Second term not a charm (usually)

By Jim Thompson
HCP columnist

President Obama’s second term seems to be getting off to a rocky start. The sequester story he and the White House have spun has managed to even rile the mainstream media.

Approval rating is below 50 percent, so soon after his inauguration. His new action committee is being critically examined. Other issues abound which we will discuss before this column wraps.
President Obama is not alone in (potential) second term blues.

Going backward from today, we see the following. George W. Bush was much less popular in his second term than first. Bill Clinton was impeached in his second term. Ronald Reagan had the little matter of the Iran-Contra Affair distracting him in term No. 2. Richard Nixon resigned in his second term.

Eisenhower had a heart attack late in his first term and a stroke in his second. FDR was popular during his second term, re-elected to a third term when it looked like the country was going to war, and died early in his fourth term. Woodrow Wilson got deep into World War I in his second term and was incapacitated by a stroke. William McKinley was assassinated in his second term.

Then there is the unique Grover Cleveland, who was turned out after his first term, came back and won a second term four years later, and served during a recession (called “panics” in those days), leaving office universally despised.

Ulysses S. Grant left office after his second term universally despised, too. And we’ll stop with Lincoln, who was assassinated in his second term.

So, President Obama, out of the gate, is fighting a tough set of precedents (dare I say president precedents?).

On top of that, current events are not helping him establish a great legacy, either.

Of course, we have the on-going, never ending budget battles here at home. On top of that, we have internal social issues (immigration, homeland security, drones and many others).

However, it is likely that internal issues will not be the ones where the history books record President Obama’s leadership skills (or lack thereof). It is looking increasingly like foreign affairs, over which we have little control, will test his mettle.

Iran is absolutely on the verge of producing a nuclear weapon. Do you think they will wait more than two weeks before they attempt to use it on Israel?

Sitting on the sidelines will not be an option for the President when this happens. In fact, sitting on the sidelines will be interpreted as siding with Iran, or even worse: being feckless.

Then there is North Korea. North Korea has declared the 1953 armistice null and void. Seoul, South Korea, population 10,500,000, is a mere 35 miles from the truce line with North Korea. How short this was did not sink in until I gave a speech there in 1997 – the airport (obviously in a different direction than the border) is further away from downtown Seoul.

Don’t forget Putin in Russia, just itching to give us a hard time. Or the leadership in Beijing – they would love to see us in a foreign relations pickle, as well as they would like to establish their sovereignty over a few disputed islands.

Europe continues to be an economic mess. A new, conservative Pope may decide to actively take on Obamacare’s mandates on birth control. Queen Elizabeth, going great until recently, seems to have some health problems – will she last another four years? Charles and President Obama make an interesting pair.

Then there are issues in this hemisphere. Venezuela, Cuba and others have pending leadership changes. Argentina wants the Falkland Islands back, but a poll last week said 99.8 percent of the Falkland inhabitants want to stay British subjects. Mexico is the Wild West, only with modern ordinance.

Then, as I mentioned earlier, the president has to contend with a press that is turning on him. 

With Bob Woodward leading, it looks like the Washington Post has some questions these days. So does NBC News. Forbes Magazine is wondering why Homeland Security is buying a stockpile of ammunition that could last them 50 years.

It is no longer just Fox News and fringe right-wing blogs asking the questions.

We are in for some interesting times. President Obama may need the leadership skill of 10 presidents to navigate his second term intact.

Jim Thompson, formerly of Marshall, is a graduate of Hillsboro High School and the University of Cincinnati. He resides in Duluth, Ga., following decades of wandering the world, and is a columnist for The Highland County Press.