Preview

Government Essay - Elections

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1339 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Government Essay - Elections
Government Essay Assignment - Elections

Every four years, the citizens of America migrate to their respective polling locations and cast their vote. On this important day, the second Tuesday of November, the next President of the United States is elected. Thosen to lead the country is by proxy the leader of the free world; the election of the United States President is a deeply historical event. The actual decision, though, does not come as easily as one would think. Yes, people sometimes vote blindly along party lines, but there is a whole host of variables that can influence a voter's decision, and, largely, the outcome of an entire election. Such variables include the issues at hand, party preferences, polling results and the media's coverage. While these criteria are ever-important influences in any election, there are a select few races in which they became more important than ever. Three elections in particular come to mind – the elections of 1948, 1960 and 2004. All of these elections were close and in many ways demonstrate the intricacies and interrelationships of elements of a Presidential election. One such important race was the race of 1948 – Thomas E. Dewey against Harry S. Truman. Top polling organizations and media luminaries were united in their prediction of Dewey's certain victory. Life Magazine even put Dewey on their cover with a headline that declared him "The Next President of the United States." Harry Truman was apparently the only man convinced that he would win; "everyone else was certain Dewey would be elected" ("Truman Surprise"). Truman, the incumbent candidate, was suffering in the polls with a weak 36% approval rate. He was leading a nation fearful of taxes and Communism. His presidential campaign was faring no better. At the Democratic Convention (the first ever televised), the entire Mississippi delegation and half of the Alabama delegation walked out during his speech. Soon after The New York Times reported that the



Cited: 1. "1948: The Great Truman Surprise." The Press and the Presidency. Kennesaw State University. 2 Jan 2007 . 2. "1960: The Road to Camelot." The Press and the Presidency. Kennesaw State University. 2 Jan 2007 . 3. "Election of 1948." US History.com. US History. 8 Jan 2007 . 4. "United States presidential election, 2000." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Jan 2007, 00:15 UTC. Wikimedia Foundati, Inc. 9 Jan 2007 .

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Electoral Process

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In order to understand how some candidates of the United States of America because to be president without winning the popular vote, we first have to understand the process which this country uses: The Electoral College. Each state has a different amount of electoral votes based on the members the state has in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. However, because the population of a state may change, so does the amount of administrators in the House of Representatives, this process being called reapportionment. On the other hand, because each state is fixed to have two representatives for the Senate, there will be two more electors for that state on top of the electors it has from the House of Representatives.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    hope diamond

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The word "vote" leads to many numerous reactions from people. Some become argumentative and begin to reveal their opinions on different political conflicts while others attempt to avoid the topic at all times. Many Americans do not follow politics closely and vote for parties that are aligned with the social groups to which they belong. People also vote based off their perceived judgments made about the incumbent parties’ previous actions or the situations that occurred during their period in office. Policy choice is another factor that influences vote choice as well.…

    • 450 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Menand, Louis. “Masters of the Matrix: Kennedy, Nixon, and the Culture of the Image.” The New Yorker. 5 Jan. 2004.…

    • 633 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Similarities and differences in the use of media in the 1960: Nixon/Kennedy and the 2012: Obama/Romney presidential campaigns…

    • 1531 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Policymaking and the Media

    • 8143 Words
    • 33 Pages

    Bennett, W. L. (1990). Toward a theory of press-state relations in the United States. Journal of Communication, 40, 103-125.…

    • 8143 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Electoral College Essay

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Written in the American Government book it contained the following about the thought of the Framers when thinking of the for the Electoral College “The system was constructed to: (1) work without political parties; (2) cover both the nominating and electing phases of presidential selection; (3)produce a nonpartisan president.” (pg. 340) The Framers thought that partisanship would have little to no influence in the elections. The Framers were more that wrong in what they thought of partnership having little effect in elections. Over many years of having the electoral college, there has been many flaws that the public has found to be important. There has been considered many downfalls and problems that have arised from the Electoral College. These types of issues have angered the general population and has created diverse opinions of the voting elections. The Electoral College system has been the most modified and ratified topic over many years. During the nineteenth century there has been about three different occasions where a issue, like a tie has occurred. When an event like this has occurred in the past, resolutions were formulated and the problems were only fixed temporarily, but more problems seem to rise. The temporary fixes did not restrain scholars in analyzing and conceptualizing different probabilities on how to conceive a new system to fix any problems that are…

    • 763 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The United States have adapted television into presidential elections since the 1960s. However the influence on America is not necessarily positive. The negative influence of television on the United States can be conveyed though the necessity of perfect image by candidates, sharing of too personal facts, and the brutality of the television debate.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Election Of 2000 Essay

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In no way was the Presidential election of 2000 legitimate. Votes were completely stolen from the people of Florida and the next President was ultimately decided by a mere nine people. The way in which this election happened was a complete disgrace to the American Democratic process and forever left a stain on this Nation’s Presidential election process. To begin with, the number of votes that Gore was receiving was not in accordance to that of exit polls taken. When the first T.V. networks deemed the winner of Florida’s 25 electoral votes, Gore had won. However, due to Bush’s influence on Florida’s government machine, those networks soon rescinded their calling and announced that the state was still undecided. It was later reported on November 8 that Bush had won Florida with 1,784 votes which is only .03%. Once this information was gained, Gore retracted his…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    2000 Election Essay

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The United States presidential election of 1796 was the third quadrennial presidential election. The Election was held after George Washington, American’s first president that decided to only serve for two terms, announced that he wouldn’t run for a 3rd term meaning that they had about three months to find a replacement for him. The race pitted eight candidates against each other, with the two front-runners as Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The election was the first time, American voters had to make a choice between candidates from different political parties. The election was the first major competition between Republicans and Federalists. John Adams ran as a Federalist, and Thomas Jefferson as a Republican. Republicans controlled the South,…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Chapter’s title from Camelot to Watergate captures numerous impactful events in American history from 1961 -1975. The title shows how the mood of society went from joyous and lighthearted under Kennedy’s leadership to serious and suspenseful under Nixon’s leadership. For Example, Kennedy encouraged Americans adults and children to become active to gain fitness. Fun, entertaining musical shows began to be performed, such as the Camelot. This really captured American’s Attention and filled the country with excitement. However by the time Nixon had become president, Americans all over the country had lost the mood that many had developed under Kennedy’s leadership. African Americans were beginning to develop a stronger urge for civil Rights. The nation was involved in a senseless war known as the Vietnam War. John F…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the year 2000, prominent presidential candidates raced hectically against each other. The main two political parties chose Al Gore for the Democrats and George W. Bush for the Republicans. The phrase, "too close to call", squandered endlessly as the electoral college could not predict the future leader even on Election Night due to the fact that the margins were almost indistinguishable. Florida, the fourth largest electoral vote state, had a nail biting recount due to the ambiguity of the final results. Nonetheless, here contends the political and economic effects of the campaign, and the way the nation changed due to the decisions of the winner.…

    • 2036 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This year we will elect are 45th president in the 57th presidential election. The topic of the election has been all over the news on countless different stations around the U.S. and possibly the world. People have been following this current election because it is felt that this is going to be a vital moment in our history. Due to the fact that there have been terroristic threats and attacks going on around the world, and also because the U.S. has been in critical place these past few years.…

    • 1016 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In politics, some races are extremely close and it’s hard to make a prediction on who will win. This often occurs with the popular vote and/or the electoral college vote. When an election is too close it can make people waiting until the next couple of days to figure out the winner. This is apparent in the 1960, 1968, and 2000 elections.…

    • 62 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chaos. Corruption. Carelessness. All synonyms for America’s voting system, the way in which it is spread across all 50 states fused with disorganization, it needs to be reformed in such a way that the incompetence and prematurity of the voters does not have a chance to bring the system crashing down to its knees. The problem lies in early voting, absentee voting, who can vote, and electronic voting. While some might say that the ability to not have to be in the States on election day to vote in presidential elections is what keeps the American voting system working for the people so that they can continue to lead their busy and generally irrelevant lives, it should be known that it is not intelligent by design; it is tearing the states apart piece by piece; it can be understood that this makes sense for our soldiers, it should only be the exception for them not the rule for everyone. Conformity in voting would fix every little crack. In that,…

    • 1719 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dwight D. Eisenhower

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Cited: American President: A Reference Resource. (n.d.). Retrieved November 13, 2012, from Miller Center University of Virginia: http://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/essays/biography/1…

    • 955 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays