Will history repeat itself?

Those of you that know me well know that I like history. I've always liked studying it, and looking at how it relates to current events.

With the economic crisis that our country is in, and it being an election year - I wanted to take a look at two similar elections. Although there are major differences (the incumbent president was running in both instances), I believe that you will find this interesting.

1932. This was the first election after the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Herbert Hoover did not stand a chance. Democratic New York governor Franklin Roosevelt dominated the electoral college, 472-59.

As history would show us, FDR's socialist policies were popular in this time of crisis, and he went on to be re-elected in 1936 by a even greater margin.

FDR was re-elected in 1940 and 1944, but died in office shortly after the fourth re-election. And of course, the constitution was amended to limit presidential terms to just two.













1980. The first election that took place in my lifetime was in 1980, shortly after the 1979 energy crisis that left America crippled.

Jimmy Carter, perhaps America's worst president, was defeated handily by California governor Ronald Reagan, 489-49.

Reagan, like FDR, became immensely popular and easily won in 1984 and his vice president, George Bush, Sr., won the 1988 election handily.

So, fast forward to 2008. We are going through a similar economic crisis. The current president is not running, but Senator Obama has done a wonderful job linking John McCain to the current president, and unless something dramatic happens, we could see a similar result as the aforementioned elections. Real Clear Politics, the best pollster site out there, projects a 364-174 victory for Obama, another blowout win for the opposite party after an economic crisis.

It pays to pay attention in history class.