Apparently, a political second act can make history.

Donald Trump’s 2024 election win was a rare return to the presidency after a defeat. It was a major political comeback with real effects on the country. The result deserves a careful look from more than one angle.

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A first-term portrait

Donald Trump’s official White House portrait, photographed on 6 October 2017.

Photo: Shealah Craighead / The White House · Source · Public domain (US)
We resize some photos and crop the small previews to fit. Each version keeps the license shown here.

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November 5, 2024 was the election that returned Donald Trump to the presidency. Trump and running mate JD Vance won 312 electoral votes, compared with 226 for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, according to the final official results. These are votes in the Electoral College, the state-by-state system used to choose a US president. They are not a count of all voters’ ballots.

Four years earlier, Joe Biden had won the 2020 election, with 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. Winning another presidential term after that defeat was a rare political comeback. Apparently, political careers do not always cooperate with the closing credits.

Trump took office on January 20, 2025 as the country’s 47th president. He was the second former president to return after a gap between terms. Grover Cleveland had been the first, returning in 1893.

This story looks at a rare political comeback with real effects on how the country is run. The election decided who would lead the executive branch—the part of government led by the president—for the next term. It also involves voters, how government works, and the duties that come with public power.

His wider record also deserves a careful look. The House of Representatives impeached Trump in 2019 and again in 2021. That means it formally charged him with serious misconduct in office. The Senate acquitted him in both impeachment trials: it did not convict him. These were not criminal trials. These events are part of history, alongside his election wins. Impact beyond agreement gives readers room to look at an achievement and the facts around it.

Our take: a setback does not automatically write the last chapter. Persistence can reopen a door, and what we do after walking through it matters. Apparently, “finished” should check the calendar before making announcements.

The date above is the election date, not the day this look back at history was first published. The vote totals below are the final official results. Each gallery photo’s date appears in its caption.