“Where do we go from here?” This discouragingly familiar hopeless sentiment appeared on Varsity’s November 2016 front page following Trump’s first win. The editorial lamented that “the United States elected a racist, bigoted, misogynist climate change denier to its highest office” and urged that “our generations cannot afford to be apathetic”. This disgust was shared by the President of Cambridge University American Society who emphatically told Varsity “Trump does not represent my America”.

In light of the recent election results, reading through the optimism of November 2020 Varsity is, unsurprisingly, disheartening. A student from Boston told Varsity that “We couldn’t afford another four years of his hateful rhetoric and fundamentally misguided policies – and neither can the rest of the globe”, and lauded Biden’s success as “a turn toward decency and rationality”. Although, an opinion article warned that Biden and the Democrats “risk losing support amongst ethnic minorities” unless they “go beyond empty slogans and performative activism”.

“Cambridge, too, appears to have had a special connection (or fascination, even) with the US and their presidents”

21st century Cambridge students have made their stance on American politics very clear over the years: November 2008 Varsity mentioned that Obama’s win was “greeted with joy”, while November 2016 reported the “loud boos erupting at Republican wins”. This Democratic support is also demonstrated in an October 2008 Varsity feature interviewing four Cambridge students who worked on Obama’s campaign trail, with one remarking that “the Obama campaign is full of hope and energy and faith in the rational decision-making power of the American people”.

The UK and the US have long been inextricably linked by their special relationship; now potentially an unfortunate relationship given the result of the recent election. Cambridge, too, appears to have had a special connection (or fascination, even) with the US and their presidents over the years. This is apparent in a January 1964 edition of Varsity which revealed the success of the J.F. Kennedy memorial scholarship which had been started in Cambridge in order to fund British students studying International Relations. The significance of international relations between Cambridge and American presidents is also exhibited in Varsity’s June 1994 report on Bill Clinton’s visit to Cambridge for a D-Day memorial service at Madingley cemetery.

Varsity’s eyewitness reporters were primarily concerned with the startlingly poor quality of Clinton’s presidential security. They remarked that “to describe security as lax would be an understatement”, and revealed that “the security staff felt no need to check our briefcases”. They sarcastically commented “Bill Clinton evidently believes himself to be sufficiently popular that he doesn’t constitute a terrorist target”; one student who managed to shake Clinton’s hand told Varsity “I got so close. I could have shot him”.

Clinton’s team also came under fire in this article for their treatment of an “unimpressed” veteran who told Varsity that an American military escort “didn’t give a shit” when he asked for help after being wounded from a fall. The writers pointed out the ironic disparity between Clinton’s speech praising the “shared sense of kinship that sustained them through the darkest moments of the war” and the “sense of family sorely lacking in the approach of certain American personnel” for this veteran. After some time, and with the help of six escorts, the reporters were eventually able to acquire a first aid kit for the veteran. Varsity's reporters wondered: “would the secret services foil a sophisticated security threat to their President if they missed an injured man sitting two inches away?”