In US politics, a “lame duck” is an elected official—or an entire branch of Congress—who remains in office between an election and the arrival of a successor. The expression is also commonly applied to presidents nearing the end of their time in office.
The phrase originated in London’s financial district in the mid-18th century. It referred to a broker who had lost money through poor investments and was forced to leave the market, likened to a duck walking with difficulty. The same financial circles also gave English the market terms “bull” and “bear.”
The expression crossed the Atlantic in the 19th century. Politician Henry Clay was initially described as a “dead duck” after a failed presidential bid. The less severe phrase “lame duck” entered US political language in 1863, referring to lawmakers and presidents about to relinquish power.
For much of US history, the transition between an election and the start of a new term lasted about four months. Congress had set March 4 as the beginning of federal and congressional terms, while an 1845 law established Election Day as the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The long interval was partly explained by the difficulty of travelling across the country in winter with horse-drawn carriages.
The delay could leave an outgoing administration with full authority during a national crisis. Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election but did not take office until March 4, 1861. In the meantime, seven states declared secession under outgoing President James Buchanan; the Civil War began a month after Lincoln’s inauguration.
A similar gap followed Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1932 victory over Herbert Hoover. Roosevelt waited 116 days before taking office during the Great Depression. Once president, he launched measures including the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Emergency Banking Act and the Securities Act.
Even after the transition period was shortened, outgoing presidents retained opportunities to make consequential decisions, including judicial appointments and pardons. In 1800, after Thomas Jefferson’s victory, John Adams rapidly appointed Federalist judges, selected John Marshall to lead the Supreme Court and reduced the court’s membership from six seats to five, limiting Jefferson’s opportunity to appoint a justice.
More recent controversies have often involved presidential pardons. In 1992, George H.W. Bush pardoned six officials connected to the Iran-Contra affair. On his final day in office in 2001, Bill Clinton issued about 140 acts of clemency, including pardons for his half-brother Roger Clinton, Patty Hearst and Marc Rich.
After losing the 2020 election, Donald Trump challenged the result with unsupported fraud claims. The effort culminated in the January 6 unrest at the Capitol and his second impeachment, on a charge of inciting insurrection. In late 2024, Joe Biden granted his son Hunter a pardon covering federal offenses he may have committed between 2014 and 2024, despite earlier public pledges not to do so.
Sources: Focus.it.