President and succession sometimes do not mix. Sunday evening, the abandonment of Joe Biden caused a real upheaval in the Democrats’ campaign for the 2024 American presidential election. Is he the only one who did not make it to the end of the election?
Indeed, when a candidate well anchored in his campaign is ousted, finding a replacement is not an easy task. The current President of the United States announced on Sunday evening that he was no longer a candidate for re-election. According to his own Democratic camp, Joe Biden is no longer fit to campaign. His debate with Trump on June 27 seems to have signaled the end for the former candidate. A debate in which he appeared mentally absent. This is the first time in the history of the United States that a sitting president has renounced a new nomination from his own party since 1968.
Biden, the only one to have given up on re-election?
If Biden is the first to drop out so close to the electionshe is not the only one to have abandoned the race for re-election. Other American presidents had ultimately given up running under public pressure.
The latest one was Lyndon B. Johnson. President of 1963 to 1969he gave up running for a new term during the presidential election of November 1968. It was ultimately the Democrat Hubert Humphrey who replaced him, beaten by the Republican Richard Nixon, who became the 37th President of the United States.
15 years earlier, the Democratic president Harry S. Trumanof [1945to1953was unable to stand for re-election, and it was ultimately general Eisenhoweramong the Republicans, who obtained the victory. These two former presidents had ascended to the presidency following death or assassination recalls the American media CNN.
A passing of the torch which is not the least, since they respectively succeeded Roosevelt in 1945 and Kennedy in 1963.
Significant dropouts
Winning the votes of Americans is not a given. Johnson and Truman quickly understood this. Both had difficulty standing out in this presidential race, losing the primary of New Hampshirewhich is the first primary election held in the United States every four years, and is usually held at the beginning of the election year.
This is an event that should not be overlooked, because it marks the opening of the campaign. A bad score in these elections can be fatal and push losing candidates to abandon. The roles can then be reversed. Lesser-known candidates can steal the spotlight from those who were seen as winners. The parties can therefore replace their candidates at the end of this ballot.
President and succession do not always go hand in hand
It sometimes happens that certain candidates do not wish to renew their mandate. The Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge had ascended to the presidency following an assassination or death. Only, the two presidents chose not to attempt to extend their succession. They were “left in style and their party retained the White House”underlines CNN.
For the moment, the name of the future Democratic candidate is unknown, but it could be that Joe Biden’s vice-president, Kamala Harris, will run the Democratic campaign until the presidential election, which will be held on November 5.
