Presidential Parties

In light of last week's elections and the protests that have gone on since, including rioting in downtown Portland, I took a look at the political parties espoused by each of our Presidents since the administration of Abraham Lincoln.  I was curious to see if there is a consistent trend of switching parties in office, and how many years each party remains in the executive office. 

This is a very simple, unsophisticated study and there are many more aspects of each party's incumbency that I could delve into, but for now what you see is what you get.

Including Lincoln's terms beginning in 1861, presidents have belonged to the Republican party for 88 years and the Democratic party for 68 years. 

The longest unbroken stretch for any one party in office lasted 20 years, with Roosevelt's three full terms combined with Truman's almost 2 full terms.

In my lifetime (since 1954), Republicans have held the top office for 35 years and Democrats for 28 years.

I don't know what this all means.  It might look unbalanced to Democrats, yet 'we the people' have made these choices.  We aren't coerced in voting, we aren't intimidated at the booth; voting is secret and personal. 

Winston Churchill supposedly said, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all of the others."  I have visited places where an incumbent president (aka dictator) receives 100% of the vote.  Who does he think he's fooling?  I imagine his people going to the polls with smiles on their faces, the dictator's photo prominently featured on their car windshield, then going home and weeping.  Some Americans are weeping this week, and I understand they are sad to not get what they hoped and planned.  Four years comes around again pretty fast though.


 #     President       Term (s)           Years per Party
16    Lincoln          1861-1865                 4
17    Johnson         1865-1869                4
18    Grant             1869-1873
                              1873-1877
19    Hayes            1877-1881
20    Garfield         1881-1881
21    Arthur            1881-1885                 16
22    Cleveland      1885-1889                  4
23    Harrison        1889-1893                  4
24    Cleveland      1893-1897                  4
25    McKinley      1897-1901
26    Roosevelt      1901-1905
                              1905-1909
27    Taft               1909-1913                  16
28    Wilson          1913-1917
                             1917-1921                   8
29    Harding        1921-1923
30    Coolidge      1923-1925
                             1925-1929
31    Hoover         1929-1933                  12
32    Roosevelt     1933-1937
                             1937-1941
                             1941-1945
33    Truman        1945-1949
                             1949-1953                   20
34    Eisenhower  1953-1957 
                             1957-1961                    8
35    Kennedy       1961-1963
36    Johnson        1963-1965
                             1965-1969                    8
37    Nixon           1969-1973
                             1973-1974
38    Ford             1974-1977                    8
39    Carter           1977-1981                   4
40    Reagan         1981-1985
                             1985-1989
41    Bush 1         1989-1993                   12
42    Clinton        1993-1997
                            1997-2001                    8
43    Bush 2          2001-2005
                             2005-2009                   8
44    Obama         2009-2013
                             2013-2017                   8
45    Trump          2017-