Year 1828

Andrew Jackson (D)

As R.L. Duffus notes in his 1928 news article, Andrew Jackson broke the cycle of Virginia and Massachusetts men holding office. Born in 1767 along the North and South Carolina border, Jackson had always identified as a South Carolina native, and he sought to be a representative of the common man according to whitehouse.gov. He had inconsistent education, but turned out to be an outstanding lawyer in Tennessee. He had quite the temper, and killed a man who made a slur against his wife. PBS.org documented Jackson describing himself in this way, “I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me.” He had gained renown as a major general in the War of 1812, and ran for office in 1824, only to lose to John Quincy Adams, who he was to run against again in this 1828 election.

Back in the Day

At this time, the frontier had yet to have any representation in the White House, that is to say that the Midwest did not have a voice yet. Settlers were just rolling in in their Conestoga wagons at this time, according to R.L. Duffus. At this time, the country’s economy was powered by agriculture, with only 6.7 per cent of the country being urban. Of course, the cause of this agrarian success was slavery. According to PBS.org, Jackson accepted slavery without a waver, as did most white Americans during that time. After his election, Jackson looked to expand the American southern frontier, all the while wiping out any British, Spanish, and Native Americans in his way. He was successful in some of these endeavors, and that resulted in wealthy white Americans being granted large plots of land, for which they were very grateful and usually turned into cotton plantations worked by slaves.

The Media on Jackson

Jackson was a wildly controversial figure, his opponents describing him as a tyrant, or “King Andrew the First” (left) and his proponents lifting him up as the best thing that could happen to this country. As the U.S. Telegraph and Commercial Herald stated in 1826, “Place General Jackson at the head of your government, and he will make your country respected abroad, and at home, without diminishing your resources, and without bloodshed.” The Louisville Public Adviser noted that his adversaries called him the “notorious individual.”

Adams v. Jackson

Known as “one of the meanest in American history” according to R.L. Duffus, the 1828 presidential campaign involved mudslinging, and a lot of it. There was bad blood between the two from the beginning, and the campaign only worsened those relations. Adams used the media as his tool to try to tear Jackson down. One of the articles in “Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor” was a direct hit to Jackson’s wife, Rachel Robards and the supposed “scandal” of their marriage, seeing as Robards had been married once before. Jackson’s military reputation was tainted by accusations made during the campaign about his being a tyrannical general. Jackson’s team was not blameless either, though. The United States Telegraph was a Jackson paper whose editor essentially made up an entire story about Adams turn-

“I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me.” – Andrew Jackson

The Electoral Times

Cartoon taken from archives.gov

ing an American servant girl over to the Czar of Russia, during his time as Minister. Along with having the most malicious presidential campaign, this election saw the first forming of mass political parties, according to James McPherson and many features we see in presidential campaigns today originated in the 1828 campaign. These include big rallies, fund-raising, coordinated media efforts, slogans, and negative advertisements.

Year 1828

Andrew Jackson (D)

As R.L. Duffus notes in his 1928 news article, Andrew Jackson broke the cycle of Virginia and Massachusetts men holding office. Born in 1767 along the North and South Carolina border, Jackson had always identified as a South Carolina native, and he sought to be a representative of the common man according to whitehouse.gov. He had inconsistent education, but turned out to be an outstanding lawyer in Tennessee. He had quite the temper, and killed a man who made a slur against his wife. PBS.org documented Jackson describing himself in this way, “I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me.” He had gained renown as a major general in the War of 1812, and ran for office in 1824, only to lose to John Quincy Adams, who he was to run against again in this 1828 election.

Back in the Day

At this time, the frontier had yet to have any representation in the White House, that is to say that the Midwest did not have a voice yet. Settlers were just rolling in in their Conestoga wagons at this time, according to R.L. Duffus. At this time, the country’s economy was powered by agriculture, with only 6.7 per cent of the country being urban. Of course, the cause of this agrarian success was slavery. According to PBS.org, Jackson accepted slavery without a waver, as did most white Americans during that time. After his election, Jackson looked to expand the American southern frontier, all the while wiping out any British, Spanish, and Native Americans in his way. He was successful in some of these endeavors, and that resulted in wealthy white Americans being granted large plots of land, for which they were very grateful and usually turned into cotton plantations worked by slaves.

The Media on Jackson

Jackson was a wildly controversial figure, his opponents describing him as a tyrant, or “King Andrew the First” (left) and his proponents lifting him up as the best thing that could happen to this country. As the U.S. Telegraph and Commercial Herald stated in 1826, “Place General Jackson at the head of your government, and he will make your country respected abroad, and at home, without diminishing your resources, and without bloodshed.” The Louisville Public Adviser noted that his adversaries called him the “notorious individual.”

Adams v. Jackson

Known as “one of the meanest in American history” according to R.L. Duffus, the 1828 presidential campaign involved mudslinging, and a lot of it. There was bad blood between the two from the beginning, and the campaign only worsened those relations. Adams used the media as his tool to try to tear Jackson down. One of the articles in “Truth’s Advocate and Monthly Anti-Jackson Expositor” was a direct hit to Jackson’s wife, Rachel Robards and the supposed “scandal” of their marriage, seeing as Robards had been married once before. Jackson’s military reputation was tainted by accusations made during the campaign about his being a tyrannical general. Jackson’s team was not blameless either, though. The United States Telegraph was a Jackson paper whose editor essentially made up an entire story about Adams turn-

“I was born for a storm, and a calm does not suit me.” – Andrew Jackson

The Electoral Times

Cartoon taken from archives.gov

ing an American servant girl over to the Czar of Russia, during his time as Minister. Along with having the most malicious presidential campaign, this election saw the first forming of mass political parties, according to James McPherson and many features we see in presidential campaigns today originated in the 1828 campaign. These include big rallies, fund-raising, coordinated media efforts, slogans, and negative advertisements.

Year 1932

Herbert Hoover (R)

According to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum’s article, “Herbert Hoover Biographical Sketch,” Herbert Clark Hoover was born on August 10, 1874. Hoover was orphaned when he was nine years old, and after living with his uncle for several years afterward, left school at the age of fourteen to work as a clerk in his uncle’s real estate business. He later decided to become a mining engineer and went to Stanford. After graduating, Hoover did quite well for himself as a mining engineer and financier. When World War I began, Hoover set up the Commission for Relief in Belgium, which provided food for civilians stuck in the war zone. In 1917, Hoover was asked by President Woodrow Wilson to be the U.S. Food Administrator. After the war, Hoover became the director of the American Relief Administration, an organization that helped with food shortages in Europe. Hoover’s extensive humanitarianism made him an admirable candidate for president in 1920. In 1928, Hoover easily won the Republican nomination and won the presidential election in a landslide. Things were in his favor until the depression hit in 1929, which many Americans blamed on Hoover. Hoover certainly did himself no favors either by declaring that the depression would clear itself up fairly quickly and that the government should not interfere with the economy.

Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)

According to the History Channel’s article, “Franklin D. Roosevelt,” Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 13, 1882. He was educated by private tutors in his younger years, and strived to be like his fifth cousin and former president Theodore Roosevelt. In 1905, Franklin Roosevelt married his distant cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt. He later attended law school at Columbia University and worked as a clerk for a Wall Street law firm for several years before entering politics in 1910. Only a few years later, Roosevelt was named assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy by President Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt held this position for seven years, before advancing to the national stage at the 1920 Democratic convention, where he won the nomination for vice president under James M. Cox. When Cox and Roosevelt lost, Roosevelt returned to New York to again practice law. Soon after, he was stricken with polio, and lost most of the use of his legs. In 1928, Roosevelt returned to the public eye and ran for New York governor, which he won. He was reelected for governor in 1930, and because many Americans supported his beliefs and ideas about how to deal with the depression, he was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate in 1932.

What was concerning our country in 1932?

According to PBS in their “Timeline of the Great Depression,” in October of 1929, the stock market crashed, plunging the United States into a time of disparity known as the Great Depression. By 1930, there were upwards of 3.2 million Americans without jobs, and, although current president Herbert Hoover remained optimistic, the future looked bleak. President Hoover believed that the national government should not intervene in the economy or offer relief to those who were thrown into poverty by the depression, and assured Americans that the depression would be over in sixty days. Sixty days came and went with little improvement, however. By 1931, food riots began to break out across the country, and many banks failed. 1932, however, promised a presidential election and the possibility of new hope for Americans when the Democratic candidate, Franklin D. Roosevelt, ran his campaign on the promise of a “New Deal,” which was the collective name for all of his economic reforms and efforts.

Cartoon by: Jack Knox

The Electoral Times

December 14, 2010

What about minorities?

According to PBS in their article, “The Great Depression,” many African Americans were hit much harder by the depression than whites, since their jobs were often taken and given to white men instead. President Roosevelt and his wife, however, worked to help the African Americans affected by the depression. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt adamantly supported and defended black rights, and many of the programs in President Roosevelt’s New Deal prohibited discrimination. Although discrimination continued, because of Roosevelt’s visible efforts to support African Americans, a large number of black voters originally siding with the Republican Party switched to supporting the Democratic Party during the Great Depression. In addition to the unfair treatment of African Americans, many Americans during the depression also began to show resentment for “foreign” workers and accused them of stealing jobs from “real” Americans, resulting in the deportation of thousands of Mexican Americans.

Media Only Slightly Biased

The majority of coverage of the 1932 election was by newspapers. Although bias in terms of opinionated reporting was uncommon at the time, it was fairly evident that most people favored Roosevelt for a variety of reasons. His innovative approach to combatting the effects of the depression, his genial and charming personality, and his utilization of radio, which was still quite new, as a means to broadcast his campaign captured the media and the people’s attention. According to “1932: Roosevelt Defeats Hoover,” by Kennesaw University, Roosevelt, who was much more media-savvy than Hoover, increased his odds for favorable coverage, however, by allowing the press to have full access to his campaign and by always being very friendly with reporters. Bias did occur in terms of how the media portrayed Roosevelt’s physical strength, however. Although polio rendered Roosevelt barely able to walk unassisted, photographs never showed him in his wheelchair and articles adamantly avoided portraying him as “crippled” in any way, sometimes by going to the other extreme and exaggerating his physical strength.

After Roosevelt was elected

Immediately following his election, Roosevelt announced a four-day bank holiday during which time Congress worked diligently on coming up with a plan to revive America’s collapsing banking industry. Three days later, Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act of 1933, which allowed the government to inspect and analyze the health of all American banks, and resulted in the restoration of faith in banks by many Americans. By the end of Roosevelt’s first month, three-quarters of the nation's banks were back in operation.

Roosevelt wins in a landslide with 22.8 million popular votes against Hoover's 15.75 million!

Your School Paper Name

Photo from: Encyclopedia Britannica

Photo from: The History Channel

Year 2000

George W. Bush - Republican

According to a biography on The White House’s website, George W. Bush, son of past president George H. W. Bush, was the second president to have been the son of a former president in United States history. In 1994, Bush announced his candidacy for Texas’ gubernatorial election where he advocated for improvements in education. He became the first Texas governor to be elected to two consecutive four-year terms. In 2000, Bush won the Iowa caucuses and became the frontrunner after the South Carolina primary through what The New York Times recognized as a smear campaign in an article titled “Confronting Ghosts of 2000 in South Carolina” by Jennifer Steinhauer. Bush engaged in “libelous” activity by calling senator John McCain’s patriotism, mental health, and sexuality into question, as well as the alleged drug past of his wife, Cindy, and the legality of his adopted daughter’s birth. In July 25, 2000 Bush asked Dick Cheney to be his running mate for the Vice President candidacy. The controversy and legitimacy of George W. Bush’s election as president resulted in three re-counts of votes especially in counties of Florida.

Cartoon by: Anna Telnaes

Al Gore - Democrat

According to a biography written on the Nobel Prize website, Al Gore served was born to Al Gore Sr., who had served as a U.S. Representative and as a U.S. Senator from Tennessee. At the age of 28, Gore served in the House (1977-1985) and the Senate (1985-1993). During this time, he was particularly invested in environmental and technological advancements -- he is attributed to the early discovery/innovation of the Internet. Al Gore first ran for president in 1988, and then ran again in 1992. In 1992, however, he was chosen to be Bill Clinton’s Vice-President. According to Roberto Suro in The New York Times article “The  1992  Campaign:  The  Youth  Vote;  Democrats  Court  Youngest  Voters,” Al Gore and Bill Clinton were the youngest team to make it to the White House in the country’s history.. On August 13, 2000 Gore announced Joe Lieberman to be his running mate (only the second time that someone of the Jewish faith has run for the vice presidency). At the Democratic nomination, he cited extending Medicare to pay for prescription medicines and to develop a more stable health-care system as the theme of his campaign. Al Gore lost to George W. Bush due to the Electoral College in Florida.

Photo taken from: CBS New

The Electoral Times

Republican Media Bias and Fox News

The  apparent  media  bias  in  the  2000  election  is  thanks  to  introduction  Fox  Network  as  well  as  the  advancement  in  other  media  outlets  (the  Internet).  During  the  counting  of  Florida’s  votes  especially,  many  networks  jumped  the  gun  and  said  that  their  favored  candidate  won  the  presidency.  Media  bias,  especially  concerning  the  Republican  advocacy  of  Fox  Network,  demonstrated  a  new  concern  for  whether  Bush  deserved  the  presidency.  Fox  News  was  introduced  into  cable  markets  in  2000,  and  had  a  subsequent  impact  on  voting:  according  to  Stefano  DellaVigna’s  article  “The  Fox  News  Effect:  Media  Bias  and  Voting”  in  the  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  it  was  available  in  35%  of  households,  and  its  impact  is  estimated  to  be  0.15  to  0.2  percentage  points,  or  200,000  votes  nationwide.  The  introduction  of  Fox  into  the  cable  network  affected  the  availability  of  a  variety  of  political  information.  The  author  continues  to  cite  that  Fox’s  influence  was  not  candidate-­‐specific,  but  advocated  for  the  Republican  Party.  Fox  did  not  carry  political  advertisements  or  political  ads,  but  it  was  the  content  and  the  public’s  exposure  to  its  favorable  right  wing  content  that  made  the  impact  on  voting  decisions.  However,  there  was  apparent  media  bias  for  Democratic  Party,  too,  where  states  were  called  more  quickly  for  Al  Gore  than  George  W.  Bush.  The  impact  on  voter  decision  was  great  for  Republicans  thanks  to  Fox  News.    

Year 2000

TV took precedence in media coverage

In 2000, there was a plethora of media outlets for coverage of the election to be delivered. However, television took precedence because of its ability. It was on TV that the controversy over the electoral votes and the mistaken projections of Al Gore’s gain of Florida. A problem then, and a problem today, is different media network’s desperation to be the first to relay the most current news and therefore feel pressured to report information before it has been confirmed. A 12-hour timeline provided by PBS: News Hour of the night provides the following information. In this instance, ABC News reported that Gore had won Florida at 8:00 pm. The Voter News Service, a group that combines the resources of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX and the AP, reported that Gore had won the 25 electoral votes. But by 10:13, the Voter News Service retracted its call in the entire state. Dan Rather at CBS even said, "To err is human…but to really foul up requires a computer...If you're disgusted with us, frankly, I don't blame you." Print reporters had to listen to the press, while continuously writing and rewriting the information about the election. According to Peter Mark’s article “The 2000 Elections: The Network Predictions; Media Rethink an Urge to Say Who’s First” in The New York Time, its website posted 20 versions of the presidential election story through the course of the night. It also had to shelve 115,000 papers that had declared Bush the president at 4:00 am. An alert of Bush’s victory was sent in an e-mail message that sent to subscribers; an incorrect message that could not be recalled. Several morning papers echoed their broadcast colleagues’ mistakes, because by 7:00 am, the president had not yet been announced. At the end of it all, TV networks and newspaper conglomerates had some apologizing to do. Some blamed the Voter News Service, others blamed it on computer data mix-ups, but the public ultimately blamed the journalists.

Treatment of Minority Voters

According to Revathi Hines in an article titled “The Silent Voices: 2000 Presidential Election and the Minority Vote in Florida” in The Western Journal of Black Studies, cited the relationship between race and voter disenfranchisement. Counties in Florida that had large minority populations had more voting systems with higher ballot rejection rates. Moreover, “70 percent of African American voters lived in counties where the error-prone punch cards were used to tally the votes” and therefore had a higher chance of their vote being rejected. Black precincts in Miami-Dada County had rejection rates four times the rate of white precincts due to faulty voting machines. Ex-felons were also a target for rejected ballots. According to 1998 Florida law, the state was legally required to recognize the rights of ex-felons. However, Floridians convicted in other states were purged off the voter polls, and were not allowed to vote unless they proved in writing that their votes had been restored: 2,834 Floridians’ votes were not denied their right. As well, according to The Voter Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act of 1984, polling sites are to be available for the disabled/elderly. However, many Floridian voters found themselves not able to cope or voting places were inaccessible (visually impaired were not aided, those in wheelchairs faced humiliation, etc.) Un-fulfillment of Florida/national laws, excluded minority groups’ votes that could have changed the result of the election.

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The 21st Century Life

-­‐              The  average  income  per  year  was  $45,  984,  according  to  Census  Bureau  cited  in  Dennis  Cauchon’s  article  “Typical  U.S.  Family  Got  Poorer  During  the  last  10  years”  in  USA  Today.   -­‐              The  average  cost  of  a  gallon  of  gas  was  $1.63  in  2000,  according  to  article  titled  “Gas  Prices  Break  Record,  Top  $2  Gallon”  by  CNN.   -­‐              Unemployment  was  four  percent,  whereas  now  it  is  7.5  percent,  according  to  the  National  Conference  of  State  Legislatures.   -­‐              On  July  1,  2000  Vermont  became  the  first  state  in  the  US  to  give  full  marriage  rights  to  same  sex  couples  according  to  Abby  Goodnough’s  “Gay  Rights  Groups  Celebrate  Victories  in  Marriage  Push”  in  The  New  York  Times.   -­‐  Reality  TV,  especially  Survivor,  was  very  popular  where  52  million  people  tuned  into  the  last  episode  according  to  Lauren  Hunter’s  “After  ‘Survivor’:  A  Reality  TV  Check,”  in  CNN. -­‐              The  growth  of  the  Internet  was  a  prime  contributor  to  globalization  and  the  ability  for  people  to  share  ideas,  opinions,  etc.  with  the  world.    

"To err is human…but to really foul up requires a computer...If you're disgusted with us, frankly, I don't blame you" – Dan Rather, CBS.

May 10, 2013

Though each of these elections is completely different from the rest due to historical context as well as progressions in media and technology, they all have a bit of something in common as well. With its inherent competitive nature, political campaigns often bring out the worst in presidential candidates trying to get ahead. No matter how upstanding a candidate may be, he will take an opportunity to knock an opponent down if it presents itself. Some even resort to mudslinging, like John Quincy Adams questioning the morality of Andrew Jackson’s wife Rachel, for re-marrying, under his suspicion that her first marriage may have not even ended yet with her first husband. In a similar light, Bush called senator McCain’s mental health and sexuality into question when the two were competitors.

The media will always have its way of exacerbating this competition, whether it be through political cartoons that put all political candidates in their place without bias, or through articles and other publications that lean far one way or another. The media tended to cast a more friendly light on Franklin D. Roosevelt, given his charming personality and Herbert Hoover’s lack thereof. Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams manipulated media sources and churned out lies or greatly exaggerated stories about their opponents to bring them down. Though the technology changes and the media changes—FDR’s fireside chats on the radio were critical to his success, Bush and Gore were viewed largely through the television, and the Jackson and Adams race was predominantly followed through newspapers—political opponents battling it out through these media with the sole intent of getting ahead has yet to change.

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