What Is a Lame-Duck President?

Written by

Tracy Grant

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Britannica Editors

History

The phrase lame duck is one of the most-used—and nonsensical—terms in modern U.S. politics.

According to Merriam-Webster, a lame duck is “an elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of a successor.” What about that definition conjures the visual image of a hobbled waterfowl? Read on to discover more about the history of the term (hint: it originated in Britain and was economic, not political, in nature), its uses, and misuses. We just can’t promise at the end it’ll make any more sense than it does now.

A ducky origin story

The term seems to date to London’s financial district in the 1760s to refer to stock traders who had invested poorly, lost all their money, and were said to have “waddled away” from the area. Apparently, London brokers were animal lovers, as that is where the terms bull (as in rising) and bear (as in falling) markets originated as well.

The term crossed the Atlantic and found its way into American political parlance in the 19th century, with the phrase dead duck being used to refer to legendary politician and failed presidential candidate Henry Clay; the somewhat gentler lame duck made its way into a precursor of the Congressional Record in 1863. After that, it was used to describe Congress and the president during the period between elections being held and the newly elected taking office.

A calendar, transportation, and the lame-duck problem

Beginning with the first presidential election in 1789, the federal government terms (for the president as well as Congress) were mandated by the Continental Congress to start on March 4. Then in 1845 U.S. general elections began to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. But that left four months when the people who had been voted out remained in power. Some of the long time lag reflected the vagaries and limitations of travel in the mid-19th century, when moving family, servants, and belongings via horse and buggy in the winter months made a longer period necessary.

Lame-duck problems in history

Even in the 19th century four months was a long transition period, particularly at a time of national crisis. Consider that the nation elected Abraham Lincoln president on November 6, 1860, but he didn’t take office until March 4 the next year. In that time seven states seceded from the Union, while lame-duck Pres. James Buchanan did little to stand up to the secessionists. While it’s unclear what, if anything, Lincoln could have done to avert war if he had been in office sooner, the Civil War began a month after his inauguration.

The nation was similarly in crisis when voters went to the polls in 1932 to elect Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt over Republican Herbert Hoover in the middle of the Great Depression. Roosevelt had to wait 116 days to take the reins of government. To understand the impact of the delay, consider that in his first 100 days in office Roosevelt helped create key programs and legislation as part of the New Deal, including:

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Civilian Conservation Corps: jobs program that provided work for more than three million people between 1933 and 1942
Emergency Banking Act: legislation that allowed the federal government to act to end the bank panic
Securities Act: legislation aimed at restoring public confidence in Wall Street

A change to reflect the times

By the 1930s, however, Congress had come to understand the problems created by lame ducks in both the legislative and executive branches. Enter the Twentieth Amendment. Even before voters went to the polls in 1932, states were ratifying a proposed constitutional amendment that would move the start of Congress to January 3 and the start of a presidential term to January 20. It was formally adopted as the Twentieth Amendment in January 1933 and is commonly referred to as the “Lame Duck Amendment.” Roosevelt took his first oath of office on March 4, 1933, but his subsequent inaugurations took place on January 20.

The wisdom of the change became more evident as advances in communication, transportation, and technology developed throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.

Lame-duck shenanigans

Throughout U.S. history politicians about to lose power have used the interregnum between election and leaving office to make a last-gasp effort at shaping government. Interestingly, one of the most famous of these acts predates the origin of the term lame duck.

In the wake of Thomas Jefferson’s victory in the 1800 election, outgoing Pres. John Adams sought to stack the courts with Federalist judges in order to hinder Jefferson’s ability to enact his governing plan. He also quickly named John Marshall to the Supreme Court and cut the number of justices from six to five to deny Jefferson the right to appoint his own justice. While Jefferson was able to undo some of Adams’s political mischief, presidents have continued to use their executive powers in the days before leaving office, most specifically around the presidential pardon power, including:

George H.W. Bush: The Iran-Contra Affair was a significant political scandal during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, for whom Bush served as vice president. After losing his reelection bid to Bill Clinton in 1992, Bush issued Christmas Eve pardons to six Reagan administration officials convicted of or facing trials for crimes related to Iran-Contra.
Bill Clinton: On January 20, 2001, before turning the Oval Office over to George W. Bush, Clinton issued about 140 pardons, including highly controversial ones to billionaire Marc Rich, who was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, heiress and kidnapping victim Patty Hearst, and his half brother Roger Clinton.
Donald Trump: In the days between losing the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden and inauguration day, Trump conducted a campaign to have the election overturned, citing baseless claims of voter fraud. Trump’s actions led to his second impeachment (for “incitement of insurrection”) related to the January 6 Capitol attack.
Joe Biden: Despite repeatedly saying he would not pardon his son Hunter Biden, who in 2024 had been convicted on gun and tax charges, Biden issued a blanket pardon to his son weeks before he left office “for those offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024.”