Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, was the first Democratic president. But the first real campaigner was a popular former general from Tennessee, Andrew Jackson. Even in the 1820s, opposition newspapers pried into the details of his marriage. When he won, Jackson threw a huge party for anyone who wanted to come to the White House.
Another general, William Henry Harrison, hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe against the Indians, ran the first “image” campaign in 1840. He was born wealthy, but he adopted a log cabin and a bar as symbols, and his backers held torchlight parades. He and his running mate, John Tyler, also coined the first real campaign slogan, " Tippecanoe and Tyler, too."
Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be a member of the Republican Party, which was also later called the Grand Old Party (GOP for short). The mud that was thrown at Lincoln in the 1860s, including cartoons of him as a baboon, was at least as thick as any we see today. At times, the Civil War made him extremely unpopular. His sense of humor-always rare in a politician-helped him through. In 1865, Lincoln became the first of four presidents to be assassinated.
Until the middle of the 20th century, party bosses meeting at conventions chose the candidates in smoke-filled hotel rooms. The campaigns were shorter and much less mobile on of 1900, William McKinley didn’t even travel around seeking votes. He simply received visitors on his Ohio front porch.
The following year, McKinley was assassinated, and Theodore Roosevelt-at 42, the youngest resident in history took over. Energetic Teddy Roosevelt was the first and greatest environmental president. After leaving office, he disapproved of his handpicked successor, William Howard Taft. So in 1912, he started the Progressive Party (nicknamed the Bull Moose Party) to challenge him. But a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, ended up winning.
The longest convention was held by the Democrats in 1924. It lasted for 103 ballots. The first candidate to go to the convention and personally accept the nomination was Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932. Roosevelt was also the only president to be elected to a third and fourth term. After that, the Constitution was amended to limit them to two.
Candidates have long used posters, buttons, even comic books to get votes. By 1948, there was a new technology on the scene: television. That year, Democrat Harry Truman, crossing the country by train, won a come-from-behind victory that lots of politicians try to copy. After Truman came Dwight D. Eisenhower, a moderate Republican who had become famous as a World War II general.
By the 1960s, primary elections began to replace conventions as the way the parties selected their candidates. Primaries meant more campaign travel-usually by air-and starting earlier in the year. The 1960 election, in which Democrat John F. Kennedy (the first Roman Catholic president) beat Richard Nixon (Eisenhower’s vice president), was so close that just a few votes switching in a few states would have changed the result. That year also featured the first televised presidential debates. In 1964 Lyndon Johnson, who became president after Kennedy was killed, won a landslide victory over conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. This campaign included the most famous negative TV commercial ad ever aired-an anti-Goldwater spot in which a little girl is seen picking a daisy with the atomic bomb exploding behind her.
The worst year was 1968, which was marred by assassinations and rioting. Republican Nixon ended up beating Democrat Hubert Humphrey, and he was reelected in 1972 over the antiwar liberal George McGovern.
In 1974 Nixon under pressure from the Watergate scandal, became the only president ever to resign. His vice president, Spiro Agnew, had already resigned for other reasons. The new president, Gerald Ford, lost a close election in 1976 to Democrat Jimmy Carter, in part because of a mistake Ford made in a TV debate.
In 1980, the economy and the fate of American hostages being held in Iran helped Ronald Reagan beat Carter. The election of 1984 offered a clear choice between conservative Reagan and liberal Walter Mondale, who selected Geraldine Ferraro as the first woman candidate for VP. Reagan won again. And in 1988, Vice President George Bush moved up, beating Michael Dukakis.
Every four years, a new election brings new ideas and issues. But as Bush faces Bill Clinton this year, it’s a classic matchup, featuring all of the political skills and traditions refined over 200 years.
