In terms of election rematches, we’ve kind of been here before.
Given this campaign season, it seems anything can happen. Given the calls for President Joe Biden to withdraw his bid, he may not be a candidate for reelection by the time or during the Democratic National Convention.
As of this column, the lineup remains Biden, the sitting president, vs. Donald Trump, the former president whom Biden defeated four years earlier.
A similar presidential election rematch happened in 1892.
Then, President Benjamin Harrison, in his bid for reelection, faced former president Grover Cleveland whom Harrison had defeated in 1888.
Cleveland, a Democrat, was the sitting president, wrapping up his first term in 1888, when he sought reelection to a second term.
Though Cleveland won the popular vote in a close race, Harrison, a Republican, won the electoral college vote by a wide margin, 233-168.
However, four years later, Harrison and Cleveland faced off again.
In some ways, the set-up for a rematch began immediately after the 1888 election.
The story goes that as the Clevelands were moving out of the White House, departing First Lady Francis Cleveland told a staff member, “I want you to take care of all the furniture and ornaments in the house, for I want to find everything just as it is now, when we come back again.” She added, “We are coming back four years from today.”
Four years later, Democrats nominated the former president to run again, in opposition of the man who beat him. Cleveland ran again, with a different vice president pick than his first VP. Thomas A. Hendricks served as vice president during his first term. Adlai Stevenson I was tapped as his second vice presidential running mate. Switching vice presidents was not unusual in elections up to the mid-20th century.
But the 1892 election was odd in pitting a sitting president against the predecessor he had defeated. Harrison, the 23rd president, vs. Cleveland, the 22nd president.
Harrison faced opposition going into the 1892 convention. Several party leaders did not support Harrison’s reelection bid.
Going into the convention, Harrison faced efforts to draft another candidate. Still, he won the nomination on the first ballot despite persistent opposition.
Come Election Day, Harrison could not overcome the opposition posed by Cleveland.
Cleveland prevailed in the most decisive election in two decades. He won the popular vote 5.5 million votes to Harrison’s 5.1 million. Cleveland garnered 277 electoral votes to Harrison’s 145 votes.
Cleveland, the 22nd president, also became the 24th president. Grover Cleveland is the reason why the United States counts 46 presidents so far, even though only 45 men have been president. If Trump is elected to office again this year, he would be the 45th and 47th president.
What bearing does the Cleveland-Harrison campaigns have on the Biden-Trump campaigns?
There’s really no relevance. Other than the coincidence that we’ve been here before. The 2024 rematch is not unprecedented.
For that matter, a presidential election rematch wasn’t something new in 1892. John Quincy Adams beat Andrew Jackson (though Jackson was not a sitting president) in the 1824 election but they faced off again in 1828 when Jackson won.
Each election year, people ruminate through past campaigns seeking connections, seeking clues to possible outcomes.
Sometimes, a past event is repeated in current campaigns. Sometimes, precedents are broken and something new happens.
It’s all mostly coincidence but reviewing our past does provide better understanding of where we’ve been if not necessarily a road map to where we are going.
If nothing else, by reviewing the Cleveland-Harrison rematch, you’ll have a better understanding if Trump becomes the 47th president, why there would still be only 45 men who have served as president.
Dean Poling is a former editor with The Valdosta Daily Times and The Tifton Gazette.