The Election of 1988
In 1988, Ronald Reagan was completing his second term in office. While Reagan was still popular in many circles, his popularity had taken a hit after the Iran-Contra crisis and rumors of the onset of senility during his second term. As the election of 1988 approached, pundits wondered whether the nation would opt for a continuation of the Reagan years or opt for change. Republicans counted on a good economy, international stability and on Reagan's popularity. After the Iran-Contra scandal, the Democrats won back control of the Senate in the 1986 mid-term elections. Following an economic downturn, Democrats felt more optimistic about their chances in 1988.
Democratic party leaders tried to recruit popular New York Governor Mario Cuomo as theur candidate. Cuomo had impressed many Democrats with his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention and they believed that he would be a strong candidate. But Cuomo opted not to run. This left former Colorado Senator Gary Hart as the front runner for the Democratic nomination. Hart had made a strong showing in the 1984 presidential primaries and after Mondale's defeat, had positioned himself as the moderate centrist and began planning his run for 1988. But rumors about possible extramarital affairs dogged Hart's campaign. Hart had told reporters from The New York Times who questioned him about these rumors that, if they followed him around, they would "be bored". The Miami Herald had received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice that Rice was involved with Hart. When the Herald exposed Hart's affair with Rice, Hart's ratings in the polls plummeted. On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race.
Hart's campaign chair, Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado, considered seeking the nomination after Hart's withdrawal, but she decided in September 1987 not to run. In December 1987, Hart surprised many political pundits by resuming his presidential campaign, but he did poorly in the primaries before dropping out again.
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts ruled himself out of the campaign. Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor (and future President) Bill Clinton both considered running, but decided against it. Delaware Senator Joe Biden was briefly a candidate but his campaign also ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Biden had credited the original author in all speeches but one, and that one was caught on video that was used by his opponents. Biden dropped out of the race.
Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, also chose to run for the nomination. After Hart withdrew from the race, no clear frontrunner emerged. Representative Dick Gephardt won the Iowa caucuses and his numbers surged. Illinois Senator Paul M. Simon finished a surprising second, and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis finished third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis finished first, Gephardt came in second, and Simon came in third. Both Dukakis and Gore ran negative television ads against Gephardt that convinced the United Auto Workers to withdraw their support for Gephardt.
In the Super Tuesday races, Dukakis won six primaries. Gore and Jesse Jackson both won five and Gephardt won one. The next week, Simon won Illinois with Jackson finishing second. Jackson won 11 contests: seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont). Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary. But Jackson suffered a setback less than two weeks later Dukakis won the Wisconsin primary, followed by victories in New York and Pennsylvania.
The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta from July 18–21. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton placed Dukakis's name in nomination, but the nominating speech lasted for so long that some delegates began booing to get him to finish. The crowd cheered when Clinton said, "In closing..." Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards amused the delegates with a speech in which she criticized Vice-President Bush. She said of Bush, "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
Dukakis won the nomination on the first ballot with 2,876.25. Jackson finished second with 1,218.5 votes. Jackson's supporters believed that he was entitled to the vice-presidential spot, but Dukakis selected Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen instead.
Vice President George H. W. Bush had the advantage of having the support of President Ronald Reagan. He pledged to continue Reagan's policies, but also told voters to expect a "kinder and gentler America". The nomination was not a certainty however and Bush unexpectedly finished third in the Iowa caucus, which he had won in 1980, behind Kansas Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson. Dole was also leading in the polls of the New Hampshire primary. Bush supporters responded by running television ads portraying Dole as a tax raiser. Bush won the primary, the first of many. At the Republican Party convention in New Orleans, Bush was nominated unanimously. Bush surprised many by selecting Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, Bush made his famous pledge, "Read my lips: No new taxes", a comment that would come back to haunt him during the 1992 election.
During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Governor Dukakis as a "Massachusetts liberal" who was too left wing. Dukakis was attacked for such positions as opposing mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and for his membership in the American Civil Liberties Union. Dukakis responded by saying that he was a "proud liberal". Dukakis tried to tie Bush to some of the recent scandals of the Reagan administration, such as Iran-Contra affair.
Dukakis attempted to fight criticism that he was inexeperienced on military matters by staging a photo op in which he rode in a tank outside a General Dynamics plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. This ended up being a massive public relations blunder, with Republicans mocking Dukakis's appearance as he stuck his smiling, helmeted head out one of the tank's hatches to wave to the crowd. Footage of this was used by the Bush campaign to mock Dukakis.
Bush chose Quayle as his running mate to appeal to a younger generation of Americans. But Quayle was not a seasoned politician, and made a number of embarrassing gaffes. Democrats attacked Quayle's credentials, saying he was dangerously inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. During the Vice Presidential debate, Quayle attempted to dispel such allegations by comparing his experience with that of former Senator John F. Kennedy. Quayle said, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Dukakis's running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, famously responded, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." This exchange was used by the Democrats in television ads with the voiceover "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." But thhis didn't reduce the Bush-Quayle lead in the polls.
During the campaign, Dukakis fired his deputy field director Donna Brazile after she spread rumors that Bush had an affair with his assistant Jennifer Fitzgerald. Dukakis was attached by the Republican in ads about convicted murderer Willie Horton. Dukakis was a supporter of a state prison furlough program, which had resulted in the release (furlough) of convicted murderer Willie Horton. Horton committed a rape and assault in Maryland. Other campaign ads attacked Dukakis's failure to clean up environmental pollution in Boston harbor. A number of false rumors about Dukakis were reported in the media, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Dukakis's wife Kitty had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War, and the allegation Dukakis was been treated for a mental illness.
Dukakis did well in the first presidential debate, but Bush rebounded in the second debate. Before the second debate, Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed. The most memorable moment in the debate came when CNN anchor Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if his wife was raped and murdered. Dukakis answered by discussing the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment. Many felt that Dukakis's answer lacked the expected emotional response of someone asked about a loved one's rape and death.
On November 8th, election day, Bush won a majority of the popular vote and he won 40 states in the Electoral College. Bush received 48,886,597 votes (53.37%) and 426 electoral votes, compared to 41,809,476 (45.65%) and 111 electoral votes for Dukakis. The election marked the third consecutive presidential victory for the Republican Party, and the first time that a party had won more than two consecutive presidential elections since the Democrats won all five elections from 1932 to 1948. Bush was the first sitting Vice President to be elected President since Martin Van Buren in 1836.
Democratic party leaders tried to recruit popular New York Governor Mario Cuomo as theur candidate. Cuomo had impressed many Democrats with his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic Convention and they believed that he would be a strong candidate. But Cuomo opted not to run. This left former Colorado Senator Gary Hart as the front runner for the Democratic nomination. Hart had made a strong showing in the 1984 presidential primaries and after Mondale's defeat, had positioned himself as the moderate centrist and began planning his run for 1988. But rumors about possible extramarital affairs dogged Hart's campaign. Hart had told reporters from The New York Times who questioned him about these rumors that, if they followed him around, they would "be bored". The Miami Herald had received an anonymous tip from a friend of Donna Rice that Rice was involved with Hart. When the Herald exposed Hart's affair with Rice, Hart's ratings in the polls plummeted. On May 8, 1987, a week after the Donna Rice story broke, Hart dropped out of the race.
Hart's campaign chair, Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado, considered seeking the nomination after Hart's withdrawal, but she decided in September 1987 not to run. In December 1987, Hart surprised many political pundits by resuming his presidential campaign, but he did poorly in the primaries before dropping out again.
Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts ruled himself out of the campaign. Arkansas Senator Dale Bumpers and Governor (and future President) Bill Clinton both considered running, but decided against it. Delaware Senator Joe Biden was briefly a candidate but his campaign also ended in controversy after he was accused of plagiarizing a speech by Neil Kinnock, then-leader of the British Labour Party. Biden had credited the original author in all speeches but one, and that one was caught on video that was used by his opponents. Biden dropped out of the race.
Senator Al Gore of Tennessee, also chose to run for the nomination. After Hart withdrew from the race, no clear frontrunner emerged. Representative Dick Gephardt won the Iowa caucuses and his numbers surged. Illinois Senator Paul M. Simon finished a surprising second, and Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis finished third. In the New Hampshire primary, Dukakis finished first, Gephardt came in second, and Simon came in third. Both Dukakis and Gore ran negative television ads against Gephardt that convinced the United Auto Workers to withdraw their support for Gephardt.
In the Super Tuesday races, Dukakis won six primaries. Gore and Jesse Jackson both won five and Gephardt won one. The next week, Simon won Illinois with Jackson finishing second. Jackson won 11 contests: seven primaries (Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico and Virginia) and four caucuses (Delaware, Michigan, South Carolina and Vermont). Jackson also scored March victories in Alaska's caucuses and Texas's local conventions, despite losing the Texas primary. But Jackson suffered a setback less than two weeks later Dukakis won the Wisconsin primary, followed by victories in New York and Pennsylvania.
The Democratic Party Convention was held in Atlanta from July 18–21. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton placed Dukakis's name in nomination, but the nominating speech lasted for so long that some delegates began booing to get him to finish. The crowd cheered when Clinton said, "In closing..." Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards amused the delegates with a speech in which she criticized Vice-President Bush. She said of Bush, "Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth."
Dukakis won the nomination on the first ballot with 2,876.25. Jackson finished second with 1,218.5 votes. Jackson's supporters believed that he was entitled to the vice-presidential spot, but Dukakis selected Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen instead.
Vice President George H. W. Bush had the advantage of having the support of President Ronald Reagan. He pledged to continue Reagan's policies, but also told voters to expect a "kinder and gentler America". The nomination was not a certainty however and Bush unexpectedly finished third in the Iowa caucus, which he had won in 1980, behind Kansas Senator Bob Dole and televangelist Pat Robertson. Dole was also leading in the polls of the New Hampshire primary. Bush supporters responded by running television ads portraying Dole as a tax raiser. Bush won the primary, the first of many. At the Republican Party convention in New Orleans, Bush was nominated unanimously. Bush surprised many by selecting Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana as his running mate. In his acceptance speech, Bush made his famous pledge, "Read my lips: No new taxes", a comment that would come back to haunt him during the 1992 election.
During the election, the Bush campaign sought to portray Governor Dukakis as a "Massachusetts liberal" who was too left wing. Dukakis was attacked for such positions as opposing mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in schools and for his membership in the American Civil Liberties Union. Dukakis responded by saying that he was a "proud liberal". Dukakis tried to tie Bush to some of the recent scandals of the Reagan administration, such as Iran-Contra affair.
Dukakis attempted to fight criticism that he was inexeperienced on military matters by staging a photo op in which he rode in a tank outside a General Dynamics plant in Sterling Heights, Michigan. This ended up being a massive public relations blunder, with Republicans mocking Dukakis's appearance as he stuck his smiling, helmeted head out one of the tank's hatches to wave to the crowd. Footage of this was used by the Bush campaign to mock Dukakis.
Bush chose Quayle as his running mate to appeal to a younger generation of Americans. But Quayle was not a seasoned politician, and made a number of embarrassing gaffes. Democrats attacked Quayle's credentials, saying he was dangerously inexperienced to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. During the Vice Presidential debate, Quayle attempted to dispel such allegations by comparing his experience with that of former Senator John F. Kennedy. Quayle said, "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Dukakis's running mate, Lloyd Bentsen, famously responded, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." This exchange was used by the Democrats in television ads with the voiceover "Quayle: just a heartbeat away." But thhis didn't reduce the Bush-Quayle lead in the polls.
During the campaign, Dukakis fired his deputy field director Donna Brazile after she spread rumors that Bush had an affair with his assistant Jennifer Fitzgerald. Dukakis was attached by the Republican in ads about convicted murderer Willie Horton. Dukakis was a supporter of a state prison furlough program, which had resulted in the release (furlough) of convicted murderer Willie Horton. Horton committed a rape and assault in Maryland. Other campaign ads attacked Dukakis's failure to clean up environmental pollution in Boston harbor. A number of false rumors about Dukakis were reported in the media, including the claim by Idaho Republican Senator Steve Symms that Dukakis's wife Kitty had burned an American flag to protest the Vietnam War, and the allegation Dukakis was been treated for a mental illness.
Dukakis did well in the first presidential debate, but Bush rebounded in the second debate. Before the second debate, Dukakis had been suffering from the flu and spent much of the day in bed. The most memorable moment in the debate came when CNN anchor Bernard Shaw asked Dukakis whether he would support the death penalty if his wife was raped and murdered. Dukakis answered by discussing the statistical ineffectiveness of capital punishment. Many felt that Dukakis's answer lacked the expected emotional response of someone asked about a loved one's rape and death.
On November 8th, election day, Bush won a majority of the popular vote and he won 40 states in the Electoral College. Bush received 48,886,597 votes (53.37%) and 426 electoral votes, compared to 41,809,476 (45.65%) and 111 electoral votes for Dukakis. The election marked the third consecutive presidential victory for the Republican Party, and the first time that a party had won more than two consecutive presidential elections since the Democrats won all five elections from 1932 to 1948. Bush was the first sitting Vice President to be elected President since Martin Van Buren in 1836.