My recollection is that the showdown aspect is something new in the sense that it has happened only under a Democrat President and started in Obama's presidency.
Do you mean "shutdown?" The first shutdown occurred in 1980 under the Carter administration. There's been 20-ish shutdowns of varying degrees since then.
Shutdowns have occurred due to no appropriation bill being passed before the previous one expires. Raising the debt ceiling is a different thing. It used to be a routine thing to raise the ceiling because the monies have been appropriated. It was only under Republicans in the Senate trying to sabotage Obama that it became an issue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_shutdowns_in_the_Un...