They say “anyone can become president”, but this will be the first presidential election since 1970s, where there is no Bush, Clinton, or Biden on the ballot.
They say “anyone can become president”, but this will be the first presidential election since 1970s, where there is no Bush, Clinton, or Biden on the ballot.
A couple thoughts...
It is talking about President, but counts years where those names appeared on the ballot as Vice President too.
It also ignores that a lot of other people have also been on the ballots over the years.
Also, some of this is natural. When a president has an 8 year run, the Vice President is a natural person to take a shot at the presidency, so it's perfectly normal to have 12 years where the same person is on the ballot as VP then P. It's natural for this to happen more than once in a row. Whether we've had this long of a streak or not, I don't know, but I suspect we might have.
This showerthought covers 44 years. The Bushs and Clintons double dipping is 12 years worth of ballots, but the other 32 years were natural. Hilary lost when she tried to double dip so I would argue the 8 years of Dubya are really the only anomaly in actual presidencies as far as "dynasties" are concerned.
Everyone is anyone, but some are anyoner. Or something, idk
Honestly this is sort of ridiculous.
- Biden is a Washington insider now, but that's because he had a lifetime to make something of himself. He grew up in the middle class
- I think we can all agree Obama was an outsider without any sort of elaboration
- Bill Clinton grew up dirt poor in a state that basically only makes the news when something stupid happens.
All three had to climb the ladder in a huge way, that simply wouldn't have been possible in a lot of other countries.
I also feel like Trump embodies the whole "anyone can be president" in his own sort of fucked up way. Trump obviously was born into immense wealth and enjoyed tremendous status, but he was in no way ever considered leadership material by America's political elite. His election was a complete "wtf" moment and wouldn't have happened in most countries. In a more rigid system we'd probably have had something like a Hillary Clinton v Jeb Bush election, which strictly speaking would have been better than what we got but also let's be real we would have all hated it.
I'm not saying America is some pure meritocracy. Bush was a third generation political dynasty member. His opponents were also pretty well connected. It's just that he's only one of several presidents to get elected in the past 30 years.
Joe Biden doing some heavy lifting in this narrative as a VP and one term president. If anything, Joe Biden and Bill Clinton actually prove this point that anyone can become president, both come from very modest means.
The Bushes, however, are a dysfunctional political dynasty stretching back to senator and investment banker Prescott Bush, George HW's father, and Samuel Prescott Bush, a steel executive and industrialist, who was HW's grandfather.
Also, you left out that this is the 3rd election in a row with Trump on the ballot.
It is also just one man. No parents, siblings, children, spouses like the Bushs or Clintons. No one is getting all uppity about politicians like Glitch McConnell having decades in the senate.
I think a lot of us are actually uppity about that
I don't think it's really fair to include "Biden" alongside "Bush" and "Clinton" and NOT include "Harris", just to make a point. The point is the Bush and Clinton represent two people each, a dynasty as it were. Biden is just one person. You might as well add then Harris since she has served as VP just like Biden, or Trump but I get the feeling this is intended to somehow make the statement that Harris represents a new breed of politics, a break from the old. That may or may not be true, but it doesn't hinge on this meaningless metric.
"since 1981 there has never been an election without a Bush, Clinton, Biden, Trump or Harris."
I think the point of the post is merely to point out that in four decades, at least one of three families has been in each election. Statistically, if candidates were freely chosen at random from the top 0.01% of Americans, that would be insanely improbable. It's pointing out that presidential elections aren't the American people picking the best person in the country for the job. There are influential factors other than who-would-be-best at face value. In other words, the people aren't given a list of American citizens with their characteristics and asked to chose the one they would prefer. The people are told to pick one from a very select few that have already been approved. Whether those candidates have climbed a ladder or been given a silver spoon is irrelevant to that point. The matter is that elections aren't entirely free in spirit.
It also serves as an argument against social mobility and merit in the USA. Dynasties are government systems in which the ultimate power stays within a family. We're told that it's because of whatever bs reason with the family being divine or superior, but the reality is that when the ultimate power rests within the same family, the people that benefit from that also stay in power. It's a system that maintains those on top on top. Having presidential dynasties shows that social mobility in the USA isn't as fluid as commonly thought.
Trump is going to steal it. He's going to do fraud in front of everyone.
Not a shower thought, we all saw the headline last month. And the Biden thing doesn't make any sense anyway, he's one person.
Anyone that can be funded endlessly by a corporate and capitalist elite can become president.
If billionaires and corporate leaders decided tomorrow that you should be president, they could dump millions of dollars and a few years worth of hired professional help and they'd make you president.
It's not the will of an individual person or a personality that makes a president ... it's whichever group of wealthy backers who decide to fund the campaign ... after that it is j just a matter of how much money they are willing to spend to make it happen.
Tell that to Hilary Clinton.
I gotchu, boo 😉👌
Dear @HilaryRClinton@clinton.dynasty,
Anyone that can be funded endlessly by a corporate and capitalist elite can become president.
If billionaires and corporate leaders decided tomorrow that you should be president, they could dump millions of dollars and a few years worth of hired professional help and they'd make you president.
It's not the will of an individual person or a personality that makes a president ... it's whichever group of wealthy backers who decide to fund the campaign ... after that it is j just a matter of how much money they are willing to spend to make it happen.
Try a bath.
More time to cogitate
Didn't say anyone could be the president of the US. There's a whole world out there
And soon, I shall be President of the World
That's just depressing.
Try a bath.
More time to cogitate
Assuming VPs are are included you do have to go back to the 1976 election to find a Bush, Clinton, and Biden free ticket
- Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
- Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
- Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) (George HW Was VP )
- George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
- Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
- George W. Bush (2001–2009)
- Barack Obama (2009–2017) (Biden was VP)
- Donald Trump (2017–2021) (Hillary was on the ballot)
- Joe Biden (2021–present)
I don't think you're correct.
- Richard Nixon (1969–1974)
- Gerald Ford (1974–1977)
- Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)
- George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
- Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
- George W. Bush (2001–2009)
- Barack Obama (2009–2017)
- Donald Trump (2017–2021)
- Joe Biden (2021–present)
On the ballot, not elected.
True, although them not being on the ballot would in turn also violate the "anyone can become president"-thing, no?
Obama's running mate was Joe Biden, putting him on the ballot. 2016 had a Clinton on the ballot. Reagan's VP was HW Bush.
The more accurate way to phrase this would be "This is the first election since 1980 to not have a Biden, Bush. or Clinton on the ballot."
Assuming VPs are are included you do have to go back to the 1976 election to find a Bush, Clinton, and Biden free ballot
- Jimmy Carter (1977–1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) (George HW was VP )
- George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
- Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
- George W. Bush (2001–2009)
- Barack Obama (2009–2017) (Joe was VP)
- Donald Trump (2017–2021) (Hillary was on the ballot)
- Joe Biden (2021–present)
I think he's including primaries and VP candidates.
Nominees:
- 2024 Kamala Harris Donald Trump
- 2020 Joe Biden Donald Trump
- 2016 Donald Trump Hillary Clinton
- 2012 Barack Obama Mitt Romney
- 2008 Barack Obama John McCain
- 2004 George W. Bush John Kerry
- 2000 George W. Bush Al Gore
- 1996 Bill Clinton Bob Dole Ross Perot
- 1992 Bill Clinton George H. W. Bush Ross Perot
- 1988 George H. W. Bush Michael Dukakis
- 1984 Ronald Reagan Walter Mondale
- 1980 Ronald Reagan Jimmy Carter John B. Anderson
- 1976 Jimmy Carter Gerald Ford
- 1972 Richard Nixon George McGovern