President Donald Trump’s final days in office have been historically tumultuous. After Trump spent months attempting to overturn the election with baseless claims of voter fraud, an armed mob of his supporters overran the U.S. Capitol to disrupt the counting of electoral college votes. On January 13—a week before the end of his term—Trump was impeached (for a second time) in the House of Representatives for inciting that insurrection.
Outgoing U.S. presidents have long been called “lame ducks,” a comment on how they are rendered weak by their dwindling days in office. Lame-duck presidents are expected to spend their waning days quietly carrying out administrative business and aiding an orderly transition as the nation looks to its newly elected leader to set a policy agenda.
But the country has seen turbulent lame-duck periods before. From its earliest days, many U.S. presidents have worked up to the last minute to push their agendas. Others have sat on their hands while the economy tanked—and even as the nation broke apart. And for most of the country’s history, they had more time to do so because inauguration took place in March and was not moved to January until the 1930s.
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