The last 5 presidents explained in 27 minutes

Quick summaries of the cultural relevance of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

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HASHTAGS: #history #presidents #usa

[JJMcCullough]

UPDATE: July 21, 2024
With Joe Biden announcing he will not seek a second term, the era of the “Lesser 30”has come to a clean end. 2025 will now see the dawn of a new presidential administration regardless of which party wins, which will make it easy to conceptualize as the start of a new multi-decade period.

Even if Trump gets back in, the fact that it will be a rare nonconsecutive second term with a basically all new staff (including a new vice president) means it it will probably “feel” culturally unique. People will probably develop a unique vocabulary to distinguish the Trump/Pence years from the Trump/Vance ones.

Biden is now a very unique president in modern American history, the first president since LBJ to voluntarily not seek a second term, and the first incumbent president to be effectively forced out by his party, which is not something common in American politics.

From a big picture cultural perspective, Trump and Biden’s back-to-back one-term presidencies help reinforce the idea that American politics grew more unstable at the end of the Lesser 30, and that the chaos of the 2020 election reflected that. There will be a lot of pressure on whoever the next president is to demonstrate that they have the capacity to steer America out of this “time of troubles.”

[Chronoflation]

That "no assassinations" line held up well but almost didn't, which is wild

[エルフェンリート-li]

"Three two terms and we'll see a fourth one very soon... no assassinations... no vice president claiming office..." It's literally been just a month and none of that aged well 😂😂😂

[ToadboyMTG]

"No assassinations" bro you about jinxed it

[guillemedina]

I feel like "reasons why Trump got elected" could be a half-hour video on its own. Especially now that we are nearing the 10-year anniversary of him coming down the escalator.

[pnwvibes_]

As an American i feel like Donald Trump is the perfect stereotype for foreigners when they picture an American. A large man with big hair who loves McDonalds and speaks his mind. Classic conservative boomer florida man.

[jessicac]

The fact that this video is 3 months old and already outdated in terms of “no assasination attempts” and joe biden being a candidate is wilddd

[smareng]

I find the lack of JJ’s Knick Knacks in the background unsettling.

[trevinbeattie]

“The individual personality of the president matters less than what side of the Great American Culture War the president’s party is considered broadly aligned with.” Sad, but true.

[vonPeterhof]

I've always found the label "Silent Generation" a bit weird and counterintuitive, but the fact that Biden will increasingly likely go down in history as the one and only US president from that generation seems to lend the label some credibility...

[logan]

I am confident in saying that JJ is wrong about the most recent 30 years being less culturally significant. Between 9/11, the growing disruption in balance of global political power by China, the entire generation of children raised on social media, and the proliferation of extremism and widening division in US politics, and so on, I think the significance of such trends and events in this time period will be felt to a much greater extent later on, and if nothing else, the significant developments in culture and politics will mature into significant paradigm shifts over the next 30 years.

[Craig-zqoy]

That second Bush term was worse than people remember. You left out Hurricane Katrina and the horrible way he handled it. Bush was proof that you could win just about every day to day political battle but still be considered a failure by history.

[agcaoiliproductions]

We better get a last 5 Canadian Prime Ministers for us US people.

[zup]

I dont think Trump will be remembered for being a celebrity president. I think his presidency will overshadow any previous fame he might have had. Even today, thinking of trump as “the apprentice guy” feels very out of time.

[comedyreliefguy]

My cousin died in Iraq. His name was Scott, and my middle name is named after him. He died because of a useless war, which I honestly find pathetic, not him, just the fact that while yes he died for his country, his death was in vain. His name is honored on a statue full of names going back to I believe WW1.

[_xeere]

It's actually mad to think nothing happened for a full 30 years. Real "music these days sucks" kinda vibes. Like, was 9/11 not culturally significant? Social media? The rise of video games as the largest entertainment medium? Climate change? Smart phones? The pandemic? Sure, a lot of it continues on from the past, but that's just how time works.

[isaaci]

The graphic with all the presidents in their college getup made me spit out my coffee

[Xunkz]

Who watching after the trump shooting?

[xtantanxplayz]

I am here for another award-winning J.J. video

[rpriest]

It's kind of wild to think about how Reagan is often viewed as the most conservative politician in American history yet despite the rhetoric was still far more willing to engage in bi-partisan negotiations than most current politicians of either side in the post GWB political environment.