National Perspective — David Shribman — September 27, 2017

David Shribman

We don't know the winner — the prudent won't guess, many of the imprudent will be wrong — but already we know that the 2024 election will mark a significant departure in American history. Even if Donald Trump wins, it won't signal a return to 2017, when he first took office. One way or the other, the United States will be set on a new course.

The surface elements of the campaign scream change. Not since 1912 has a former president sought to regain the office he once held: Theodore Roosevelt, a maverick Republican who shared some personality elements with Trump (iconoclastic outlook, congeniality to racial tropes, strong personality facing blander opponents), came in second, leaving Grover Cleveland the only president to serve nonconsecutive terms. Kamala Harris' identity as a female with Black and Asian roots sets her apart from every other president. Regardless of the outcome, the country will face, and reflect, change.

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