184. Crazy Elections in America's Past

This year's election is no doubt one of the most interesting we've had, and certainly unique. Trump's presidency was notable in many ways, and that continued through the 2020 election. With all the chaos and confusion around this election, I thought it would be good to take a look at some crazy elections in the past. That way, we can use lessons from history and apply them to our current circumstance. So, I sat down with Kenny Ryan from the Abridged Presidential Histories Podcast to dive into a few insane elections. If you'd like to learn more about his podcast, you can check that out here.

"People never lie so much as after a hunt, during a war or before an election."
-Otto von Bismarck

A Few Crazy Elections we can learn from...

1800 Election

Adams v.s. Jefferson was probably the most hotly contested election ever, at least in American politics. Many people today have seen Hamilton, so you might be familiar with this one. Also, it's probably the closest we have to today’s partisan press with both sides slinging mud in the papers to get at the other party.

1824 Election

The 1824 election was a five-way election where the candidate who won the most delegates doesn’t win. The controversy directly led to the 1824 winner losing in 1828, which we can see is similar to today. Plus, a lot of partisan brokering allows this to happen, which is also all too familiar as we've seen a rise of party members put their partisanship above any principles or the country.

1860 Election

Obviously, we are far from Civil War-level tensions. War is not imminent, however secession is widely talked about. And, I would argue it is a real possibility, albeit an unlikely one. How are we different from this time, and how can we cool tempers to prevent a similar bloodshed that was a result of the Civil War?

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