With the US on the verge of holding its 56th quadrennial election, it is time to take a look back at the various historical elections of the country. These elections were significant political events that have not only built, shaped and supported a nation, but have often acted as deciding factors in determining the course of key international events.
With the economic and the political profile of the US steadily on the rise, a US Election now is a global event which attracts great media attraction and involves millions of dollars. The beginnings, no doubt, were more humble. Nonetheless, US elections have always been influenced by incidents both home and abroad. While the clouds of the Civil War loomed large over most of the elections that were held in the 1860s - leading to the meteoric rise of Abraham Lincoln, international wars like the French Revolution, the wars with European nations about trade rights, the World Wars, and in more recent times the wars in the Middle East regions, have clearly defined the decisions of the US Election.
The first US Presidential Election was held in 1789, when George Washington got elected almost unanimously as the first US President. The electoral process that was followed in the early US Elections involved a system where every elector voted to decide on the President, and the second person automatically became elected as the vice-President. The 12th Amendment brought about a sea change in the electoral process of the US Presidential election. Implemented for the first time in 1804, it allowed the voters to vote for the Presidential hopeful as well as his running mate, for the vice-Presidential post. This system continues to serve as the backbone of all subsequent US Elections.
The women secured the rights to vote for the first time in 1920. It was also the first time the results were communicated over the radio. However, the first woman Presidential candidate came much before that, when Victoria Woodhull fought the elections for the Equal Rights Party. The right for the African-Americans to vote was a similar path-breaking incident, which paved a new way for the world. Some of the biggest names of world politics, who played highly significant roles in a number of global events in their capacities as US Presidents, have shot to fame through these elections like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
For more information on historical elections of the US, please go through the following links:
