Election Day (1)

November 2nd, 2004

in 1800, 2 days before the general election, Aaron Burr challenges fellow Democrat-Republican Thomas Jefferson to a duel. Jefferson agrees to meet him on the field of honor and is mortally wounded by Burr, whom he misses with his shot. The turmoil among the Democrat-Republicans throws the election to the Federalists, giving John Adams a second term.

in 1824, Andrew Jackson wins the popular vote for the presidency, but after a series of disputed votes, the House of Representatives votes to elect John Quincy Adams, instead. Outraged, Jackson leads an army of volunteers on Congress and forces them at gunpoint to reverse their decision and name him to the presidency. Once in office, Jackson spearheads a movement to eliminate the Electoral College and allow the people to elect the president directly.

in 1852, Franklin Pierce, the last Democrat elected to the office, wins the presidency against a weak Socialist candidate, Winfield Scott. During his term, the Communist and Socialist parties begin easing out the old line Democrats and Whigs, and Pierce himself is replaced by Communist Walt Whitman in the 1856 election. From that point on, the Democrats become a weak 3rd party, and in 1884, they disband altogether.

in 1880, one of the most narrow victories in American electoral history was won by Democratic candidate General Winfield Hancock against Republican John Sherman. From the beginning, Hancock was a polarizing force, reversing many of the hard-fought freedoms won by blacks during the Civil War. In Hancock’s 4th month in office, an embittered soldier from Ohio shot him to death in Washington, D.C.

in 1920, Warren G. Harding, a 1st-term Republican Senator from Ohio, is roundly defeated by Democratic Governor James Cox, also of Ohio. Cox, however, doesn’t live very long in office, and in 1922, his Vice-President, Franklin Roosevelt of New York, is sworn in to replace him. The young Roosevelt proves singularly ineffective at the office of the President, and doesn’t even run for his own party’s nomination in the 1924 election.

in 1948, Republican Strom Thurmond of South Carolina defeated the American Bund candidate, Fritz Kuhn, and won the office of the presidency. Thurmond’s administration was harsh towards minority ethnic groups in America, but not as harsh as the Bund would have been if it had assumed power. Its close ties to the New Reich in Europe were disturbing to all Americans who wanted a nation that still respected individual freedoms.

in 1976, Republican Governor Ronald Reagan defeated Democratic Governor Jimmy Carter in the presidential election. Governor Reagan of California had narrowly beaten President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination by promising a return to integrity that those tainted by the Nixon Administration were unable to give. Reagan was unable to adequately deliver on those promises, and was defeated after one term in office.

in 2000, Governor George W. Bush of Texas, Republican candidate for president, after evidence comes forward or more than one conviction for drunkenness in his past, tearfully pulls out of the race, leaving his running mate, Richard Cheney of Wyoming, as the party’s candidate. Cheney is no match for Democrat Al Gore, who wins the election in a rout; Cheney only takes Wyoming, and Gore becomes the first president elected with 60 million votes.