Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he will run for president again in 2024 makes him part of an exclusive group of ex-presidents who sought their old office back. The Onion looks back at the history of ex-presidents who tried to run again.
Andrew Jackson (1840): Jackson made a desperate run at a third term after learning that he failed to get all the Native Americans the first time around.
Martin Van Buren (1848): Van Buren hoped another term would elevate him from a president nobody remembers to a president almost nobody remembers.
Grover Cleveland (1892): Faced with the difficult choice of years of nothing but quality time with his family or being president again, he nobly ran and won.
Teddy Roosevelt (1912): Needed something to do after hunting the world’s big game supply to extinction.
Richard Nixon (1992): Nixon entered the race with a, “Come on, that was all a long time ago!” campaign slogan.
Ronald Reagan (2000): A doddering Reagan announced his bid for the presidency to the condiments in his fridge.
Donald Trump (2024): Reluctantly threw his hat in the ring when he could no longer resist the pleas of a party—and a nation—that needed him more than ever.
Barack Obama (2200): Obamatron’s attempts to woo voters with his cybernetic implants will be widely seen as pandering to the mostly robotic American electorate.