This Week in History: Elections Through the Years
November 7, 2021
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By: Kaysey A. Richardson
Happy Election Month! It has been a year since our last presidential election so let’s take a look through history at some of the most influential and notorious presidential elections. From the formation of political parties, to the first televised debates, here are a few elections that have shaped our country throughout our nation’s history.
The Election of 1800: Political Parties Take Form
In George Washington’s Farewell Address, he cautioned America about the dangers of political parties, stating “the alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.” Washington argued that the formation of political parties would lead to inter-political conflict and divide the nation. Not adhering to Washington’s warning, the nation’s first political parties quickly formed and were seen during the election of 1800 when Thomas Jefferson, a Republican, challenged incumbent president John Adams, a Federalist.
The early Republican Party advocated for states’ rights, opposed the ideas of a National Bank, and sought good relations with France rather than Britain. On the contrary, Federalists held more traditional British views, supporting the National Bank, good relations with Britain, and a strong national government. In a narrow victory, Jefferson defeated Adams, ending the twelve year run of the Federalist Party.
The Election of 1860: A Split in the Democratic Party
As one of the most well-known presidents, it comes as no surprise that Abraham Lincoln won the election of 1860. However, Lincoln might owe his victory to a split in the opposing Democratic Party. The 1850s was a decade of division in the United States, largely due to the growing issue of slavery. The election of 1860 amplified this divide.
During the Republican Party national convention in 1860, Abraham Lincoln was nominated with a moderate stance on slavery and opposing its expansion. On the other hand, the Democratic Party were conflicted about their stance on slavery, which led to a divisive split in their party: the Southern Democrats believed slavery should be expanded to new states, while the Northern Democrats opposed this. This led to two different candidates for the party: Stephen Douglas was nominated as the candidate for the Northern Democrats and John Breckinridge was nominated for the Southern Democrats.
The divide in the Democratic Party prevented either candidate from gaining enough votes to win the election. Because of this lack of unification, Lincoln and the Republican Party were victorious, despite only receiving less than 40% of the popular vote.
The Election of 1876: The End of Reconstruction
The Election of 1876 was one for the books due to the fact that its outcome would be the ultimate end of the Reconstruction Era. Democratic Governor Samuel Tilden of New York won 250,000 more ballots in the popular vote than his opponent, Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes. Tilden also had a lead of 19 in electoral votes against Hayes. Despite this clear lead, Tilden was still one electoral vote short of a required majority and only twenty votes remained uncounted. Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were too close to call and in Oregon an elector was declared illegal and replaced.
Due to the United States’ fragility after the Civil War, Congress established a fifteen-member commission of senators, congressmen, and Supreme Court justices to decide the election. The outcome of this was in Hayes’ favor and he was awarded all twenty electoral votes. Unhappy and unwilling to acknowledge Hayes as the victor, Democrats threatened a filibuster to block the official vote counting resulting in a back-end negotiation: the Democrats would accept Hayes as the victor if he removed all federal troops from the South. This compromise officially ended Reconstruction and reversed many African American gains achieved during the era.
The Election of 1912: The Return of Theodore Roosevelt
After being out of office for three years, former president Theodore Roosevelt entered the election arena again because of his anger toward his successor, William Howard Taft. Taft sided with the conservative wing of the Republican Party too many times for Roosevelt’s liking. At first, Roosevelt challenged Taft in the primaries to obtain the Republican Party nomination, but after being denied the nomination, Roosevelt ran under the Progressive Party, self-proclaiming it the “Bull Moose Party.”
Although Roosevelt did not win the election of 1912, his attempt still made the election memorable. While giving a speech at an event in Wisconsin, Roosevelt was shot in the chest, and while most would stop what they are doing to get help, Roosevelt persevered and continued talking until his speech was completed.
This election resulted in Democratic candidate, Woodrow Wilson, taking the victory for similar reasons as the election of 1860. With Taft and Roosevelt splitting up the Republican votes, and Eugene V. Debs running under the Socialist Party, Wilson was able to win the election even though he obtained less than 50% of majorities in several states.
The Election of 1948: “Dewey Defeats Truman”
The election of 1948 made it evident that Harry S. Truman was on his way out. Having become president following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, opinion polls showed that only 1 in 3 Americans approved of Truman’s leadership. Additionally, for the first time in almost twenty years, both houses of Congress had gone Republican and Truman’s own Democratic Party was opposed to him. His commerce secretary quit and ran against him and his public support of civil rights for African American lost him southern and conservative Democrat support. These Southern Democrats formed their own party and declared themselves the “Dixiecrats.”
Under the Dixiecrats, South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond ran in the election. Thomas Dewey ran as the Republican nominee, and under the Progressive Party former Vice President Henry A. Wallace ran. Though Truman tried tirelessly to campaign, the night of the election he went to bed assuming that he had been defeated. His Secret Service agents woke him at 4:00 AM to inform him that he had actually won and in a famous photo, Truman held up a copy of the Chicago Tribune’s Morning Edition that had gone to press earlier than usual grinning from ear to ear. The headline of this newspaper prematurely declared “Dewey Defeats Truman."
The Election of 1960: The First Televised Presidential Debate
The first televised debate was between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon and some argue that Kennedy’s victory was a result of the televised debates. Kennedy’s ease before the camera was apparent next to Nixon who seemed nervous and declined to wear makeup. Additionally, Nixon was recovering from an illness so his appearance on screen was anything but good. Prior to the televised debate between Kennedy and Nixon, it appeared that Nixon was the more popular candidate choice.
The outcome of the election would result with Kennedy being elected President, but still goes down in history as one of the closest races to this day. Kennedy won 49.7 percent of the popular vote and Nixon won 49.6 percent, which remains a controversial victory to this day. When Nixon returned to the presidential scene in 1968, he refused to debate his opponent on screen and televised presidential debates would not return until 1976.
The Election of 1964: A Lopsided Victory
One of the most lopsided victories in the history of the United States was the election of 1964 between President Lyndon Baines Johnson and Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Johnson had come into office not even a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy and had successfully linked himself with Kennedy’s popularity. Additionally, Johnson portrayed his opponent as a right-wing legislator who wished to abolish social welfare programs that had been created in the 1930s.
These factors combined with him and wife Lady Bird Johnson’s successful election tours throughout the South, led him to easily win the Presidency carrying 44 out of 50 states and Washington D.C. Johnson won 61.1% of the national popular vote, which is the highest popular-vote percentage won by a presidential candidate since 1820. In addition to Johnson’s lopsided victory, this election had other factors that make it historically significant. For one, this was the first time a First Lady (Lady Bird Johnson) held a separate campaign tour for the presidential candidate. Secondly, the election is remembered because of Goldwater’s prominence as a pioneer in the modern conservative movement.
To learn more about Lyndon Baines Johnson’s presidency click here.
The Election of 2000: Florida and the Supreme Court Decision
In the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush, it all came down to the outcome in Florida. This seemed simple enough but would result in an election that would seemingly go on forever. There were only a few hundred votes separating the candidates in Florida which prompted lawsuits, recounts, and several heated disputes over confusing or wrongly punched ballots, missing names, and other human errors.
After five weeks of debates, the United States Supreme Court ended up having the final word. After a narrow five-vote majority in the Electoral College, the Supreme Court declared George W. Bush the winner becoming the first president in 112 years to win the presidency without winning the popular vote.
