APUSH Exam Review
Significant Presidential
Elections
Jake Barden
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First Presidential election in U.S. History
Occurs after the ratification of the Constitution
Washington ran essentially unopposed
John Adams gets 2nd most electoral votes, thus becoming first V.P.
• Adams narrowly defeats Jefferson
• Major issue of campaign? – Federal Power
• Federalist party maintains a tedious grip on power in
the new republic
• “Revolution of 1800” – significance?
• Jefferson narrowly defeats Adams & Burr
o Role of Alexander Hamilton & House of Representatives?
• First transfer of power b/w different political parties in U.S. history
• Sets precedent for future elections
• The “Corrupt Bargain” details of alleged conspiracy?
o Role of Henry Clay
• JQA defeats Old Hickory despite not winning the popular
vote or majority of electors
• What group of people does Andrew Jackson appeal to?
• Andrew Jackson finally claims the White House
• Significance of “Jacksonian Democracy”?
o Democratic - Republicans are reborn as Democrats
• Executive Branch will be greatly strengthened over the next
8 years
o What are the three main issues of Jackson’s presidency?
• Jackson easily defeats a challenge from
powerful political enemy Henry Clay
• 1832 is an referendum on Old Hickory’s policies
dealing with the Bank of the United States
o Role of Nicholas Biddle?
• “Log Cabin Campaign” , “Tippecanoe & Tyler Too”
• War hero William Henry Harrison* defeats staunch Jacksonsian
incumbent Martin Van Buren to become first Whig President
• How did the Whigs beat the Democrats at their own game?
*Died of pneumonia, president for only 30 days
• In 1844 the Democrats were split…
• James K. Polk narrowly defeats seasoned Whig candidate Henry Clay
o Role of Liberty Party candidate James Birney?
• Manifest Destiny achieved?
• Four goals of Polk’s presidency?
• Amid building sectional tensions James Buchanan is elected
• A Northern Democrat, Buchanan will be sympathetic to southern
interests and will do little to stop the decent into civil war
• 1856 marks the first Republican Candidate for President
o Republican Party Platform?
o What groups joined to form the Republicans?
• Last election before the outbreak of the Civil War
• Democrats split along sectional lines, ensuring Lincoln’s election
despite not winning a true majority of votes
• Lincoln’s election spurs the South to follow through with threats
of secession if a Republican is elected President
• As the Civil War approaches its end, Lincoln withstands a
challenge from an old acquaintance – General George
McClellan, aka “Tardy” George
o What event ensures Lincoln’s reelection?
• The Corrupt Bargain Part II?
• In an election decided by the House of Rep, Hayes
defeats Tilden by one Electoral vote
• How does the Election of 1876 effect Reconstruction?
o Main terms of Compromise of 1877?
• Final election of the 19th Century, U.S. on the verge of modernity
o Nation is emerging from the Gilded Age
• Peak of Populist movement - People’s Party briefly merges with
Democrats & nominates William Jennings Bryan
o Main Issues of 1896 election?
o Significance of William McKinley’s victory?
• TR win’s the presidency in his own right
• TR concentrates on more progressive reforms in his 2nd term
o Square Deal?
o Bully Pulpit?
o Trust Busting?
o Big Stick Diplomacy?
• Three major candidates all claim to be progressives
• Height of Progressive Era
o New Freedom vs. New Nationalism
o Role of TR & the Bull Moose Party/relationship with Taft?
• Reelection for Woodrow Wilson
o Triple wall of privilege?
• Wilson’s official foreign policy position?
• How do events in and around Europe force Wilson to
change this position in regard WWI?
• Harding elected in a “return to normalcy” after WWI
• Ushers in an era of laissez faire gov’t that will last until
the beginning of The Great Depression
• Promising a “New Deal” to pull the nation out of depression
FDR defeats the incredibly unpopular Herbert Hoover in
landslide fashion
• 1932 marks the switch in voting loyalties among black
Americans as the majority vote Democrat for the first time
• After winning reelection in 1936 and with major
trouble brewing in Europe & East Asia, FDR is
granted a 3rd term
• U.S. officially enters WWII at the end of 1941
• With WWII raging, FDR wins an unprecedented 4th term in office
• With FRD’s death in April of 1945, Harry Truman assumes the
presidency
o Truman will make the final decisions that will end WWII
• In perhaps the most surprising election result in U.S. history, incumbent Harry
Truman defeats heavily favored Thomas Dewey
• In his 2nd term Truman, will continue to use economic aid to rebuild war torn
Europe in the face of spreading communism
• Truman will also deal with criticism over failure to contain communism in Asia
o Dixie-crat (states rights) Senator Strom Thurmond runs on a segregationist
platform and garners significant votes in the deep south
• War hero Gen. Dwight Eisenhower is elected as the nation begins
an era of unprecedented prosperity
• Beneath the perceived aura of domestic stability of the 1950s are
serious issues which will explode in the near future
o Civil Rights
o Women’s Rights
o Nuclear proliferation (M.A.D.) & the continuing Cold War
• Closest election until 2000, JFK narrowly defeats Nixon
o Role of TV debates? JFK’s religion? Nixon’s connection to Ike?
• How did JFK seem to embody the changing spirit in America during
the early 1960s?
• Nixon rebounds from defeat in 1960 to narrowly claim White House
• Significance of the “Silent Majority”?
o 3rd party candidate George Wallace runs on a segregationist
platform – effect on election?
o What fears did Wallace exploit as a part of his candidacy?
• Easy reelection for Nixon as Watergate investigation begins to widen
• Watergate scandal explodes after Nixon’s 2nd inauguration
• 1980 begins the resurgence of conservatism in American Politics
o What prompted this shift to the right in American politics?
• CA governor Ronald Reagan leads the neoconservatives into power
o Birth of the modern conservation movement?
o Influence of religious right?
o Reaganomics?
• Closest presidential election in U.S. history
• George W. Bush elected despite narrowly losing the popular vote
o Role of Florida?
o Role of the Supreme Court?
The American Two Party System
**Dates are general in nature, it is possible for overlap to exist**
• Pre-Party System:
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
• 1st Party System: Late 1790s – 1828
– Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans: Adams – JQA
• 2nd Party System: 1828 – 1854
– Democrats vs. Whigs: Jackson – Pierce/Buchanan
• 3rd Party System: 1854 – mid 1890s
– Democrats vs. Republicans: Lincoln – Cleveland
• 4th Party System: 1896 – 1932
– Democrats(Populists & Progressives) vs. Republicans: McKinley – Hoover
• 5th Party System: 1933 - ??? Still ongoing?
– New Deal Democrats vs. Conservative Republicans: FDR - ???
**Did a 6th Party System begin in the 1980s with conservative resurgence?**