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What Is a Lame-Duck President?
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Political cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman showing a line of ducks with canes, symbolizing lame duck Congress members, walking toward the White House along a winding path.
Why Is the Twentieth Amendment Called the ā€œLame Duck Amendmentā€?
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Political cartoon by Clifford K. Berryman showing a line of ducks with canes, symbolizing lame duck Congress members, walking toward the White House along a winding path.
Long line of lame ducks This Clifford K. Berryman political cartoon from 1915 shows defeated members of Congressā€”that is, ā€œlame ducksā€ā€”heading to the White House in search of new jobs.

What Is a Lame-Duck President?

Written by
Tracy Grant
Tracy Grant is a senior editor at Encyclopaedia Britannica. She previously served as editor in chief, the first woman to hold that title. 
Tracy Grant
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

The phrase lame duck is one of the most-usedā€”and nonsensicalā€”terms in modern U.S. politics. According to Merriam-Webster, a lame duck is ā€œan elected official or group continuing to hold political office during the period between the election and the inauguration of a successor.ā€ 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...

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