• samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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    7 days ago

    He’s the 44th person to be president, but they’re numbered by consecutive terms to avoid confusion in historical records.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      7 days ago

      He’s the 44th person to be president

      Correct.

      they’re numbered by consecutive terms to avoid confusion in historical records

      Except that’s not how counting things and words work.

      It would make exactly as much sense to count FDR four times.

      • samus12345@sh.itjust.works
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        7 days ago

        Yes, Harry Truman felt the same way, but the people responsible for record keeping decided to do it this way, so we follow their lead.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 days ago

          the people responsible for record keeping decided to do it this way, so we follow their lead.

          First of all, they’re not the ones perpetuating it. The same media that’s been successfully whitewashing the West’s favorite fascist apartheid state until recent years are.

          Secondly, that’s not a good reason. People in charge of things get things and the framing of things wrong all the time.

          Harry Truman felt the same way

          Say what you will about his authorizing of at least two of the worst single day war crimes in human history, but when he’s right, he’s right 😉