Election History

In 1940, against the explosive backdrop of the Nazi onslaught in Europe, two farsighted candidates for the U.S. presidency - Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, running for an unprecedented third term, and talented Republican businessman Wendell Willkie-found themselves on the defensive against American isolationists and their charismatic spokesman Charles Lindbergh, who called for surrender to Hitler's demands.

In November 2012, Americans went to the polls to make yet another historic decision. Their choice was to reelect the nation's first African-American president or to elect the first Mormon president. Obama faced one of the least conventional Republican politicians the country ever had. From his Mormon faith to his governorship of the very blue Massachusetts, Mitt Romney left many on the right wondering whether he possessed the traditional conservative values they deemed necessary.

After all the debates, manoeuvrings, recriminations and exaltations, Brexit is upon us. But Brexit did not emerge out of nowhere: it is the culmination of events that have been underway for decades and have historical roots stretching back well beyond that. Brexit has a history. O'Rourke, one of the leading economic historians of his generation, explains not only how British attitudes to Europe have evolved but also how the EU's history explains why it operates as it does today - and how that history has shaped the ways in which it has responded to Brexit.

In this candid oral history of a presidential tenure, author Brian Abrams reveals the behind-the-scenes stories that illuminate the eight years of the Obama White House through more than one hundred exclusive interviews. Among those given a voice in this extraordinary account are Obama’s cabinet secretaries; his teams of speechwriters, legal advisers, and campaign strategists; as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who fought for or against his agenda. They recall the early struggles of an idealistic outsider candidate and speak openly about the exacting work that led to cornerstone legislation.

Wie gelange ich an die Macht? Und wenn ich sie habe - wie erhalte ich sie? Machiavellis Klassiker "Der Fürst" gilt noch heute als Standardwerk und Pflichtlektüre für Politiker und Manager.

In the spirit of Machiavelli's classic work on statecraft and government, Dick Morris, the modern equivalent of confidante and consigliere to the head of state, explains how to succeed and win when navigating the corridors of contemporary power.

In 2008, John McCain ran for president against Barack Obama, becoming a well-known national figure. But his presidential campaign was only one of the many inspirational things John accomplished in his lifetime! John was a decorated member of the US Navy who survived being a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He served as an Arizona senator for thirty years, right up until his passing in 2018. Learn all about John McCain and his life as politician who always tried to work across the aisle and to treat people fairly in this book about the maverick patriot.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated former Wall Street Journal reporter Ronald G. Shafer tells the colorful story of the election battle between sitting president Martin Van Buren, a professional Democratic politician from New York, and Whig Party upstart William Henry Harrison, a military hero who was nicknamed "Old Tippecanoe" after a battlefield where he fought and won in 1811. Shafer shows how the pivotal campaign of "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" marked a series of firsts that changed presidential politicking forever.

From George Washington's decision to buy time for the new nation by signing the less-than-ideal Jay Treaty with Great Britain in 1795 to George W. Bush's order of a military intervention in Iraq in 2003, the matter of who is president of the United States is of the utmost importance.

The Know Nothing movement can actually be tied to a number of violent episodes and ethnically charged riots that occurred during the last 1850s. The debate over immigration in the 1850s was more than a clash of worldviews - it touched upon the core of America’s values. While nativists, like the Know Nothings, believed that immigrants who embraced politics from their native lands represented a threat to America’s values, those who opposed them argued that it was precisely America’s values that made immigration a necessity and a valuable component of American life.

In A Bad Day on the Romney Campaign: An Insider's Account, Gabriel Schoenfeld, a senior adviser to the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for nearly two years, for the first time speaks out about the internal failures of the 2012 campaign. The book illuminates the chain of errors that ultimately contributed to Romney's defeat. Rich with detail and full of high drama, it will be of interest to anyone who wants to go behind the scenes to gain an inside look at how our political system actually operates, with all of its charms and all of its flaws.

From a leading voice among young conservatives, an impassioned argument that to stay relevant the Republican Party must look beyond short-term electoral gains and re-commit to historic conservative values. In 1963 Richard Hofstadter published his landmark book Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. Today, Matt Lewis argues, America's inclination toward simplicity and stupidity is stronger than ever, and its greatest victim is the Republican Party.

With relentless media coverage, breathtaking events, and extraordinary congressional and independent investigations, it is hard to believe that we still might not know some of the most significant facts about the presidency of George W. Bush. Yet beneath the surface events of the Bush presidency lies a secret history, a series of hidden events that makes a mockery of current debate.

There's honest graft and dishonest graft, according to George Washington Plunkitt. Listen to this candid discourse from a 19th-century politician and decide for yourself if things have changed.

In this second installment of The Wilson Files, we collect some of Dr. Wilson's most sagacious writings on the topic of nullification and the un-enumerated rights reserved to the several sovereign States that comprise the confederation known as the United States of America. For half a century, historian Clyde Wilson has been writing about what he calls "our lost and stolen heritage of states' rights." As Dr. Donald Livingston, founder of the Abbeville Institute, has remarked, "Clyde Wilson had been plowing the ground long before any of us came to plant."

Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775-76 that inspired people in the Thirteen Colonies to declare and fight for independence from Great Britain in the summer of 1776. In clear, simple language, it explained the advantages of and the need for immediate independence. It was published anonymously on January 10, 1776, at the beginning of the American Revolution and became an immediate sensation.

In 1775 the American colonies were a hotbed of political discord. Many of the British policies, specifically taxes, had caused American colonial leaders to consider the unthinkable: declaring independence from the British Empire and its King George. One such leader, Thomas Paine, wrote Common Sense: a pamphlet that explained the advantages of immediate and complete independence.

Homelessness in America is a complex issue that affects millions of people each year. In this eye-opening book, we explore the ten most common reasons why people become homeless and how we can work to address them. From the lack of affordable housing to the impact of natural disasters, we delve into the root causes and provide insights on how we can create solutions.

The fourth and final installment in POLITICO’s Playbook 2012 series once again provides an unprecedented minute-by-minute account of the race for the presidency. The End of the Line follows President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney as their campaign teams go all-in to win in the critical final weeks of the 2012 election.

"Manipulating Minds" delves deep into the labyrinthine world of propaganda, unearthing its historical roots, diverse applications, and evolving techniques....+