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Article: The 41st president? (counting the succession of presidents)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 3, 1988
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE problem, as our reader points out, begins with Grover Cleveland. First elected in 1884, Cleveland was defeated four years later in a close contest with Benjamin Harrison. In 1892 he got his revenge, ousting Harrison and earning his place in the history books as the only person to be elected president to non-consecutive terms.
There's the rub. Cleveland's terms in office are generally counted twice. By tradition he is known as both the 22nd and 24th president. But there seems little basis for this, given the way other presidencies are counted (Franklin Roosevelt's unmatched four consecutive terms, for example, count as one). Not for the first time, tradition ...