HIST 146 Electing the President: George Washington to ...?
This course looks at how Americans have elected their presidents since George Washington became the nation's first chief executive more than 200 years ago. We examine the Electoral College and other constitutional and legal requirements and explore the role of parties, primaries, and the press. Using historians' accounts and a variety of primary sources - speeches, letters, and political cartoons, and in more recent years, TV and social media coverage - we look at key elections, including those of George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. We finish by reflecting on how the most recent presidential election does - and doesn't - fit into past patterns.