Nonconsecutive executives: A guide to head of state comebacks

If former President Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, he’ll be only the second U.S. president to win nonconsecutive terms. Globally, however, heads of state leaving and then coming back is considerably more common. Yahoo News presents a guide to world leaders who got a second chance at running their countries.

Video Transcript

I think it's the most important election in the history of our country.

I really believe that if former president Trump is re-elected, he'll become the second US president to serve two non consecutive terms following in the footsteps of Grover Cleveland.

However, on the world stage, heads of state leaving then coming back is a lot more common than you might think.

Take for example, Charles De Gaulle, a French war hero and namesake of an architecturally interesting airport.

After World war two, he was unanimously selected to head the provisional government but resigned in 1946.

Then in 19 58 he came back to serve as Prime Minister and then president until 1969 across the English channel.

You've got another hero of the second World War, Winston Churchill, the British bulldog.

He served as Prime Minister from 1940 until his party lost the 1945 general election, but he stayed in government as the leader of the opposition and eventually returned as top dog in 1951.

A little more recently.

There's the late Silvio Berlusconi who somehow managed to be elected Prime Minister of Italy three separate times to despite what some might describe as problematic, social and political senses and deeply troubling personal conduct.

Finally, there's Vladimir Putin.

This one's got a bit of an asterisk because he never really stopped being the head of state.

See, after serving two terms as president, the Russian Constitution barred Putin from seeking a third term in 2008.

So he switched to being Prime Minister for four years.

But during that time, he retained control over the government.

Then he was elected president again in 2012 and has since changed the rules to allow him to stay in office until 2036.

Now, these are just a few examples.

But if Trump is re-elected, there's one big difference.

He won't be running again in 2028.