Donald Trump and the Great Man Theory of History

US elections have mostly followed a remarkably predictable pattern from the mid-twentieth century until now: the two major parties exchange control of the White House every eight years .

It wasn’t always this way; in the past, there have been long stretches of one -party dominance.

The one major exception to this was the Reagan -Bush era, when the Republican Party managed to hold three terms in a row, beginning with Reagan ’s victory over the incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980 .

Some have argued that Trump ’s indomitable force of personality, demonstrated in which he has refashioned American politics in his image over the past decade , vindicates the Great Man Theory of History .

Donald Trump's 2024 victory does not feel as shocking as his 2016 victory did, but 2024 is a more remarkable coup than 2016.

Julian Zelizer : If ever a cycle was ripe for Democrats to suffer a resounding defeat, it was this one.

He says the fact that Trump did not manage to pull off this kind of landslide victory is a sign of his own weaknesses as a candidate.

Zelizer says we are overdue for a crisis that will reshape the social order for the next eight decades or so.