It's time once again to look back on the year that was, 2019, and the subjects tackled by
potus_geeks. Here, behind a cut, is the year that was for this community.
January: We began the year with a look at the "Second Term Curse", examining the challenging second terms of those presidents who were fortunate enough to have one. Was the second term fact or fiction? We reached
this conclusion:
In the final analysis, it seems more likely that, rather than being any sort of a curse, the woes faced by most presidents in their second term come about as the result of a combination of three factors:
(1) Familiarity breeds contempt-Most presidents are unable to control Congress or the economy to the degree necessary to give effect to their lofty campaign promises and vision that attracted voters to them in the first place. For or six years into a president's term, it is unlikely that those voters will continue to be enamored with the candidate turned president and more likely that they feel disappointment over the failure to bring about the better world they believed that they were promised when they first elected that candidate.
(2) Partisanship-The nation has failed to heed George Washington's warnings against political factions and the politics of the nation continue to be more divisive and nasty. The existence of partisan media has made the problem worse such that even the most sainted of presidents is likely to be deluged with repeated public pronouncements that the administration is a dismal failure.
(3) President's Lame Duck Status-Since the passage of the 22nd amendment, a president can not run for a third term and from the day he wins election to a second term, his days are numbered. It becomes impossible for a president to hold the support of even his own party as those in Congress become quick to jettison the President's agenda for their own self-interest.
In reality, any "curse" that might exist isn't limited to the second term. Just ask all of those presidents who found their first term so challenging that they never got a chance at a second term.
February: Besides our usual look at Valentine's Day (and the most romantic first couples), our theme for February was Scandals and Presidential History. We looked at some of the most embarrassing and sleeziest stories from sexual dalliances to drunkenness, duels, embezzlement, fraud and even blackmail. Probably the worst of these was the
blackmailing of Senator Lester Hunt by those loyal to Senator Joe McCarthy. These were not the finest times in Presidential and congressional history.
March: March began a look at the legacy left by each President, and we got as far as FDR before running out of the month. We also marked the beginning of baseball season with a look at
Presidents and Baseball and on March 28th we marked the
50th anniversary of the death of Dwight Eisenhower. We also marked the 9th birthday for
potus_geeks, which fell on
March 26th.
April: In April we concluded our look at Presidential legacies, from Truman to Trump. This was a teaser for a Presidential Rankings poll that would come later in the year. We concluded April with a look at the candidates for President, a number that would grow into the twenties, in a series called
The Making of the President 2020.
May: In May we concluded our series on the candidates for President who had declared up to that time, including one Republican challenger, as well as a look at the
President's re-election campaign. We then concluded the month with a series on Elections with Incumbents, looking at all such contests from 1800 to 1972.
June: After beginning the month by finishing our series on Elections with Incumbents (looking back at all such elections from 1976 to 2012), we resumed our series on The Making of the President 2020 with a look at those candidates who had declared their candidacy since we last looked at this topic. We marked
President Trump's 73rd birthday on June 14th. Then, with June being the month of weddings, we concluded with a look at some of the more famous White House Weddings held at the President's home or elsewhere involving Presidents or their children.
July: July's theme was "Presidential Shenanigans", a month when we looked at some of the unusual happenings to presidents. Can you name the President who (a) chased his Treasury Secretary out of the oval office, brandishing a pair of fireplace tongs; (b) woke up his valet in the middle of the night to go meet with protesters at the Lincoln Memorial; (c) fired a secret service man because the agent and the first lady were lost in the woods for a very long time; (d) held a wrestling match in the White House; (e) joined a volunteer fire brigade to fight a fire at the Library of Congress? The answers to these questions are all in July's posts.
August: August is rerun month, in which we reposted some of our forgotten posts from years gone by. This year we recalled some painful surgery George Washington had, Chester Alan Arthur's battle with some birthers, Bill Clinton's attempt to settle a baseball strike, and John McCain's courageous defense of his opponent in the 2008 election.
September: In September we conducted our second Presidential ranking polling. Using Twitter, people were given a link to rank each President on a scale of 1 to 10. Each day we posted a summary of that President's accomplishments and legacy, in chronological order, and we also posted the link to vote, on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best ranking possible. In September we covered the presidents from Washington to Coolidge.
October: After concluding our summaries of Presidential profiles and links to the polls to rank each President, we kept the polls open for a week until October 22nd. As the MLB playoffs culminated in one of the most exciting World Series ever, one which left the championship trophy in the nation's capitol, we filled up the rest of the month with a look at some of the individual presidents and their connection to baseball, including a profile of the career on the diamond of the
President who played in two World Series. Finally, on October 23rd, we unveiled
the results of our Ranking of the Presidents. While those at the top and bottom of the list were generally as expected, there were also some surprises, including an appreciation of the generally under-rated James Monroe.
November: As the wheels of the machinery of impeachment began to turn in Washington, in November we looked back on the history of previous impeachment proceedings, not only those against Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, but also those that almost happened involving Richard Nixon, and some of the proceedings against President Trump.
Our summary about the current proceedings came with a prediction and this conclusion:
It's problematic that in recent times elections have been less and less about issues and more about sound-bytes and social media trends. They are about creating the narrative, rather than being a genuine solution-oriented exercise. This has become more so as media networks display messages that identify more closely with one ideology or the other. In the coming election debate, how much will be said about debt and deficit spending, about the effects of climate change, about income disparity, or about what rational gun laws or fair taxation looks like?
The tea leaves say that little will be said about issues in the 2020 campaign, and that it will be about personalities above principles. We shall see if they are correct.
December: As the parties prepare for primary season, we looked back on some of the more memorable nomination contests in history. We concluded the month on a seasonal theme, looking at some of the more memorable moments in Presidential Christmases. A somewhat embarrassing Christmas tradition continued with our annual poetic presentation of the
potus_geeks version of
Twas the Night Before Christmas.
That's the year that was in this community in 2019. What's in store for 2020? It's an election year and it will also include the 10th anniversary of this community. Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? I hope everyone had a very happy 2019!