Animal trials were truly a strange part of Europe’s medieval history
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for the second time on 20 January 2025, we are reminded of the events that took place as he left office just four years ago.
With baseless claims of voter fraud, a storming of the US Capitol, and an impeachment, Mr. Trump's final few months in office amounted to what was arguably the most tumultuous presidential transitions in history.
There have been several other US presidential transitions that would give Trump a run for his money, however.
Check out this gallery to find out more.
Founding Father John Adams was the prime example of a president who did not believe he should cease exercising presidential powers simply because he no longer held office.
When Supreme Court Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth resigned his post shortly before Adams was due to leave office, the president took his chance.
Adams moved quickly to replace the chief justice and then set about reshaping the judiciary by passing the Judiciary Act of 1801. Among other things, this piece of legislation created 16 new federal judgeships, which he quickly filled with his own nominations.
President-elect Thomas Jefferson and his party were outraged; they viewed Adams's actions as an attempt to subvert their agenda. They successfully repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801 before it came into effect.
The 15th president of the United States, James Buchanan did not have the luxury of a quiet few weeks in office at the end of his presidency.
Indeed, it was during his final months in office that certain southern states began to debate leaving the Union. This came in response to the election of Abraham Lincoln, who stood against slavery.
Buchanan spoke out against the secession of the southern states, but ultimately he maintained that it was beyond the power of any president to do anything about it.
The first state to secede was South Carolina, and by the time Abraham Lincoln took office another seven states had followed suit. Soon, a total of 11 breakaway states had formed the Confederate States of America, signaling the start of the Civil War.
In the late 19th century, Republican Benjamin Harrison lost re-election to Democrat Grover Cleveland. There was so much tension between the two that the former deliberately ran the economy into the ground before the latter was due to take office.
The economy had already begun to suffer during the Harrison administration due to protectionist measures, such as the Silver Sherman Purchase Act of 1890, which had led to the decline of the treasury's gold reserves.
Rather than accepting responsibility, however, Harrison spent his last months in office warning Americans that the incoming president was going to bankrupt the country.
He even urged them to take their money out of the stock market, which consequently began to plummet just 10 days before the president-elect's inauguration.
The election of Franklin D. Roosevelt took place against the backdrop of the Great Depression, the effects of which had rippled across the country for years and caused widespread suffering.
The president-elect won largely thanks to his New Deal policies which promised, among other things, to "distribute wealth and products more equitably."
The incumbent Herbert Hoover was not a fan of these policies, and he worked hard to undermine them during his final few months in office.
The two politicians did not get on personally, either, and they had several very tense meetings in the run-up to Roosevelt's inauguration in March 1933.
Dwight D. Eisenhower took over from Harry S. Truman as President of the United States in 1953. Despite having previously worked together in harmony, by that point there was bad blood.
Things had started to turn sour when the incumbent President Truman entertained the idea of nominating Eisenhower as a Democratic candidate for president, but ultimately decided against it and went with the Republican Party.
Eisenhower apparently described those actions as a "mark of terrible leadership," and he proceeded to undermine President Truman's military policy throughout his own presidential campaign.
Truman in turn fueled the fire by relentlessly attacking Eisenhower during his campaign, and suggesting that he was unfit both professionally and personally to be president.
In November 1980, the incumbent Jimmy Carter lost re-election to Ronald Reagan. This was largely attributed to his failure to end the Iran hostage crisis.
Earlier in the year, a group of Iranian militants had invaded the US embassy in Tehran and taken 66 Americans hostage. Carter failed to negotiate their release.
Despite his loss in the re-election, Carter continued with his negotiations to end the hostage crisis. Eventually, just two days before the end of Carter's term, the Iranian government accepted his proposal and agreed to release the hostages.
The actual hostage release was held up, however, due to financial complications. It didn't take place until half an hour after Reagan had taken office on January 20.
When the 43rd president, George W Bush, took over from Bill Clinton in 2001, the incumbent president invited his successor to have coffee on the day of the inauguration ceremony.
The president-elect was known for being obsessively punctual, so when his predecessor kept him waiting, he was understandably not happy.
To add fuel to the fire, Mr. Clinton also invited Vice President Al Gore, who had just lost the election to Mr. Bush in a fraught battle that ultimately came down to a question of 537 votes.
All this was set against the backdrop of existing tensions between the families. Bill Clinton beat out George W Bush's father, George HW Bush, for the presidency in 1992.
It seems, then, that while outgoing presidents are expected to go about their business in a quiet manner and organize an orderly transition, they have a tendency to do just the opposite.
Of course, history has also seen some very smooth presidential transitions. Much of the time, however, they are fraught with final attempts to push agendas and have one last say.
Sources: (National Geographic) (BBC) (Reuters)
Difficult presidential transitions in history
These handovers were far from smooth
LIFESTYLE History
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office for the second time on January 20, 2025, we are reminded of the events that took place when he left office just four years ago.
With baseless claims of voter fraud, a storming of the US Capitol, and an impeachment, Trump's final few months in office amounted to what was arguably the most tumultuous presidential transition in history.
There have been several other US presidential transitions that would give Trump a run for his money, however. Check out this gallery to find out more.