.
Given Trump’s frayed relationship with his party and enthusiasm for nepotism and bureaucratic impotency, however, such a route seems unlikely.
Of course, no longer being President does not necessarily end direct political influence. After William Taft lost his second election in 1912, he moved towards another branch of government, returning a decade later as chief justice of the Supreme Court. Considering all that Trump has done for the Republican judiciary, it may be a fitting consolation for some future President to elevate him to the bench. It may not be a position most suited to Trump’s talents, but he would no doubt enjoy being installed in a position for life, rather than enduring the peskiness of having to be elected.
Then again, it is perhaps not his own ambitions that will come into play. For a country that praises egalitarian democracy, the US is strangely fond of dynasties — and Trump is no stranger to elevating the careers of his children. He would not be unlike other one-termers in that regard. Two Presidents who served one term steered their sons towards the White House: Bush Snr and John Adams.
There seems little doubt the Trump clan might have the ambition for this, but success will depend on the electorate once again. Don Jr has already speculated about a run in 2024, and it does not seem a stretch to see Ivanka making a bid to be the first female President. Whether the Republican Primaries could be mastered by a Trump again, let alone the presidential election, remains to be seen, however — especially if further revelations about the conduct of the outgoing first family emerge.
There is, however, no reason that Trump’s elective aspirations end here. It may be that all political careers end in failure, but some seem to cope with it further. Should Trump still yearn for the ultimate victory, the acclamation of the people and the sight of victory, he would not be the first one-termer to have another crack.
Nineteenth-century Martin van Buren ran as a third party candidate, for the anti-slavery Free Soil party, yet failed to make a significant mark. Grover Cleveland went one better.
The Big Jumbo, as he was known, is the only President to have won non-consecutive terms. Booted out of office by Benjamin Harrison in 1888, Cleveland won the Democratic nomination to force a rematch, carrying 23 states and returning to the White House in triumph.
So as The Donald licks his wounds, it remains to be seen what post-presidential life will be like. The options, however, remain open — from using his influence at home and abroad, to establishing dynastic power or even his own third campaign.
One thing’s for sure: it’s unlikely this is the last we will hear of Donald J. Trump.
Main image credit: Getty