Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington to George W. Bush

by Paul F. Boller Jr.

Overview

Were presidential campaigns always as bitter as they have been in recent years? Or is the current style of campaigning a new political development? In this revised and updated edition of Presidential Campaigns the answers to these questions are clear: the race for the presidency, although at times mean and nasty, has always been an endlessly entertaining and highly-charged spectacle for the American public. This book unveils the whole history of American presidential elections, from the seamless ascent of General George Washington to the bitterly contested election of George W. Bush, bringing these boisterous contests to life in all their richness and complexity. In the old days, Boller shows, campaigns were much rowdier than they are today. Back in the nineteenth century, the invective at election time was exuberant and the mudslinging unrestrained; a candidate might be called everything from a carbuncle-faced old drunkard to a howling atheist. But there was plenty of fun and games, too, with songs and slogans, speeches and parades, all livening up the scene in order to get people to the polls.Presidential Campaigns takes note of the serious side of elections even as it documents the frenzy, frolic and the sleaze. Each chapter contains a brief essay describing an election and presenting "campaign highlights" that bring to life the quadrennial confrontation in all its shame and glory. With a postscript analyzing the major changes in the ways Americans have chosen their Presidents from Washington's time to the present, Presidential Campaigns gives the reader a full picture of this somewhat flawed procedure. For all of its shortcomings, though, this "great American shindig" is an essential part of the American democratic system and, for better or for worse, tells us much about ourselves.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190290467
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	07/22/2004
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Paul F. Boller, Jr. is Professor Emeritus of History at Texas Christian University and the author of many popular books on American history.

Table of Contents

	Preface	vii
1.	1789--Starting Off: George Washington	3
2.	1792--Washington Again	5
3.	1796--Federalist Succession: John Adams	7
4.	1800--Republican Takeover: Jefferson's Revolution	10
5.	1804--Jefferson's Landslide	19
6.	1808--Madison and the Dambargo	22
7.	1812--Madison's Wartime Re-election	26
8.	1816--Monroe: Another Virginia Victory	29
9.	1820--Monroe's Quiet Re-election	31
10.	1824--John Quincy Adams and the "Corrupt Bargain"	33
11.	1828--Jackson vs. Adams	42
12.	1832--Jackson, Clay, and the Bank War	53
13.	1836--Van Buren's Victory Over Three Whigs	60
14.	1840--Tippecanoe and Tyler Too	65
15.	1844--Polk and Manifest Destiny	78
16.	1848--Old Zach and the Michigander	84
17.	1852--Frank Pierce and Old Fuss and Feathers	88
18.	1856--Buchanan and Bleeding Kansas	91
19.	1860--Lincoln and the Sectional Crisis	99
20.	1864--Lincoln and the War Crisis	115
21.	1868--Grant and Reconstruction	123
22.	1872--Grant and the Liberal Republicans	127
23.	1876--The Hayes-Tilden Disputed Election	133
24.	1880--The Triumph of "Boatman Jim" Garfield	142
25.	1884--The Cleveland-Blaine Contest	146
26.	1888--Harrison, Cleveland, and the Tariff	157
27.	1892--Cleveland's Return to Power	162
28.	1896--McKinley, Bryan, and Free Silver	167
29.	1900--The McKinley-Roosevelt Triumph	179
30.	1904--T.R.'s Smashing Victory	183
31.	1908--Taft's Big Victory Over Bryan	187
32.	1912--The High Tide of Progressivism: Wilson, Roosevelt, and Taft	191
33.	1916--Wilson and the Great War	202
34.	1920--Harding, Nostrums, and Normalcy	212
35.	1924--Keeping Cool with Coolidge	218
36.	1928--Hoover, Smith, and the Catholic Issue	223
37.	1932--Roosevelt, Hoover, and the Great Depression	231
38.	1936--Roosevelt and the New Deal	240
39.	1940--Roosevelt, Willkie, and the War in Europe	250
40.	1944--Roosevelt's Wartime Mandate	259
41.	1948--The Great Truman Surprise	268
42.	1952--The Eisenhower Landslide	280
43.	1956--Another Eisenhower Landslide	291
44.	1960--Kennedy and the New Frontier	296
45.	1964--Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society	308
46.	1968--Nixon, Humphrey, and the Vietnam War	320
47.	1972--Another Nixon Triumph	333
48.	1976--The Triumph of an Outsider: Jimmy Carter	342
49.	1980--The Reagan Victory	354
50.	1984--Another Reagan Sweep	369
51.	1988--Trivial Pursuit: Bush vs. Dukakis	378
52.	1992--Clinton and the Call for Change	387
53.	1996--Bill Clinton and the Vital Center	400
54.	2000--Bush, Gore, and the Supreme Court	406
	Postscript--Presidential Campaigns through the Years	415
	Notes	421
	Index	467