# Why only one Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [October 25, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213 "2024-10-25T18:00:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/1 "2024-10-25T18:00:01Z")
Why out of 45 Presidents, has there only been one who tried to take over the government after he was defeated in an election? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/2 "2024-10-25T18:01:35Z")
Narcissism and also the belief of his followers that his opponent (Biden) was somehow a threat to the nation’s existence, or something of the sort. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/3 "2024-10-25T18:02:00Z")
Because the system worked until it didn’t. Though keep in mind Nixon tried to subvert Democracy also, just in less blatant way. At that time, the Senate & Congress seems to have been made up of more honorable people who did believe in the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/4 "2024-10-25T18:15:50Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > the Senate & Congress seems to have been made up of more honorable people who did believe in the Constitution. That is all I can come up with, and it is very disturbing. Some guy was the first to rob a bank, and other guys thought, “Hey, maybe I’ll try that.” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/5 "2024-10-25T18:18:50Z")
Read up on Aaron Burr’s plot to take over the southwestern U.S. in 1807.Burr had been VP, not President, but close enough, plus he had a general on his side. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/6 "2024-10-25T18:20:16Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Why out of 45 Presidents, has there only been one who tried to take over the government after he was defeated in an election? Some decided not to run, some died, some were term limited. But obviously, many accepted defeat with dignity and honor. Trump, of course, is one of the most reprehensible humans in the country, and cares nothing about dignity or honor. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/7 "2024-10-25T18:23:14Z")
Not a President, but a Senator and Previously Secretary of War successfully took over the southern states. Jefferson Davis ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/8 "2024-10-25T18:25:20Z")
It feels like the final boss battle. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/9 "2024-10-25T18:29:41Z")
Also, Trump has had years to create his image in the public eye, far more than any other President. This has helped him enormously in creating his cult like following. ---
**Author:** ![Quondam\_Mechanic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quondam_mechanic/32/3404_2.png) [@Quondam\_Mechanic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quondam_Mechanic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/10 "2024-10-25T18:30:17Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Read up on Aaron Burr’s plot to take over the southwestern U.S. in 1807.Burr had been VP, not President, but close enough, plus he had a general on his side. Other historians aver that Burr was simply trying to execute what was then called a “filibuster” – a military action not sanctioned or performed by the Federal government – and take over the tottering and dangerous Spanish possessions in what are now Mexico and Florida. Since the US did not have (or approve of having) a standing army, such filibusters were generally tolerated. But President Jefferson was opposed to this one, especially being performed by a political rival, and Burr had chosen an “ally” who betrayed him by alleging that Burr was plotting a coup. Burr was tried for treason, but acquitted, since no treasonous actions were actually performed to confirm the allegation. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/11 "2024-10-25T18:34:29Z")
Are you speaking of his term as President and Biden’s term? Trae Crowder has mentioned that before he was elected, your average “rural person” believed Trump to be a sissy rich guy who needed to be stomped in the alley behind a bar. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/12 "2024-10-25T18:40:27Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Why out of 45 Presidents, has there only been one who tried to take over the government after he was defeated in an election? Mostly because the time wasn’t right. The present situation arose because the Republicans spent decades carving a Trump-shaped hole in themselves that he stepped into, and letting the MAGA crowd eat them from the inside. So _now_ there’s a candidate willing to try and a party willing to enable him. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/13 "2024-10-25T18:46:11Z")
The Brooks Brothers Riot in 2000 in some ways set the scene for this. As well as GOP conspiracies about illegal votes, which is connected to a lot of how elections changed post-civil rights era. ETA: Not to mention we’re in a rare point in history where every single election is decided by a handful of states. Hard to imagine Mondale trying to flip every state’s electors. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/14 "2024-10-25T18:47:10Z")
It’s not at all the same thing, but Teddy Roosevelt felt that he didn’t like the way Taft was handling things in the Oval Office (despite the fact that the common jibe was that “TAFT” stood for “Take Advice From Teddy”), so when Roosevelt lost out in the Republican Convention to Taft, he founded his own third party to do run against him – the Progressive Party. This was better known as the Bull Moose Party. He outdrew Taft in the election, but he only succeeded in splitting the ticket so that Democrat Woodrow Wilson won. But, of course, although unorthodox and outside-the-box, what Roosevelt did was perfectly legal, if ill-advised. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/15 "2024-10-25T18:52:00Z")
Not at all the same thing. Also, mostly what he was guilty of was choosing to put his hat in the ring too late to beat Taft for the Republican Nom and then being shot. If he wasn’t shot, he probably would have beat Wilson. Taft, the Republican Nom and sitting President was an afterthought in that election. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/16 "2024-10-25T18:59:58Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Why out of 45 Presidents, has there only been one who tried to take over the government after he was defeated in an election? All of the other Presidents were smarter than Trump. They knew that a clumsy attempt to overthrow the government after losing would fail. Trump’s the only one who was dumb enough to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Jegpeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jegpeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jegpeg)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/17 "2024-10-25T19:04:20Z")
I think a lot of it is due to the way people get their new s these days. While there has alway been soon bias in the network channels they would not get away with publishing clear untruths as fact and vice versa. The far right seem to have very good at using social media algoritms (especially you tube) to swarm people with thier content, Someone interested in the News migfht watch a CNN and then the algoritm might show them a Fox news report as they are interested in News but the Right Wingers then get that person to see more and more right wing stuff. > **[Feeding Hate With Video: A Former Alt-Right YouTuber Explains His Methods...](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/15/technology/alt-right-youtube-algorithm.html)** > > Focus on conflict. Feed the algorithm. Make sure whatever you produce reinforces a narrative. Don’t worry if it is true. The Trump Campaign (both official and unofficial) has linked ito that, people are told time and again that the last election was rigged, all the changes against him have been invented as part of a witch hunt by the democrats, they don’t get to here views that challenge that or if they hear one or two among the thousands of pro Trump then it is clear they are either deluded or part of the conspiracy. What is a little surprising is with so many of Trumps formerlly most trusted inner circle turning into his critics even up to Mike Pence that they woould have some doubt that all the critism is unfounded. Surely as a minimum Trump must take the blame for selecting so many staff who turned out to be traiters to the MAGA cause, but they probably never here about that or assume it is all done with CGI. > **[Mike Pence tears into Donald Trump at 2024 campaign launch](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-65839793)** > > Donald Trump's two-time running mate offers his most forceful repudiation of his ex-boss to date. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/18 "2024-10-25T19:06:40Z")
The [Election of 1876](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1876_United_States_presidential_election)would like a word with you. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/19 "2024-10-25T19:08:05Z")
There’s also decades of the Republicans stacking the courts and local government to favor them. > [@DeadTreasSecretaries](#): > > ETA: Not to mention we’re in a rare point in history where every single election is decided by a handful of states. Hard to imagine Mondale trying to flip every state’s electors. And related, how elections these days tend to be really, really close many places. It’s easier to shift things a percent or two by cheating than ten or twenty. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213/20 "2024-10-25T19:17:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > All of the other Presidents were smarter than Trump. They knew that a clumsy attempt to overthrow the government after losing would fail. Trump’s the only one who was dumb enough to try it. That is promising. No one else will be dumb enough to try and overthrow the government. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-only-one-trump/1009213.md?page=2)