Vanguard News Translate From US White House to Nut House – Only a step On By Dele Sobowale Thomas Paine, 1737-1809, said it first. Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821, repeated it. “From the sublime to the ridiculous there is only one step.” The President of the United States is the most powerful person on earth. To him everybody pays attention. He occupies the sublime summit of power. Even after his tenure of office, the esteem of having been to the mountain top clings to him – irrespective of whether he serves one term or two. Most are favoured with eight years in the highest office on earth. But, a few last only four or a few more years. Democratic Presidents Kennedy, 1960-63, Lyndon Johnson, 1963-68, Republican Richard Nixon, 1969-74, Democratic Jimmy Carter, 1976-1980, and Republican George Bush, Snr, 1989-1993, were among a few US Presidents who, in the last half of the last century, left office without serving eight full years.