Quest for the Presidency
George Washington didn’t campaign for the presidency. He was chosen unanimously by the Electoral College. However, the first President of the United States set a precedent by traveling to each of the 13 states while in office—a difficult task in an age of bumpy dirt roads. Bob Riel reminds us of this in Quest for the Presidency, his enjoyable tour of the usually more contentious runs for the Executive Mansion. Branding of the candidates began as early as the ill-fated William Henry Harrison, marketed as a man of the people in 1840 (and dead after a month in office). History doesn’t necessarily repeat itself but often rhymes loudly. Donald Trump ran on many of the same anti-immigrant policies that fueled the 1856 run by a candidate from the American (or Know-Nothing) Party. The only difference is that Trump won in 2016.
