Posted on 02/06/2005 8:39:51 AM PST by SmithL
Washington -- President Bush's calls to reshape Social Security and the geopolitical order of the Middle East match the unrestrained ambitions of previous presidents at the start of their second term.
In his first State of the Union address after winning re-election eight years ago, Bill Clinton declared that the "enemy of our time is inaction," and pledged to "prepare our people for the bold new world of the 21st century.'' Ronald Reagan called for "a second American Revolution of hope and opportunity" after winning the largest electoral landslide in history. And Lyndon Johnson followed his re-election by proposing a comprehensive anti- poverty program to lead the nation on "the road to the Great Society."
"Each pointed to their election triumph as a vote of confidence in their agenda and approach. But second-term ambitions don't always translate into second-term accomplishments.
Winning two presidential elections, a difficult feat, has proved less challenging than governing for eight years. As historians look to modern presidents, there are limited examples of second-term success stories.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Denny Crane: There are two places to find the truth. First God and then Fox News."
With unlimited terms possible, we might still have Clinton and not Bush so I'm thankful for the 22nd Amendment!
;-)
First of all, the presidents that had less than good second terms lost control of the House and Senate in their second terms. Ike, Nixon, Reagan, and Clinton all lost control of a legislative body for their second term.
Bush and Rove went to a lot of effort to ensure Bush had increased majorities in the House and Senate in the second term. In addition the Bush administration has used good tactics to prove to many democrats that the Democratic leadership is inept and easily outsmarted.
Political power boils down to just two questions every opponent asks. "What can you do for me?" and "What can you do to me?" The grass roots poltical organization built by George W. Bush and Karl Rove will out live them. And it has intelligent Democrats scared out of their future. They know what Bush can do for them. and they are very certain they know what Bush can do to to them. They now know that the machine built by Bush and Rove can Daschle their future plans.
Click here to see what and how Bush did to Teddy and the Boxer...
There are a lot of mistakes added to the Constitution. Only one of them has been repealed. The next to go must be income tax.
I don't think there are many men that could survive the Presidency for 16years. It seems to accelerate aging 2 or 3 times. I think it is mostly the running for election, rather than the governing.
A narcissist like Clinton could probably do it for a long time if he laid off the Big Macs and the interns.
Johnson wasn't re-elected. He got the job when Kennedy was shot. He was elected to his first term and chose not to run for "re-elecion" in a bid for a second term.
That's why the politically RADICAL Chron hires hacks like Sandalow. He can try to buoy the hopes and desperate desires of a Dem about to elect Howard Dean as chairman, who already have the Bay Area's Pelosi as public spokesman, who probably offended all her blue-blooded friends by challenging the national vote count as she was encouraged by the Communist Black Caucus.
These people are hysterical. They go back to the past and say - he can't do it - 2nd terms presidents never do as well .. so this president can't either.
And .. they know what happened to Clinton during his second year - HE GOT IMPEACHED. This is just sour grapes.
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