Lame Duck
[Credit: Library of Law and Liberty]
Since President Obama is
finishing his second term, he is known as a lame duck president. The phrase
refers to any politician who has lost an election or is term-limited out and
can serve only until the following January. It used to be until March because
of travel difficulties in earlier times, but the 20th amendment to the
Constitution cut that back to eliminate unwanted extra dead weight.
The term lame duck
originated in the 18th century London stock market. It referred to a
broker who couldn’t cover his losses, comparing him to an injured duck which
drags itself away in shame.
In reading material to
remind myself about the history of this term, I came across a very curious statement. It was written by someone named Kimberly Amadeo, and it appeared on a
web site named The Balance. This is the current location.
What caught my attention
was this sentence: “In politics, President Lincoln first used the phrase lame
duck when referring to outgoing President Calvin Coolidge.” I think not.
President Lincoln died in 1865. Calvin Coolidge wasn’t born until 1872, and his
term as President ran from 1923 to 1929. Unless Lincoln was stunningly
clairvoyant, this statement is very strange, indeed.
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