Presidential Campaigns From George Washington to George W. Bush

by Boller, Paul F.

• ISBN13: 9780195167153
• ISBN10: 0195167155
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-22
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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 attimes 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 calledeverything 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 itdocuments 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 anessential part of the American democratic system and, for better or for worse, tells us much about ourselves.

Author Biography

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