Dirty politics
ISSUE NO. 16 // PEACE, POT, AND PROMISCUITY
Let me tell you a little story about a time in the 18th century when women and black people could vote in the U.S.
I’m serious. In New Jersey in 1776 all adults could be eligible to vote.*
The women tended to vote Federalist. As you can imagine, that was quite a pickle for the Anti-Federalists. In 1807, they limited voting to white dudes to keep the Anti-Federalists in control and help put James Madison in the White House.
No biggie! It only took 113 years to get the rights back.
For some people. Honestly, this is very complex and too nuanced for The POTUS Notice. What isn’t complex is how little things change throughout history. Power-hungry leaders (who all kinda look the same) making decisions (and stripping away rights) to stay in power.
Moral of the story: VOTE!
Unless you think the last election was stolen. Then don’t bother, because what’s the point anyhow?
Keep scrolling for dirty politics, politics that sound dirty, and other fun election stuff.
Presidential Doodler
*As long as they lived in New Jersey at least a year. And had at least 50 pounds. Which does seem a skosh limiting, as 50 pounds was actually quite a lot of money. For more info on this, check out Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick.
Andrew Jackson believed John Quincy Adams’ campaign killed his wife.
The Adams campaign lobbed accusations of immorality at the Jacksons throughout the campaign (Rachel mistakenly thought she was divorced from her first husband when she married Jackson). When Rachel died just days after the election, Jackson blamed the slanderous attacks on her reputation for her death. JQA basically responded with a good old fashioned “I’m rubber, you’re glue.” (“Much the reverse and he had slandered.”)
On the flip side, among the things Andrew Jackson’s campaign said about John Quincy Adams:
John Quincy Adams was an aristocrat with fancy clothes.
(Um, ok. JQA’s wife and mother were always on his case for his slovenly attire.)He married a foreigner.
(He did marry a foreigner.)He bought a billiard table for fun while in office.
(Yup.)
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Zachary Taylor’s LinkedIn profile boasts “sleeping forty years in the woods and cultivating moss on the calves of his legs.”
But that’s more impressive than The Record of Statesmanship and Political Achievements of General Winfield Scott Hancock (below).
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I love this so much. In particular, the wise-ass “finis” on the back page.
PS It’s worth noting that James Garfield, General Winfield Scott Hancock’s political opponent, was the first presidential candidate to give a speech in a language other than English. German.
I chose to believe that Garfield had nothing to do with putting out this campaign literature. He seemed too decent for this tomfoolery. No matter how funny it is.
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William Henry Harrison’s opponents made fun of him because he was so freaking old.
A pro-Van Buren newspaper suggested, “Give him a barrel of hard cider and settle a pension of 2,000 a year on him and he will sit the remainder of his days in his log cabin."
The Whigs reclaimed that insult and made it work for them, creating an illusion that Harrison was Every Man. Hell, they even had a campaign song. It’s pretty catchy, too. They Might Be Giants recorded it.
Stop reading this immediately and listen to Tip and Ty. It’s incredible. Seriously.
“Little Van Van, Van is a used-up man…” 🎵
NOTE: Earwigs are insects. Earworms are both crop-destroying pest and songs that get stuck in your head, looping tirelessly.* Did you know that a song that gets stuck in your head about a Whig is actually called an earwhig?
Ok, that’s not true at all. But I giggled nonetheless. It also convinced me that I am pretty much a genius because has no one thought of this before?! Not a single hit when I searched for it. I think I need to copyright it. Earwhig™. It’s mine now.
*Sorta. The etymology is a little more entangled than that. And Stephen King makes an unexpected appearance. It’s worth checking out.
As the song mentions, “Oh, who has heard the great commotion, motion, motion. All the country through? It is the ball a-rolling on.”
Here’s the ball! And it’s ginormous! Ten foot in diameter and multiple men helped “keep the ball rolling.”
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I’ve shared this before, but it still makes me laugh.
This slogan may be the only good thing to come out of Pierce’s presidency.
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Warren G. Harding’s campaign changed the game.
Media and advertising played a huge role in his election — there was a massive, concerted effort and it changed political campaign strategy going forward. For the first time, much of the messaging was aimed at women, who recently won the right to vote.
Side note: I voted William Jennings Bryan Most Likely to Show Up in a Presidential Biography. At some point, I owe him a blog post.
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Oh, look at that! A duplicitous politician.
(How cute is it that it’s about something as meaningless as swearing though…? Adorbs.)
