(The hill) – With President Biden officially declaring his candidacy for re-election in 2024, the country could be gearing up for a rematch of the 2020 presidential election.
Biden launched his long-awaited advertisement in a video early Tuesday morning, criticizing what he has termed “MAGA Republicans,” including footage of the January 6, 2021 insurrection and protesters opposing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Despite the early stage of election season, Biden appears poised to win the Democratic nomination with only two long-shot opponents, self-help author Marianne Williamson and environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., opposing him.
Trump also appears to be in a strong position to win the Republican nomination with him leading most polls by double digits.
If a Biden-Trump rematch does happen, it would be the first time in more than half a century that a presidential rematch has happened, but far from the first time.
Here are the rematches of the presidential elections that have happened in the history of the United States:
Adams vs. Jefferson
Former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (White House Historical Society)
The first rematch in a presidential election occurred shortly after the Constitution went into effect. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had become the leaders of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, respectively, and they met in two of the bitterest races in the country’s history.
Adams and Jefferson first clashed in 1796. Candidates at the time did not campaign directly and relied on their supporters to campaign for them.
Jefferson was accused of having an affair with one of his slaves, while Adams was nicknamed “His rotundity,” an insult for his weight, according to The National Constitution Center. Adams ultimately won the race by a narrow margin, 71 electoral votes to Jefferson’s 68.
The election of 1800 only increased the bitterness between the two sides. the jefferson critics accused of being an atheist and stated that his choice would lead to “murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest,” according to the Miller Center at the University of Virginia. Adams was accused of wanting one of his sons to marry one of King George III’s daughters in order to create an American royal dynasty.
Jefferson defeated Adams to deny him re-election, winning 73 electoral votes to Adams’ 65. Jefferson received the same number of votes as another Democratic-Republican, Aaron Burr, but the House broke the tie and Jefferson secured the presidency with the body’s 36.he vote.
Quincy Adams vs. Jackson
Former Presidents John Quincy Adams and Thomas Jefferson (White House Historical Society)
John Quincy Adams, the son of the second president, and General Andrew Jackson first clashed in 1824 at a time when there was only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans. The Federalist Party had collapsed by this point, and Adams and Jackson, along with fellow candidates William Crawford and Henry Clay, considered themselves members of the same party.
The 1824 contest became the second in American history to go to the House to choose a winner when no candidate received a majority of the vote. jackson cattle a plurality of the popular and electoral votes, making him hope to ultimately be elected president, according to the National Archives.
Clay did not advance to the House tiebreaker, but he had considerable influence in the House as a speaker. He advocated for Adams, with whom he was more ideologically aligned, helping him achieve victory.
Adams later appointed Clay as Secretary of State, which Jackson and his allies criticized as a “corrupt deal.”
Adams and Jackson soon after established their own political parties, the National Republicans and the Democrats, and clashed again in 1828. The contest was dominated by personal attacks, similar to 1800. Jackson was accused of being bloodthirsty and adulterous, while Adams was accused corruption and facilitate prostitution.
Jackson’s high popularity helped him in the race and he handily defeated Adams.
Van Buren vs. Harrison
Former Presidents Martin Van Buren and Willian Henry Harrison (White House Historical Society)
Opponents of Jackson’s presidency coalesced around the newly discovered Whig Party in the mid-1830s. But the Whigs drew from a wide range of members representing different ideologies and regions of the country, and they fought to form a consensus beyond opposing Jackson.
They nominated multiple candidates from different regions to oppose Jackson’s vice president, Democrat Martin Van Buren. They hoped to send the election to the House and for one of their candidates to win the presidency there.
The strategy failed to stop Van Buren in 1836, but the plan helped launch General William Henry Harrison onto the national political stage as the best-performing Whig that year.
The Whigs nominated Harrison to face Van Buren again in 1840. Harrison’s supporters were able to successfully attack the increasingly unpopular Van Buren during a persistent recession and represent Harrison as a folk hero.
Harrison handily won the election.
Cleveland vs. Harrison
Former Presidents Grover. Cleveland and William Harrison (White House Historical Society)
Incumbent Grover Cleveland easily won reelection from the Democrats in 1888. Benjamin Harrison, the grandson of William Harrison and a former senator from Indiana, won the Republican nomination on the eighth ballot.
The chose in focus primarily on the issue of tariffs, with Cleveland supporting lower tariffs to try to reduce costs for consumers and Harrison supporting high protective tariffs to try to protect US industries, according to UCLA.
The Republicans ran a more effective campaign, and Harrison narrowly won. But Cleveland won the popular vote by about 100,000 votes.
Cleveland faced opposition to become the Democratic nominee in 1892, but was favored and won the nomination. the race was similar to 1888 when he focused on economic issues like tariffs, according to the Miller Center.
Cleveland attacked the Harrison administration for a strong, protective tariff passed in 1890, and the Republicans also had to face a challenge from a third party by James Weaver of the Populist Party.
Harrison couldn’t top that, and Cleveland became the only president elected to two non-consecutive terms in American history.
McKinley vs. Bryan
Former President William McKinley and Former Ohio Governor William Jennings Bryan (White House Historical Society/Portrait Gallery)
The Republican and Democratic candidates in 1896 and 1900 differed greatly in their economic policies. William McKinley, a former Ohio governor who wrote the 1890 tariff, had the backing of big business, while William Jennings Bryan, a former House member, had the backing of farmers and small businesses.
McKinley pledged to maintain the gold standard as the country’s currency, while Bryan condemned the plan and advocated the expansion of silver as part of the currency, according to the Smithsonian Institution.
Bryan campaigned vigorously while McKinley campaigned from his front porch. McKinley outspent Bryan in the race and won the race.
McKinley emerged as a popular president after the US victory in the 1898 Spanish–American War and was easily re-elected in 1900. Bryan was nominated to oppose him again.
The contest focused on similar economic issues of currency and a battle between business and workers. Bryan also attacked McKinley for expanding American influence around the world, arguing that the country was becoming an empire.
McKinley won re-election and expanded his margin of four years earlier by more than 100,000 votes.
Eisenhower vs. Stevenson
Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and former Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson (White House Historical Society/Archives)
Both Republicans and Democrats were interested in having the popular World War II general Dwight Eisenhower run for their party chairman. But Eisenhower finally decided to run as a Republican in 1952, and the Democrats nominated Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson.
Stevenson could appeal to moderates and liberals in the Democratic Party and had extensive experience, but he was significantly outclassed by Eisenhower.
The general widely campaigned with confidence and personality while largely ignoring Stevenson and attacking the administration of incumbent Harry Truman, according to the Miller Center. He attacked the administration for the ongoing Korean War, the spread of communism internationally, and corruption and easily won the election.
Eisenhower was a very popular president when he decided to run for re-election in 1956, and the Democrats seemed to have a big challenge before them no matter who they nominated. They returned to Stevenson again, but he had trouble finding issues that could stick.
Eisenhower won again in 1956 with an even bigger victory than in 1952.
