predecessors

The nation’s most painful sacrifices were absorbed by his Democratic predecessors—in Obama’s case, that was the agonizingly slow recovery from the Great Recession that began under George W. Bush, and in Biden’s it was the pandemic-era round of inflation that struck every single country on the planet.

If its lega-sequel predecessors are any indication, “Gladiator II” could be bound for box-office success.

But in other ways, he will come into office more aware than his predecessors of the inner workings because he is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland to win nonconsecutive terms.

Last Oscar season, Christopher Nolan proved that Academy voters can and will award their top trophy to a major hit: “Oppenheimer,” the director’s moody biopic about the scientist who developed the atomic bomb, ranks as the third highest grossing best picture winner, exponentially more successful at the box office than its recent predecessors.

The problem he faces is that pretty much all of his predecessors broke theirs.