Balkinization  

Wednesday, November 04, 2026

Donald Trump and Grover Cleveland

Gerard N. Magliocca

Everyone knows that they are the only two Presidents elected to non-consecutive terms. Few know that Venezuela was a significant issue for both in their second terms. But after yesterday's results, Trump and Cleveland may end up sharing something else: realigning the electorate against their party.

Cleveland's second term was a political disaster. In the 1894 midterm elections, Democrats lost over 100 seats in the House of Representatives and lost control of the Senate. Two years later, the GOP won another big victory that is now seen as the McKinley realignment (lasting until 1932). Put another way, Cleveland was so unpopular in his second term that he realigned the electorate in the opposite direction. 

Is Trump on the same trajectory? We'll see.


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