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To: Daralundy
Since 1950, five of the eight other presidents who fell below 40 percent--Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush--lost their bids for reelection or opted not to run again.

ROFLMAO! Talk about a phony statistic. First, the author can get back to me when he figures out that GWB can't run for reelection, so the above is not applicable.

Second, there have been 11 presidents since 1950.

In 1950, Truman was in what amounted to his second term, because FDR died less than three months after his 4th inaugural. All presidents until FDR respected the two-term precedent set by George Washington. The reaction to FDR's four terms resulted in the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution being passed Congress on March 21, 1947. It was ratified by 3/4ths of states quickly, achieving full ratification on February 27, 1951. Truman was exempt and could have run for a third term, but he respected the prevailing opinion of the times.

All of the other 10 presidents since 1950 were limited to two terms. Only half -- Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush 43 -- have won a 2nd term. It can be argued that Johnson's one term was really Kennedy's 2nd. In any case, Johnson was a worn out 60-year-old man with serious heart disease by 1968. He lived less than five full years after leaving office.

Ford was an accidental president, the first unelected president in our history. Carter was a totally pathetic failure, and we didn't need opinion polls to tell us such.

As for GHWB, he was undone by the modern media machine that's tried to get the scalp of every Republican president since Watergate, as well as by his breaking of the no new taxes pledge.

Polls have nothing to do with the actual history of the last 50 years other than the way they have been increasingly used since Watergate to drive public opinion rather than merely report it.

45 posted on 12/02/2005 3:06:19 PM PST by Wolfstar ("In war, there are usually only two exit strategies: victory or defeat." Mark Steyn)
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To: Wolfstar

BRAVO! Nothing like facts, to put it to the lies.


47 posted on 12/02/2005 3:09:08 PM PST by nopardons
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