By WILL WEISSERT (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just as Americans thought they were done, Joe Biden and Donald Trump brought them back into the situation.
The next round of the election from 2020 is now fixed as the president and his immediate predecessor secured their parties’ nominations. Biden and Trump have created a political movie the country has seen before — even if the last version was in black and white.
The last time presidential candidates faced each other again was in 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic opponent he had four years before.
Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president, winning elections in 1884 and 1892.
As sequels go, fans of politics and film may hope the Biden-Trump rematch turns out to be like the well-regarded “The Godfather II” instead of the often-criticized “The Godfather III.” But the Biden-Trump rematch is expected to be seen alongside historical examples that go back to the nation’s founding.
Here’s how it compares in history:
Sixty-eight years ago, after Eisenhower beat Stevenson in 1952 and won all but nine states, the incumbent president faced Stevenson again four years later and secured an even larger victory.
There are other instances of presidential race rematches, but they happened much earlier in U.S. history.
Republican President William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the election of 1896 and then again in 1900. In 1836, Democrat Martin Van Buren defeated William Henry Harrison of the Whig Party, only for Harrison to win a rematch between the two and become president four years later.
John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson competed twice for the presidency. The first time was in 1824, when Adams succeeded, and the second was in 1828, when Jackson became president by defeating the incumbent Adams.
Then there was John Adams, a Federalist who was the nation’s second president, and Thomas Jefferson, its third and a Democratic-Republican. Both contested the presidency during the first-ever contested presidential election to follow George Washington in 1796, with Adams winning and Jefferson becoming vice president. Four years later, Jefferson ran against and beat the incumbent Adams.
So far, just one.
Grover Cleveland is the only president in U.S. history to serve two non-consecutive terms. He successfully accomplished what Trump is now trying to do — winning back the White House from the opponent who took it from him.
A Democratic anti-corruption supporter and governor of New York, Cleveland narrowly won the presidential election of 1884. Four years later, he again won the popular vote, but was defeated in the electoral college by Republican Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland ran against Harrison again in 1892, this time easily winning a second term.
Other former presidents have attempted to regain their former position but did not succeed.
After serving two terms until 1877, Ulysses S. Grant tried to get the Republican nomination again during the 1880 election but lost after a convention battle to James A. Garfield. A third term would have been allowed then because the 22nd Amendment, which limited presidents to two terms in office, wasn’t ratified until 1951.
Three previous presidents attempted without success to become president again with different political parties than the ones they belonged to when they first won — with Teddy Roosevelt coming closest.
Roosevelt, who was a Republican, became president after William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 and was reelected in 1904. However, he chose not to run for another full term in 1908 and instead endorsed his chosen GOP successor, William H. Taft.
Roosevelt later became disillusioned with Taft and challenged him for the Republican nomination in 1912. When that failed, Roosevelt ran for president as the candidate of his own Progressive party, which later became known as the Bull Moose Party after the ex-president joked that he felt “as strong as bull moose.” Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the election that November, but Roosevelt came in second, earning 88 electoral votes compared to just 8 for Taft, the incumbent.
Millard Fillmore became president after Zachary Taylor, who was the last president elected with the Whig Party, died in 1850. Fillmore unsuccessfully tried to get the Whig presidential nomination in 1852. Four years later, he ran for president with the Know-Nothing Party but lost in every state except Maryland.
Democrat Martin Van Buren was president from 1837 to 1841 and lost his bid for reelection to Whig Party candidate William Henry Harrison. Eight years later, Van Buren tried to make a comeback with the Free Soil Party but failed to win any electoral votes.
