2020 was a groundbreaking year for several reasons with COVID-19, civil unrest, and economic recessions immediately coming to mind. But one of the more enduring trends of that year may result from the presidential election. With former President Trump unlikely to serve a second term, and President Biden telegraphing his ambivalence toward seeking reelection (Biden would be 86 at the end of a second term), one has to wonder if the traditional 8-year presidency may be a relic of the past. While only ten presidents have sought reelection and been denied, shifting American voter expectations and priorities may result in consecutive two term presidencies becoming as infrequent as the one term is now.
The American attention span has never been shorter. 24-hour news cycles, smartphone ubiquity, near-universal social media platform access, and on-demand streaming entertainment all contribute to a population with access to instant gratification and more responsive demands. Political pushes for term limits highlight the growing concern citizens have over career politicians and a stagnation of policies. Significant momentum for limits on service length now even extend to Justices on the United States Supreme Court. Whereas political stability was prized in the recent past, the desire to have accelerated fluidity of personalities and policies in the White House may be an inevitable consequence of the modern age. COVID-19 has undoubtedly compounded this flux of the routine through its expansion of work from home, media consumption, federal relief packages, teleconferences, and social distancing.
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