Presidential Elections - This Is Your Grandfather's Election... vol 5, rel 12

Election Time has always guaranteed a litany of allegations and rhetoric that impugns the other candidate in hopes of somehow swaying our initial choices.  

Among nausea and disbelief, we try to comfort ourselves that this election wackiness is anomalous to better times; However, history would like to beg to differ, for this mud throwing, name calling, and over zealous carousing has been part of a long-standing tradition that is older than the country itself. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you Crazy History:  Presidential Elections.

1.     Elections took place way before the Constitution was ratified

The English, in particular conducted voting soon after they landed in Virginia in the 17^thCentury. But not everyone could vote and not every office was up for election. But many colonies allowed white male adults who owned land to vote for legislators who served in lower assemblies.

2.       George Washington and election Day Drinking

In    1758, a young candidate in Virginia for the House of Burgesses footed a huge liquor bill to woo voters on Election Day. George Washington spent his entire campaign budget, 50 pounds, on 160 gallons of liquor served to 391 voters. Buying votes with booze was already a custom in England. Washington also was following a Virginia tradition where barrels of liquor were rolled to courthouse lawns and polling places on Election Day.

3.      We wouldn’t recognize an Election Day about 200 years ago

Not only were eating, drinking and parading common, votes could be conducted a public voice votes. Also, political parties would hand our pre-printed ballots for voters to cast, to ensure that people voted for a party ticket. It wasn’t until the 1890s that the Australian ballot, also known as the Secret Ballot, became commonly used in America.

4.      The Constitution didn’t spell out when Election Day was

The administration of elections was left up to the individual states in the Constitution, with the exception of some basic requirements for presidential and congressional candidates. So states were left to pick their own election days, including when elections for federal offices were held. But any federal election involving the Electoral College needed to be resolved by mid-December.

5.     The worst campaign slogan in history

The worst campaign slogan in history belongs to Al Smith, who was against prohibition. To show his support for the creation, distribution, and sale of alcohol, he advertised: “Vote for Al Smith and he’ll make your wet dreams come true.”

6.      Ulysses S. Grant ran against a corpse

During the 1872 election, presidential incumbent Ulysses S. Grant ran against a corpse. His opponent, Horace Greeley, died before the election was finalized. Grant won the election.

7.       Susan B. Anthony was arrested

In 1872, Susan B. Anthony was arrested for attempting to vote in the presidential election. At the same time, Sojourner Truth, a former slave and advocate for justice demanded a ballot in Michigan, but she was turned away. American women of all races finally won the right to vote in 1920.

8.       People could vote from April to December

The Constitution does not state when Election Day should be, which meant that in the early 1800s, people could vote from April to December.

9.       Jackson snuck out of the White House

Andrew Jackson’s inauguration party was so wild that that even the brave, battle-tested President Jackson fled the scene.  Jackson snuck out of the White House and spent the night at a hotel. Finally, servants dragged tubs of punch out on the lawn to lure out the crowds.

10.      Democrats use a “jackass” as their mascot

Democrats use a donkey as their mascot thanks to Andrew Jackson. When his critics called him a “jackass” because of his populist views, he embraced the image, even using it alongside his slogan, “Let the people rule.”

11.      Abraham Lincoln “two-faced”

In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced, Lincoln replied, referencing his homeliness, 

“Honestly, if I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one?” 

And, in a way, Lincoln’s face itself tells us much about his sense of humor. A journalist covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates commented that “I could not take a real personal liking to the man, owing to an inborn weakness for which he was even then notorious and so remained during his great public career, he was inordinately fond of jokes, anecdotes, and stories.”

  12.    Vice President = second highest electoral votes

Before the 1804, the presidential candidate who received the second highest electoral votes became vice-president.

  13.   The oldest/youngest presidential candidates

The oldest presidential candidate to be elected is Ronald Reagan at 69 years old. The youngest is John F. Kennedy at age 34.

  14.   Highest number of popular/electoral votes

In the 1984 presidential election, Ronald Reagan received both the highest number of popular votes and the highest number of electoral votes in the history of U.S. presidential elections. These numbers have yet to be surpassed by another presidential candidate. The four keys to his success were noted as 

• He never sought to divide. He always spoke to us as “we” – citizens connected by the same love for America, the same values of family, faith, neighborhood, work, peace, and freedom. 

• Reagan inspired America. He assured us that every American is created with the rights to life and liberty. The American Dream is the story of aspirations coming alive in millions of our minds and hearts in unique and wonderful ways.

• He emboldened America. Accordingly, he cut taxes deeply and equally for everyone, eventually dropping the top rate all the way from 70 percent to 28 percent, while providing enterprises strong incentives to compete and restoring a dollar as good as gold. 

• Finally, Reagan protected America. He not only called our enemies what they were — evil — he rallied the free world and worked secretly with Pope John Paul II to roll back the Soviets. His policy was crystal clear: “We win, they lose.” From day one, he pursued peace through strength by rearming America, conventionally and strategically, from top to bottom.

  15.   The 22nd president and the 24th president is the same guy!

Grover Cleveland is the only candidate ever to be elected to one term, defeated for a second term, and then elected again four years later. Thus, he became both the 22nd president and the 24th president.

  16.   Won the Presidency, but lost the popular vote and electoral vote

John Quincy Adams is the only president to have lost both the popular vote and electoral vote and still become president. This election is notable for being the only time since the passage of the Twelfth Amendment in which the presidential election was decided by the House of Representatives, as no candidate received a majority of the electoral vote. This presidential election was also the only one in which the candidate receiving the most electoral votes did not become president (because a majority, not just a plurality, is required to win). 

  17.   Chicago Daily Tribune Blows Call

The ultimate “whoops” moment in a U.S. presidential election happened when the Chicago Daily Tribune mistakenly declared that Dewey beat Truman in 1946. After reading the incorrect headline, President Truman quipped," That ain't the way I heard it!"

         18.   History Repeats itself Major Networks blow Call on Presidential Race

2000, Gore vs. Bush, NBC had been first to declare a winner in Florida on Tuesday,
saying Al Gore won at 7:50 p.m. EST. Its rivals quickly followed suit, basing their information largely on polling data provided by Voter News Service, a consortium created by The Associated Press, ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox and NBC.  However, by 2:16 am had to reverse their declarations due to bad information.  "We don't just have egg on our face," NBC's Tom Brokaw said. "We have an omelet."

        19.    1800s Election So Heated, One candidate killed the other.

The 1800 election year was so heated that Vice President Aaron Burr ended up killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel.

        20.    “Your Wife’s a slut and your mother is a whore!”

During the John Quincy and Andrew Jackson election year, American politics sounds more like bathroom graffiti than political commentary.  For example, Jackson called John Quincy a pimp, and Quincy called Jackson's wife a slut and his mother a prostitute.

_____________________________________________

Source(s)

• http://www.nationalreview.com/article/419382/ronald-reagan-leadership-qualities-four-strengths-made-him-exceptional
• Barrow, Bill. "AP EXPLAINS: Long History of Women Running for President." US News. July 28, 2016. Accessed: September 20, 2016.
• Clift, Eleanor and Matthew Spieler. Selecting a President. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2012.
• Cummins, Joseph. 2015. Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprised in U.S Presidential. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books.
• Mieczkowski, Yanek. The Routledge Historical Atlas of Presidential Elections. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001.
• “Presidential Elections.” History. Accessed: May 28, 2016.
• "Race and Voting in the Segregated South." Constitutional Rights Foundation. 2016. Accessed: September 19, 2016

We would like to thank our sponsors, for without them - our fine content wouldn't be deliverable!

Rick's Cafe' American

____________________________________________

So “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;”

About Rick Ricker

An IT professional with over 23 years experience in Information Security, wireless broadband, network and Infrastructure design, development, and support.

For more information, contact Rick at (800) 399-6085 x502