Rylie Oswald
In week five of Election Season with UPK, learn more about presidential election history in these recently published titles in the esteemed American Presidential Elections series. The series encompasses everything from America’s first election during a war to the 1964 election.
“An admirable series of succinct critical histories.”
—Michael R. Beschloss in the Washington Post
America’s First Wartime Election by Donald A. Zinman
As the heir apparent to the presidency in 1808, James Madison had a substantial reputation and an impressive list of credentials. This included having cofounded the Democratic-Republican party with Thomas Jefferson and serving as Jefferson’s secretary of state.
Despite this, Madison’s presidential victory in 1808 was hardly uncontested as he faced internal opposition from supporters of James Monroe and Vice President George Clinton. In 1812, then, it was by no means a sure thing that Madison would secure a second term. That uncertainty grew substantially after Madison essentially asked Congress for a declaration of war on June 1, 1812, mere months before the election.
Forthcoming in October 2024.
Who Is James K. Polk? by Mark R. Cheathem
The question Americans asked in 1844 was, “Who the hell is James K. Polk?”
Polk, of course, was not unknown, but was a highly unlikely presidential candidate given the availability of better-known options. Among the Democrats, this included Martin Van Buren, John C. Calhoun, and James Buchanan. Among the Whigs, Henry Clay was the clear frontrunner. Complicating the election were three other candidates: President John Tyler, a man without a party; Joseph Smith, the self-described prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the first presidential candidate to be assassinated; and James G. Birney, head of the antislavery Liberty ticket. On top of this remarkable cast of characters, the stakes of the election were high as the U.S. was undergoing a tumultuous political transition.
The Last Lincoln Republican by Benjamin T. Arrington
Of all the great “what if” scenarios in American history, the aftermath of the presidential election of 1880 stands out as one of the most tantalizing. The end of the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln had thrown the future of Lincoln’s vision for the country into considerable doubt. The years that followed—marked by impeachment and the contested election of 1876—saw Republicans fighting to retain power.
Enter James A. Garfield, a seasoned politician known for his advocacy of civil rights. Garfield represented the last potential Reconstruction presidency: truly, Benjamin T. Arrington suggests in this book, the last “Lincoln Republican.”
Two Suns of the Southwest by Nancy Beck Young
Over time the presidential election of 1964 has come to be seen as a generational shift. It was a defining moment in which Americans deliberated between two distinctly different visions for the future. Two Suns of the Southwest is the first full account of this critical election and its legacy for US politics.
The 1964 election, in Nancy Beck Young’s telling, was a contest between two men of the Southwest. Each had a very different idea of what the Southwest was and what America should be. Barry Goldwater, the Republican senator from Arizona, came to represent a nostalgic, idealized past, a preservation of traditional order. On the other hand, Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic incumbent from Texas, looked boldly and hopefully toward an expansive, liberal future of increased opportunity.
Realigning America by R. Hal Williams
The presidential election of 1896 is widely acknowledged as one of the few that brought about fundamental realignments in American politics. New voting patterns replaced old, a new majority party came to power, and national policies shifted to reflect new realities. R. Hal Williams now presents the first study of that campaign in nearly fifty years. Williams offers fresh interpretations on the victory of Republican William McKinley over Democrat William Jennings Bryan.
In tracing the triumph of gold over silver in this fabled “battle of the standards,” R. Hal Williams also tells how the central government Republicans pulled off a stunning win over the limited government Democrats. Meanwhile the People’s Party went down to a defeat from which it would never recover.
The One-Party Presidential Contest by Donald Ratcliffe
The election of 1824 is commonly viewed as a mildly interesting contest involving several colorful personalities—John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and William H. Crawford—that established Old Hickory as the people’s choice and yet, through “bargain and corruption,” deprived him of the presidency.
In The One-Party Presidential Contest, Donald Ratcliffe reveals that Jackson was not the most popular candidate and the corrupt bargaining was a myth. The election saw the final disruption of both the dominant Democratic Republican Party and the dying Federalist Party, and the creation of new political formations that would slowly evolve into the Democratic and National Republicans (later Whig) Parties—thus bringing about arguably the greatest voter realignment in US history.
Old Tip vs. the Sly Fox by Richard J. Ellis
Usually remembered for its slogan “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” the election of 1840 is also the first presidential election of which it might be truly said, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Tackling a contest best known for log cabins, cider barrels, and catchy songs, this timely volume reveals that the election of 1840 might be better understood as a case study of how profoundly the economy shapes the presidential vote.
Richard J. Ellis, a veteran scholar of presidential politics, suggests that the election pitting the Democratic incumbent Martin Van Buren against Whig William Henry Harrison should also be remembered as the first presidential election in which a major political party selected—rather than merely anointed—its nominee at a national nominating convention. In this analysis, the convention’s selection, as well as Henry Clay’s post-convention words and deeds, emerge as crucial factors in the shaping of the nineteenth-century partisan nation.
