Here's a superb record of every presidential election in the United States, from the days of George Washington to the struggle between Dewey and Truman. Over 1,000 fascinating pictures vividly illustrate this story of election drama--heroism, scandal, rugged conflict, and stirring ballyhoo. The pictures and text give abundant proof that politics brings out some of our most picturesque--and most American--behavior! Story by story, and picture by picture. author Lorant builds up his striking portrait of an important side of American democracy--our free elections. The forty-two chapters, one for each presidential election and an introductory one on the Creation of Office, make up a lively political history of the United States. With swift, sure strokes Lorant draws in the background of each campaign, portrays the characters of the opposing candidates, and describes the battles that took place. He gives the statistics: always the Electoral vote, and after 1828 the popular vote as well. Thus the reader can quickly see how each state voted for each candidate, the majority by which each election was won, and which Presidents won the popular vote but lost the Electoral vote. The contemporary illustrations do the rest--portraits, engravings, old prints, broadsides, pages of newspapers, facsimiles of letters, hundreds of pungent cartoons, and the best photographs of all the modern campaigns. Lively glimpses of the candidates in action, the rise and fall of parties, vivid bits of historical by-play, election-night scenes, nominating conventions, inaugurations all are here. The portraits of each major candidate for the presidency and vice-presidency from 1789 to 1948 precede each chapter. Never before has the story of presidential elections been so graphically told. This book gives you history at a glance, and will prove as valuable to the historian as to the reader for pleasure.--Jacket.