As President Obama embarks on another four years in office, he is mindful that history is littered with the wreckage of presidents’ second terms.
George W. Bush had the double-whammy of an unpopular war and a calamitous recession. Bill Clinton was impeached over lying about sex with an intern. Richard Nixon quit rather than face impeachment for Watergate. Even Ronald Reagan, whose second term included the beginnings of his cherished collapse of the Soviet Union, was damaged by the Iran-Contra scandal.
Mr. Obama is starting out on the wrong foot by feuding with Congress over the nation’s borrowing limit and gun control, said Al Zacher, author of the book “Presidential Power in Troubled Second Terms.” He said the rare successful second terms have involved presidents who forged good relationships with strong congressional leaders, such as Mr. Reagan with Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O'Neill Jr. and President Eisenhower with Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson.
“Getting along with Congress is the issue, and it was for the majority of those presidents who either succeeded or failed,” Mr. Zacher said. “The odds aren’t there for Obama.”
Evening those odds may be why a key Obama surrogate blitzed the airwaves Sunday to talk about a more productive second-term relationship between the White House and Congress.
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