Elon Musk speaks at President-elect Donald Trump's 'victory rally' in Washington, D.C.

Amidst a presidential inauguration, the former presidents’ club had a historic shakeup in the new year. On January 9, the late Jimmy Carter, who set the record for the longest post-presidency in history, had a state funeral in Washington. Every living commander-in-chief attended. Eleven days later, the group assembled again for the inauguration. That day, Joe Biden became the newest, and oldest, member of the world’s most exclusive fraternity. But the climax was when President Donald Trump took the oath of office and was a former no more.

For those looking for a historical precedent for Trump’s second term, the obvious parallel is the comeback of President Grover Cleveland. Cleveland rose from mayor of Buffalo to commander in chief in three years. He’s the only other former president to serve two non-consecutive terms, from 1885 until 1889, and again from 1893 until 1897. 

It’s an easy comparison to make. Beyond the shared interruption to their tenures in the White House, both Trump and Cleveland are New Yorkers. Both took on their parties’ establishments and won, building new political coalitions in the process.  In their time, both of their parties disputed election results, the Democrats in 1876 and the Republicans in 2020. Neither man ever won the majority of the popular vote, though Trump won the plurality in 2024.

TRUMP INAUGURATION PERFORMER GAVIN DEGRAW SALUTES 'BUSINESSMAN RUNNING LARGEST ECONOMY IN WORLD'

Both married women who were popular icons in their day – Cleveland entered office a bachelor, only to wed the beautiful Francis Folsom, age 21, shortly after her college graduation, and her likeness adorned products and advertisements throughout the country. Both returned to Washington pledging to clean up the town, be it "draining the swamp" or, for Cleveland, literally tidying up the White House. When he and Francis flipped on the newly installed light switches in the Executive Mansion, they found that Benjamin Harrison had left it in a state of disrepair, with cobwebs, roaches and rats all around. 

President Donald Trump talks........

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