# Wagering on Obama's re-election

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagering-on-obamas-re-election/538032>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 2, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagering-on-obamas-re-election/538032 "2010-05-02T15:24:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wagering-on-obamas-re-election/538032/101 "2010-05-08T19:31:44Z")

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> [@](#):
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> My entire life there have only been two one-term presidents, the first of whom was already in office when I was born, and it seems clear that it doesn’t matter how bad a president is, as long as they don’t stupidly promise “no new taxes, read my lips” people will reelect them.

Presidential terms are a slow moving phenomena. For example, the pattern of eight-year presidencies you cite is actually two in a row. I remember similar comments be expressed back in the early eighties - claims that we had entered an era of disposable presidents based on the fact that two presidents in a row had not been re-elected.

If you look at a larger sample, such as the last ten presidents, you’ll see five were re-elected, three were not re-elected, one was both, and one was neither.

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