When you get down to brass tacks, none of these guys have happy second terms.
If Bush had left office after one term, he'd have toppled Saddam and the Talban, brought the economy back, and been best remembered for the leader he was in the days following 9/11. Instead he got Katrina, lost Congress and got blamed for the Great Recession.
if Clinton had left office after one term, he'd have been remembered as a guy who presided over a good economy and stood up to Republican efforts to dismantle the New Deal and Great Society, but still reformed Welfare. Instead,he's remember as the guy who got impeached for lying about a blow job.
If Reagan had left office after one term, he'd been remembered for bringing us out of a recession, rebuilding a sense of pride in the country and rebuilding our strength. In his second term, he had Iran Contra and appeared to not be in complete control of his own government.
If Nixon had stopped at one, he'd be remembered as the guy who ended Vietnam, opened relations with China, re-ordered America's foreign relations in a changing world to our favor. Instead he's remembered for having to resign over a petty break-in.
Now, admittably, Obama probably won't have many bragging rights about his first term, which is why it is likely to be his ONLY term. But given that these guys never really have good second terms, as their own party is looking beyond him and the oppossition sees him as a lame duck, why in God's name would Obama want a second term...
It's not likely to be any better than his first.
If Bush had left office after one term, he'd have toppled Saddam and the Talban, brought the economy back, and been best remembered for the leader he was in the days following 9/11. Instead he got Katrina, lost Congress and got blamed for the Great Recession.
if Clinton had left office after one term, he'd have been remembered as a guy who presided over a good economy and stood up to Republican efforts to dismantle the New Deal and Great Society, but still reformed Welfare. Instead,he's remember as the guy who got impeached for lying about a blow job.
If Reagan had left office after one term, he'd been remembered for bringing us out of a recession, rebuilding a sense of pride in the country and rebuilding our strength. In his second term, he had Iran Contra and appeared to not be in complete control of his own government.
If Nixon had stopped at one, he'd be remembered as the guy who ended Vietnam, opened relations with China, re-ordered America's foreign relations in a changing world to our favor. Instead he's remembered for having to resign over a petty break-in.
Now, admittably, Obama probably won't have many bragging rights about his first term, which is why it is likely to be his ONLY term. But given that these guys never really have good second terms, as their own party is looking beyond him and the oppossition sees him as a lame duck, why in God's name would Obama want a second term...
It's not likely to be any better than his first.
