Election days from years gone by

I always like election day. The candidate I like isn't always the winner but I just think there is an air of excitement on each election day, even if it is only the last day of July. In honor of July 31th which is our first local election of 2012, leading up to November 6, I am sharing some images about elections from the past. All the images are from Wiki Commons.

Above, the Second Continental Congress votes for Independence. Oil on canvas, 1776, Edward Savage and/or Robert Edge Pine.

Above a light look at the first election day for women from a Country Gentleman magazine cover, from November 1922. The 19th Amendment giving all women the right to vote was ratified in August 1920. The first president women had the opportunity to vote for was Warren G. Harding who ran in 1921.

This 1868 Republican campaign poster was created by superimposing a portrait of U. S. Grant onto the Republican Party platform. I can't imagine how long it must have taken the artist to finish this poster. It is interesting, but who could read it?

"Election Day in Philadelphia," also known as "Election Scene." Oil on canvas, by John Lewis Krimmel. I like this one because it shows an air of excitement and celebration.

Mudslinging isn't a new campaign tactic. A 1900 Republican campaign poster for the US presidential election of William McKinley and Vice Presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt explains how the human race is at risk if they are not reelected. I am sure the other side's posters were just as inflammatory. They won this election and Roosevelt went on to serve out McKinley's second term, after he was killed in office. Roosevelt was then reelected, left office after that term, then ran and lost to Taft, the fellow Republican who succeeded him.

I think my favorite campaign slogan was the simple, "I like Ike!" Let's face it, those were simpler days and the slogans could be sappy and catchy. Maybe it is easy for someone like Eisenhower who was such a well-known figure to win with such a simple phrase, but cute and catchy campaign slogans seem to be a thing of the past.

I hope all of MY candidates win, of course, but I also hope we all have an exciting election day.