By Chuck Norris
Donald J. Trump winning two non-consecutive terms is a feat only one other president has done before: Grover Cleveland, who served as the 22nd president after the 1884 election, and as the 24th president after the campaign of 1892.
Watching Trump become America’s 47th president of the United States, I was reminded of yet another president who also wasn’t expected to win but did: Ronald Reagan, America’s 40th president who served two consecutive terms from 1981-1989.
I’ll never forget, in 1980, when Reagan was running for his first term. He was not a typical politician either. That is why the Democratic Party was going to do everything possible to keep him from getting to the White House.
However, the people of America, including me, felt Reagan would be a great president. We all saw him as an impressive leader, a man of honor, and a man who cared for all the people. He also had a great sense of humor, which was a further attraction.
When Reagan won the presidency in 1980, the Democratic Party couldn’t believe they lost, just like when president Trump won the bid for the White House in both 2016 and 2024. The Democrats regarded Reagan similarly then as they view Trump today, not exactly with fondness.
While Reagan was the president of our great country, I had the honor of meeting him and the First Lady.
One day Nancy Reagan’s assistant called my office. She explained that the First Lady was having a tennis celebrity event at the White House, and she wanted to invite me.
My assistant said she would call me and then let her know if I would be able to make it to the event.
When my assistant called and explained Mrs. Reagan’s personal invitation, I replied that I definitely wanted to go.
But then when I hung up the phone, it dawned on me that I had never played tennis in my life!
So, I hired a tennis teacher to give me ten days of intensive lessons before I had to fly to Washington, D.C.
It was a lot of fun playing in the White House tennis event. I had a great time. I didn’t play so great, but at least I didn’t embarrass myself.
After the event, those participating were all invited to a special evening at the White House, during which we would have the opportunity of meeting president Reagan.
When I met him in person, I immediately knew that he was not only a fine man but also a great leader for our country.
I remember when Reagan ran for his second term in 1985. The Democratic Party leaders again were trying their best to beat him with their presidential candidate, Walter Mondale of Minnesota.
But Reagan had done an incredible job in his first four years, so people from all political persuasions—Republicans, Independents and even Democrats–reelected him. And as history recorded, he went on to be an even greater second term president, accomplishing things like bringing down the Berlin Wall.
I was again invited a few years later to an event at the White House. This time I had the pleasure and honor to talk a little more with the president and First Lady. They were the most wonderful people I had ever met.
Now, let’s talk about the second president who was also not supposed to win: that’s right, Donald J. Trump.
Let me tell you how I first met Trump in 1974. Yes, 1974, when Donald was only about 28 years old, and I was only 34. Even then he was doing well as a businessman.
I had won the World Martial Arts Championship in 1968 and held the title until 1974, at which time I decided to retire from professional fighting.
When I informed the promoter of the World Championship that I was retiring, he made a huge deal out of it. I recommended Bill Wallace fight in my place. Bill fought and went on to win the world title, too.
The promoter told me that Trump was going to be in the audience to see the world championships. Even as a young man, Trump was very well known and liked.
As I walked down from the platform, he was standing there and came up to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Why did you retire so soon?!”
I replied, “I am 34 years old, have held the world title for six years, and I have decided it is time to move on with my life.”
Trump asked me, “What are your plans now?”
I explained that I had wanted to become an actor, and that I had filmed a movie with Bruce Lee in 1972 and really liked it.
Donald looked at me square in the eyes and said, “I have a feeling you are going to do well as an actor.” Then, he simply turned around and walked off.
A decade or two later, after I filmed more than a dozen popular action movies, Trump and I encountered each other again at a professional wrestling event. In fact, someone captured the moment on video here (contrary to the title of it, it was not the first time I met Trump.).
Over the decades, I watched Donald Trump grow as a businessman. I would read articles about him and read a few of his insightful books. I was very impressed by his optimistic and positive attitude.
I’m amazed it was 50 years ago that I first met Trump. Then and now, he hasn’t changed a bit, except he’s got a whole lot wealthier and serves in the most powerful role in the free world.
Though I was a little surprised when he initially ran for president, I honestly wasn’t shocked when Trump won in 2016. It was time we had a real businessman deal with the mess in Washington, D.C.
He didn’t come from “the establishment.” He was an outsider. As everyone knows now, he’s not a typical politician, not even close. Say what you will about him, anyone who has gone through what he has (including almost being assassinated twice), and is still willing to serve as president without pay a second time, has earned his place in history.
Democratic Party leaders swore that after Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1979, they would never allow a celebrity to win again. But one did.
When Trump was competing against Hillary Clinton in 2016, mainstream media and Democratic leaders unloaded on him and were absolutely convinced that Hillary would win. They were wrong.
In 2024, it was one big déjà vu. This time, not only the Republicans but Independents and tons of Democratic Americans reelected Trump back into office when he competed against Biden and Harris. He even won all the swing states and the majority vote.
Many (if not most) thought lighting would never strike twice for Trump, especially after he stepped away from the White House in 2020 for four years. But it did, even after a full decade that his adversaries tried to disparage him, impeach him, imprison him and even assassinate him.
Amazingly, Trump has stayed strong and continues to fight (fight, fight) to make America great again. One thing that is difficult to deny: He definitely wants America to win.
Now, it’s our turn to do our best to support and pray for him and his amazing league of cabinet leaders, in order that America can finally experience a stronger economy, a secure border, lower crime and a better international position in the world.
America and Americans have been hurting and even in crisis for far too long, from natural disasters to economic freefall and global dominance, and it’s high time we together turned that around.
In a past edition of WND’s Whistleblower, recently deceased historian Dr. Lee Edwards, the author or editor of 25 books and the Former Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation’s B. Kenneth Simon Center for American Studies, hit the nail on the head: “We shall come through this crisis as we have other challenges in our [248]-year history, following the example of leaders such as Reagan, who reminded us in his first inaugural address just what kind of people we are. The crisis we face, Reagan said, requires our willingness to believe in ourselves, ‘to believe that together, with God’s help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And after all, why shouldn’t we believe that? We are Americans.’”
Dr. Edwards’ thoughts remind me of the revolutionary giant Thomas Paine, who might as well have been speaking to our time in his work “The American Crisis,” when he wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”
The post Chuck Norris: Two Presidents Who Were NOT Supposed to Win (and When I Met Each of Them) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.