Pitfalls of the Second Term

By Robert Siegel

Published November 3, 2004 at 9:00 PM PST

Only 16 U.S. presidents have been elected to a second term, and not all of those have gone well: Witness Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra debacle and Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal. On policy matters, controversial issues that presidents put off during their first term can cause trouble during their second term. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and historian Robert Dallek.

Robert Siegel

Prior to his retirement, Robert Siegel was the senior host of NPR's award-winning evening newsmagazine All Things Considered. With 40 years of experience working in radio news, Siegel hosted the country's most-listened-to, afternoon-drive-time news radio program and reported on stories and happenings all over the globe, and reported from a variety of locations across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. He signed off in his final broadcast of All Things Considered on January 5, 2018.

See stories by Robert Siegel