American Presidential Campaigns and Elections: A Reference Guide Book

Covering every Presidential campaign and election from George Washington's to George W. Bush's, these three volumes offer an overview of the changing nature of presidential politics in the United States. Editors Shade (Lehigh U.) and Campbell (Northeastern U.) have allowed for the same amount of material in each case, a choice some might see as limiting to the more contentious and interesting elections. Each entry contains a brief chronology of relevant political developments, brief biographical sketches of presidential and vice-presidential candidates (including important third party contenders), an analytical essay, voting statistics, and documentary collections of relevant speeches, debates, and letters. The entries are preceded, in the first volume, by a series of essays looking at such topics as changing levels of suffrage, the influence of major parties, the impact of third parties, the evolution of nominating conventions, and the roles of the media and campaign financing in politics. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR