analysis

Certain presidential elections have proven to be turning points in America’s history.

The 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln led to the Civil War, abolition of slavery and Lincoln’s assassination, while the 1932 vote saw Franklin D Roosevelt sweep to power on a pledge to reform the American economic system with the introduction of his ‘New Deal’.

Will the election of 2016 be such a turning point?

There is a tendency to look upon the events in the US as unprecedented, but there are historical parallels to be drawn with other fractious times in America’s past.

The election of 1968 was set against the backdrop of Vietnam, and the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago was the scene of dramatic rioting.

Richard Nixon eventually emerged victorious but was forced to resign after his aides broke into the Watergate building to bug Democratic Party telephones, hardly a good omen as rumours about the hacking of emails continue to circulate.

Trump is not the first president to come to office describing himself as a political outsider and pledging to reform a corrupt and incestuous political system.

In 1828 Andrew Jackson swept to power vowing to reform American politics and defeating one of the most qualified and experienced candidates in American history, John Quincy Adams.

Jackson consciously created an image of himself as a man of the people, even though he was a wealthy slave-owner.

Trump resembles Jackson in many ways, both styling themselves as champions of the common man when being among the wealthiest people in America. Jackson remains one of the most contentious figures in American history, but he transformed American politics.

The current political system is his direct legacy. But part of his legacy is also racial division. Jackson championed slavery and his presidency saw the forced removal of Native Americans from their ancestral homelands in the east. Another bad omen for the Trump presidency?

Whatever happens when Donald Trump takes up residency in the Oval Office, his presidency will not be dull.

Bookmakers are offering odds of 4-1 on Trump being forced to resign before the end of his first term.

Considering the omens and the challenges he faces perhaps this is a bet worth a few dollars.