Campaign medals and pins, 1860

Since the first presidential campaigns, candidates used campaign ephemera, such as pins and medals, to try to reach voters. While simple from today’s standards, campaign pins and buttons were communication tools that candidates could use to get their name out to voters and spread the word of their candidacy.

Overtime, new technologies in printing offered opportunities for innovation. In the 1860 presidential election, a new type of photograph, the ferrotype, allowed print makers to create a picture of a candidate and apply it to campaign keepsakes. A ferrotype is a photograph made of tin and a dark glaze. Using photography in this way was novel: Most campaigns at the time did not use this type of technology.

The advertisement featured here promoted new options for campaign medals and pins. The advertisement was run by a bookseller company in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

Source Analysis

• Closely examine the document. Describe what you see. What words, phrases, or choice of language stand out?
• What can this language tell you about how campaign medals, pins, and other ephemera might help candidates reach voters?
• Look closely at the text toward the bottom of the advertisement. The term “Agents” is used. Given what you’ve observed from the advertisement and your prior knowledge, who do you think might be an agent? How would agents benefit from this campaign tool?
• If a document like this was produced today, how would it be different or similar? Why?

Ulysses S. Grant campaign song, 1872

Campaign music was once an incredibly popular tool used by presidential campaigns. In its day, sheet music could be an opportunity for a candidate’s campaign to articulate and share a point of view on an issue. Especially popular songs might help rally support for a candidate and their party’s platform.

This sheet music comes from the 1872 presidential election campaign between incumbent Republican President Ulysses S. Grant and Democratic Party challenger Horace Greeley. The composer, Mrs. E.A. Parkhurst-Duer, wrote many songs and was very active in the Prohibition movement.

Source Analysis

• Do you see anything on the sheet music other than writing? What details do you notice?
• Based on what you may already know about reading music, what do you think is the tempo of the music? Why might that matter to reaching voters?
• Closely read the lyrics. In what ways does the composer use negative campaigning to reach voters?
• How can music be a unique tool for reaching voters? Is music used today in campaigns? How?

Harrison Campaign Ball, 1888

Some tools are intangible—that is, you can’t physically see or touch them. Others are tangible. Presidential candidates have adapted and used both kinds of tools to try and reach voters and communicate their campaign’s message.

This photograph shows a forty-two-foot tall “campaign ball” that was used in the 1888 presidential election. The ball was used to bring attention to Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison. The ball was designed and built by D.E. Brocket, a strong Republican Party supporter. He personally travelled with the ball across ten states and the District of Columbia. Brocket and other men literally rolled the giant ball to different campaign spots.

The ball was an adaptation of a campaign ball used in the successful 1840 presidential campaign of Harrison’s grandfather, President William Henry Harrison. William Henry Harrison’s campaign had used a much smaller, but still sizeable, campaign ball. A nod to this history was inscribed on the ’88 ball: “Old Allegany in 1840 started the ball for Harrison; In ’88 as they did then, We roll it on for Gallant Ben.”

A description of the ball, as published in the daily newspaper The Washington Critic, gives some sense of how the ball was received on the campaign trail.

Source Analysis

• Closely examine the photograph of the ball. What do you see? What details stand out? What additional questions does it raise?
• Why would a campaign use a giant ball to reach voters? Consider possible pros and cons of the choice.
• Read the article that describes the campaign ball. What new details or information does it reveal? How does this information help you think about ball as a tool for Harrison’s campaign?
• Imagine a tool like this being used today. Do you think it would get significant attention? Why or why not?

Radio equipment, 1924

Beginning in the early 1900s, a new tool emerged that allowed candidates to speak directly to voters across the nation, rather than having to either meet voters in person or to have their ideas and positions filtered through newspaper accounts.

While Franklin Roosevelt is often associated with radio technology because of his “fireside chats” from the White House, earlier presidents and presidential candidates used radio to reach voters on the campaign trail. The 1924 presidential campaign was notable for the emergence of radio as a campaign tool. Coolidge made extensive use of radio by delivering campaign speeches that were broadcast to homes across the country.

Source Analysis

• Describe what you see: What details do you notice?
• Look at the text that accompanies the photograph. How does this help you understand what is happening in the image? What questions do you still have about the image?
• Why do you think this photograph was taken: What purpose might it have served?
• What additional questions does this source raise about tools that candidates use to reach voters?

Television coverage of Kennedy and Nixon campaigns, 1960

In the twentieth century, radio and then television became important new political media. As presidential candidates used radio and television to speak directly to the voters rather than through journalists, debate emerged about the role of the press—especially the broadcasting industry. What responsibilities come with providing coverage of political events?

This advertisement appeared in the Evening Star of Washington, D.C., in October of 1960, strategically timed with the schedule of televised debates between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

Source Analysis

• Closely examine the advertisement. Notice the lineup of programming. How much is election-focused?
• Who do you think is the intended audience of this ad and why?
• Who might not have seen this advertisement? Why does that matter?
• At the time, television was seen as an innovative tool for getting information to the voter. Consider the tools used by campaigns today. Which ones seem new or innovative? How do these tools impact the candidate and their message?

Campaign television commercial, 1964

Television dramatically changed how presidential candidates reached voters. The visual medium proved highly effective in engaging the public. As television sets became more accessible for more people, candidates increasingly relied on the technology to communicate campaign messages. From the first televised debates in 1960, to TV advertisements that eventually became pervasive, candidates now had a tool where voters could see and hear them without the candidates’ having to physically campaign across the country.

In the 1964 presidential election, incumbent Democratic president Lyndon Johnson aired this advertisement against his opponent, Republican Barry Goldwater. It received a great deal of criticism at the time. The Johnson campaign eventually removed it from the air.

Source Analysis

• Closely watch this television advertisement. What stands out and why?
• Does any text appear on the screen? If so, what does it say?
• What is the mood or tone of the advertisement? Do you think it is effective for reaching voters? Why or why not?
• Think about campaign advertisements today. How are they similar? In what ways are they different? Why does that matter for thinking about how candidates try to reach voters?

Forming Conclusions: Tools for Reaching Voters

Think about the sources you examined in this section.

• What patterns did you notice about the tools that that candidates have used to reach voters?
• How did the sources you study support or challenge what you already understood about the role of tools and technologies in reaching voters?
• Based on the sources you reviewed, what conclusions can you make about how candidates have used new and different tools to reach voters? What additional information do you still want to know?