Saturday, October 8, 2011

U.S. Presidential Slogans: According to D3P

I learned a lot while preparing this list, and researching all the past American Presidential campaigns. After spending too much time looking through archived documents and presidential biographies, I learned that official campaign slogans were not even used until William Henry Harrison and John Tyler came up with theirs in 1840. I also learned what the issues of their eras were (expansionism, reconstruction, economic decline and recovery, etc). Finally, I learned that since the dawn of American elections, they have never really changed much. A catchy slogan and a little pointed jab at their opponent has been an effective norm in American politics. You will find the actual political slogans used in each campaign since 1840 in the list below, and you will also find a D3P suggestion. Some of which have some of that 20/20 hindsight, but most of all, I think they supply a little self-deprecation. And I think we might need a little of that after over 170 of self-aggrandizing and oversimplifying politics. Enjoy!

William Henry Harrison/John Tyler:
1st Choice: Tippecanoe and Tyler Too.
2nd Choice: Fall Over in a Kayak and some guy named John As Well.

James K. Polk/George M. Dallas:
1st Choice: 54-40 or Fight!
2nd Choice: We've got dibs on Oregon, and a lot of guns.

Zachary Taylor/Millard Fillmore:
1st Choice: For President of the People
2nd Choice: We are in favor of those who are anti-against you.

Franklin Pierce/William King:
1st Choice: We Polked you in '44, We shall Pierce you in '52.
2nd Choice: Voters just want to have pun.

James Buchanan/John C. Breckinridge:
1st Choice: N/A
2nd Choice: Slavery is for the birds. Well, them and white landowners.

Abraham Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin:
1st Choice: Vote yourself a farm
2nd Choice: We plan to buy the farm, do you want in?

Ulysses S Grant/Schuyler Colfax:
1st Choice: Vote as you shot.
2nd Choice: A beard you can believe in.

Rutherford B. Hayes/William Wheeler:
1st Choice: The patriots choice.
2nd Choice: Hester Prynne got what she deserved! I'm just sayin'.

James A. Garfield/Chester Arthur:
1st Choice: Let us have peace.
2nd Choice: Lasagna on the rocks.

Grover Cleveland/Adlai Stevenson:
1st Choice: Blaine, Blaine...Continental liar from the state of Maine.
2nd Choice: Cleveland rocks!

William McKinley/Garret Hobart:
1st Choice: Patriotism, protection, and prosperity.
2nd Choice: America, assistance, and alliterations.

Theodore Roosevelt/Charles Fairbanks:
1st Choice: A square deal for every man.
2nd Choice: I'm going to shoot something, don't make it you.

William Howard Taft/James Sherman:
1st Choice: Shall the people rule?
2nd Choice: Obesity for the masses.

Woodrow Wilson/Thomas Marshall:
1st Choice: He kept us out of war.
2nd Choice: You know you've got a woody for Woodrow

Warren G. Harding/Calvin Coolidge:
1st Choice: Cox and cocktails.
2nd Choice: You just had a Woody for 8 Years, try Harding

Calvin Coolidge/Charles Dawes:
1st Choice: Keep cool with Coolidge.
2nd Choice: Shh, you won't like him if he hasn't had his nap.

Herbert Hoover/Charles Curtis:
1st Choice: A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage.
2nd Choice: I really hope we don't all end up living in cardboard boxes.

Franklin D. Roosevelt/John Nance Garner:
1st Choice: Kick out depression with a Democratic vote.
2nd Choice: My legs don't work, but I'll make sure you do.

Harry S. Truman/Alben Barkley:
1st Choice: I'm just wild about Harry.
2nd Choice: Harry is the BOMB!

Dwight D. Eisenhower/Richard Nixon:
1st Choice: I like Ike!
2nd Choice: I need a cigarette and a shower, because I love Eisenhower.

John F. Kennedy/Lyndon Baines Johnson:
1st Choice: Let's get America moving again.
2nd Choice: Back and to the Left of Conservatism.

Lyndon Baines Johnson/Hubert Humphrey:
1st Choice: All the way with LBJ.
2nd Choice: Vote for me, and you'll be fellated.

Richard Nixon/Spiro Agnew:
1st Choice: Nixon's the One!
2nd Choice: This administration may be recorded for quality assurance purposes

Gerald Ford/Nelson Rockefeller:
1st Choice: He's making us proud again.
2nd Choice: I'm seriously not a crook, I promise.

Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale:
1st Choice: Not just peanuts.
2nd Choice: All I want for this country is my two front teeth.

Ronald Reagan/George Bush:
1st Choice: It's morning again in America.
2nd Choice: All in all it's another sledgehammer on that wall.

George Bush/Dan Quayle:
1st Choice: Read my lips: no new taxes.
2nd Choice: You say tomato, we misspell potatoe

Bill Clinton/Al Gore:
1st Choice: Putting people first.
2nd Choice: Putting people first... especially her.

George W. Bush/Dick Cheney:
1st Choice: Leave no child behind.
2nd Choice: These are the Droids you're looking for.

Barack Obama/Joe Biden:
1st Choice: Change we can believe in.
2nd Choice: Ebony and Irony

I hope you enjoyed your little trip through history with my twist of humor. Most of all, I hope you stopped at least once or twice to Google a reference or two. If you have a different suggestion, and want to see it proudly displayed above, post it in the comments below.

If you really enjoyed this list and want to learn more. Please feel free to read a book that has provided me with a lot of knowledge and fodder for this list. It is called “Secret Lives of U.S. Presidents” by Cormac O'Brien (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HT21EM/). 

 You can also learn more at http://www.presidentsusa.net and http://www.4president.org/.


1 comment:

  1. Ahh, you could have thrown in a little history behind these for us less informed rabble.

    ReplyDelete