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RETROPOLIS: Before Biden, Truman and LBJ withdrew from races as support waned
I suspect that if Truman hadn't dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, such a decision would have been highly unpopular.
RETROPOLIS
Before Biden, Truman and LBJ withdrew from races as support waned
Biden joins two other incumbent presidents who chose not to seek reelection: Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson.
By Praveena Somasundaram
July 23, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
When President Biden withdrew from the 2024 ticket on Sunday, he joined two other presidents who abandoned their reelection campaigns — Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson. ... All three were Democratic incumbents who initially sought a second full term despite waning public approval.
After Truman and Johnson announced their exits and their party nominated others, the GOP candidate went on to win in the 1952 and 1968 general elections. While there are similarities between the political climates of the three presidential eras, historians say it’s difficult to predict what might unfold in the coming weeks as the Democrats convene to nominate a candidate and the country heads toward the election in the fall. ... As Truman, Johnson and Biden each considered another term, they were “all fighting uphill,” said Chester Pach, a history professor at Ohio University.
President Harry S. Truman in April 1952. (Associated Press)
By the time Truman announced that he would not seek reelection in 1952, he had essentially already served two terms, Pach said. Truman became president in April 1945, less than three months after he was sworn in as vice president, when Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage. In the 1948 election, Truman secured his first full term in an upset victory over New York Gov. Thomas Dewey (R).
Truman’s decisions made him “highly unpopular,” including dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, and later sending U.S. forces to Korea. By the end of his presidency, most Americans polled said entering the Korean War had been a mistake, according to Gallup.
{snip}
President Lyndon B. Johnson in April 1968. (Associated Press)
{snip}
By Praveena Somasundaram
Praveena Somasundaram is a reporter on The Washington Post's General Assignment desk. She started at The Post as an intern in 2022 and has previously reported at the Dallas Morning News and the Charlotte Observer. Twitter https://twitter.com/praveenavsoma
Before Biden, Truman and LBJ withdrew from races as support waned
Biden joins two other incumbent presidents who chose not to seek reelection: Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson.
By Praveena Somasundaram
July 23, 2024 at 5:00 a.m. EDT
When President Biden withdrew from the 2024 ticket on Sunday, he joined two other presidents who abandoned their reelection campaigns — Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson. ... All three were Democratic incumbents who initially sought a second full term despite waning public approval.
After Truman and Johnson announced their exits and their party nominated others, the GOP candidate went on to win in the 1952 and 1968 general elections. While there are similarities between the political climates of the three presidential eras, historians say it’s difficult to predict what might unfold in the coming weeks as the Democrats convene to nominate a candidate and the country heads toward the election in the fall. ... As Truman, Johnson and Biden each considered another term, they were “all fighting uphill,” said Chester Pach, a history professor at Ohio University.
President Harry S. Truman in April 1952. (Associated Press)
By the time Truman announced that he would not seek reelection in 1952, he had essentially already served two terms, Pach said. Truman became president in April 1945, less than three months after he was sworn in as vice president, when Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage. In the 1948 election, Truman secured his first full term in an upset victory over New York Gov. Thomas Dewey (R).
Truman’s decisions made him “highly unpopular,” including dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, and later sending U.S. forces to Korea. By the end of his presidency, most Americans polled said entering the Korean War had been a mistake, according to Gallup.
{snip}
President Lyndon B. Johnson in April 1968. (Associated Press)
{snip}
By Praveena Somasundaram
Praveena Somasundaram is a reporter on The Washington Post's General Assignment desk. She started at The Post as an intern in 2022 and has previously reported at the Dallas Morning News and the Charlotte Observer. Twitter https://twitter.com/praveenavsoma