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WASHINGTON (AP) — Just when Americans thought they were out, Joe Biden and Donald Trump pulled them back in.
The last presidential rematch came in 1956, when Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower again defeated Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic opponent he had four years prior.
As sequels go, fans of politics and film may hope the Biden-Trump rematch ends up like the acclaimed “The Godfather II” rather than the often-derided “The Godfather III.” But the Biden-Trump rematch is expected to take its place alongside historical analogues that date back to the nation's founding.
Here's how it stacks up in history:
Sixty-eight years ago. After Eisenhower beat Stevenson in 1952 and won all but nine states, the incumbent president faced Stevenson again four years later and secured an even larger landslide.
There are other examples of presidential race rematches, but they occurred far earlier in U.S. history.
Republican President William McKinley topped Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the election of 1896 and then again in 1900. In 1836, Democrat Martin Van Buren defeated William Henry Harrison of the Whig Party, only to have Harrison win a rematch between the two and take the presidency four years later.
Other former presidents have tried and failed to win back their former post.
After serving two terms until 1877, Ulysses S. Grant sought the Republican nomination again during the 1880 election but lost after a convention fight to James A. Garfield. A third term would have been allowed then because the 22nd Amendment, which limited presidents to two terms in office, wasn't ratified until 1951.
Democrat Martin Van Buren was president from 1837 to 1841 and lost his reelection bid to Whig Party nominee William Henry Harrison. Eight years later, Van Buren attempted a comeback with the Free Soil Party but failed to garner any electoral votes.