Potential Trump, Biden rematch would be first in half a century, but not in the White House

With President Biden officially declaring his candidacy for reelection in 2024, the country could be gearing up for a rematch of the 2020 presidential election. 

Biden released his long-anticipated announcement in a video early Tuesday morning, criticizing what he has branded as “MAGA Republicans,” including images of the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and protesters opposing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. 

Despite the election season being in an early phase, Biden appears poised to win the Democratic nomination with only two long-shot opponents, self-help author Marianne Williamson and environmental attorney 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 in 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 happened but far from the first time ever. 

Here’s the presidential election rematches that have occurred in U.S. history: 

Adams vs. Jefferson 

Former Presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (White House Historical Society)

The first rematch in a presidential election happened soon after the Constitution went into effect. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson had emerged as the leaders of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, respectively, and faced off in two of the most bitter races in the country’s history. 

Adams and Jefferson first ran against each other in 1796. Candidates at the time did not directly campaign themselves 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 narrowly, 71 electoral votes to Jefferson’s 68. 

The 1800 election only increased the bitterness between the two sides. Jefferson’s critics accused him of being an atheist and his election would lead to “Murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest,” according to the University of Virginia’s Miller Center. Adams was accused of wanting to have one of his sons marry one of King George III’s daughters to create an American monarchical dynasty. 

Jefferson defeated Adams to deny him reelection, winning 73 electoral votes to Adams’ 65. Jefferson received the same number of votes as another Democratic-Republican, Aaron Burr, but the House settled the tie and Jefferson clinched the presidency on the body’s 36^th ballot. 

Quincy Adams vs. Jackson 

Former Presidents John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (White House Historical Society)

John Quincy Adams, the son of the second president, and Gen. Andrew Jackson first ran against each other in 1824 at a time when only one political party, the Democratic-Republicans, existed. The Federalist Party had collapsed by this point, and Adams and Jackson, along with fellow candidates William Crawford and Henry Clay, considered themselves to be members of the same party. 

The 1824 contest became the second in American history to go to the House to pick a winner when no candidate received a majority of the votes. Jackson won a plurality of the popular and electoral votes, causing him to expect to ultimately be elected president, according to the National Archives. 

Clay did not advance to the House tiebreaker but held considerable influence in the House as speaker. He advocated for Adams, with whom he was most ideologically aligned, helping him clinch victory. 

Adams later appointed Clay as secretary of state, which Jackson and his allies blasted as a “corrupt bargain.” 

Adams and Jackson soon after established their own political parties, the National Republicans and the Democrats, and faced off again in 1828. The contest was dominated by personal attacks, similar to 1800. Jackson was accused of being bloodthirsty and an adulterer, while Adams was accused of corruption and facilitating prostitution. 

Jackson’s widespread popularity helped him in the race and defeat Adams comfortably. 

Van Buren vs. Harrison 

Former Presidents Martin Van Buren and Willian Henry Harrison (White House Historical Society)

Opponents to Jackson’s presidency rallied around the newfound Whig Party by the mid-1830s. But the Whigs were formed from a wide range of members who represented differing ideologies and regions of the country, and they struggled 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 have one of their candidates win the presidency there. 

The strategy failed to stop Van Buren in 1836, but the plan did help launch Gen. William Henry Harrison onto the national political stage as the best-performing Whig that year. 

The Whigs nominated Harrison to face off against Van Buren again in 1840. Harrison’s supporters were able to successfully attack the increasingly unpopular Van Buren over a lingering recession and depict Harrison as a folk hero. 

Harrison comfortably won the election. 

Cleveland vs. Harrison 

Former Presidents Grover. Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison (White House Historical Society)

Incumbent Grover Cleveland easily won renomination 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 election focused mostly on the issue of tariffs, with Cleveland supporting lowering tariffs to try to reduce costs for consumers and Harrison supporting high protective tariffs to try to protect U.S. industries, according to UCLA. 

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 the frontrunner and won the nomination. The race was similar to 1888 in that it 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 Republicans also had to face a third-party challenge from James Weaver of the Populist Party. 

Harrison was unable to overcome that, and Cleveland became the only president elected to two nonconsecutive terms in U.S. history. 

McKinley vs. Bryan 

Former Ohio Gov. William Jennings Bryan and former President William McKinley (White House Historical Society/Portrait Gallery)

The Republican and Democratic nominees in 1896 and 1900 differed greatly in their economic policies. William McKinley, a former Ohio governor who authored the 1890 tariff, was mostly supported by big business, while William Jennings Bryan, a former House member, was backed by farmers and small businesses. 

McKinley pledged to maintain the gold standard as the country’s currency, while Bryan condemned the plan and advocated for the expansion of silver as part of the currency, according to the Smithsonian Institution. 

Bryan ran a vigorous campaign while McKinley campaigned from his front porch. McKinley vastly outspent Bryan in the race and won the race. 

McKinley emerged as a popular president following the U.S. victory in the 1898 Spanish-American War and was easily renominated in 1900. Bryan was nominated to oppose him again. 

The contest focused on similar economic issues of currency and a battle between business and labor. Bryan also attacked McKinley over expanding U.S. influence in the world, arguing that the country was becoming an empire. 

McKinley won reelection and expanded his margin from four years prior by more than 100,000 votes. 

Eisenhower vs. Stevenson 

Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower and former Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson (White House Historical Society/Archives)

Both Republicans and Democrats were interested in popular World War II Gen. Dwight Eisenhower running for president for their party. But Eisenhower ultimately decided to run as a Republican in 1952, and the Democrats nominated Illinois Gov. Adlai Stevenson. 

Stevenson could appeal to moderates and liberals in the Democratic Party and had extensive experience, but Eisenhower significantly outcampaigned him. 

The general widely campaigned with confidence and personality while largely ignoring Stevenson and attacking incumbent Harry Truman’s administration, 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 widely popular president as he decided to run for reelection in 1956, and Democrats seemed to have a steep challenge before them no matter who they nominated. They turned back to Stevenson again, but he had trouble finding issues that could stick. 

Eisenhower won again in 1956 by an even larger landslide than he won in 1952.