Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Campaigns

by Joseph Cummins

Today's political pundits express shock and disappointment when candidates resort to negative campaigning. But history reveals that smear campaigns are as American as apple pie. Anything for a Vote is an illustrated look at 200-plus years of dirty tricks and bad behavior in presidential elections from George Washington to G. W. Bush. Highlights 1836: Congressman Davy Crockett accuses candidate Martin Van Buren of secretly wearing women's "He is laced up in corsets!"
1912: Theodore Roosevelt is shot in the chest while preparing to give a campaign speech, then proceeds to deliver it "I don t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot, but it takes more than that to kill a bull moose!"
1960: President Harry Truman advises voters that "if you vote for Richard Nixon, you might go to hell!" Arriving a full year before the 2008 presidential election, Anything for a Vote is a valuable reminder that history does repeat itself, that lessons can be learned from the past (though they usually aren't), and that our most famous presidents are not above reproach when it comes to the dirtiest game of all political campaigning.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, American History, Presidents, Audiobook, American

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2007

About the author

Joseph Cummins is the author of numerous books, including Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Elections; A Bloody History of the World, which won the 2010 Our History Project Gold Medal Award; and the forthcoming Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests That History Forgot. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Jill Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a timely book during a period when the politics of the US seem to be in shambles but it is the kind of book that makes you laugh in order not to cry. Politics in all its ugliness and it hasn't changed since the beginning (if one discounts Washington who didn't have an opponent). The author writes with humor and is fairly unbiased as he dissects each Presidential election....the boring (very few) and the battles (most). Lots of new information and reminders of things that happened during more recent runs for the highest seat in the land. Currently we talk about how the media controls elections and gets away with less than truthful information. It is nothing new and in the days before radio/tv/internet, the newspapers and broadsheets got away with some truly litigious "facts" about candidates and their public and private lives....such as the poster that stated, "Martin VanBuren wears women's clothes" and "Dewey hates you and hates your children". A light look at dirty tricks and unqualified candidates. It is a fun read.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for some lighter reading fare and pairing it with a buddy read, this book seemed the perfect mix. Joseph Cummins has compiled this wonderfully educational and entertaining piece that seeks to examine each of the presidential elections in US history (up to 2008, around the time of publication). By exploring these elections, Cummins seeks to determine just how dirty and ruthless the campaigns turned out to be. His hypothesis: campaigns have long been dirty affairs and while the sleaze factor may change, mud-slinging and backstabbing has always been an active part of the election cycle. While George Washington seemed fairly free of any attacks by his foes, the whirlwind of issues started soon thereafter. Cummins shows that early elections utilized a more “blatant” approach to attacks on candidates: mocking men for being drunkards, philanderers, and willing to buy votes. All forms of publication were blunt in their approach, vilifying anyone who opposed the writer’s perspective. As the years progressed, there were times that actual political issues served to tar and feather presidential candidates, but the move turned to personal mockery, where the weight of one’s wife or the genealogy of a certain child became active fodder. Cummins shows that candidates had to defend their honour or toss exponentially more mud to deflect some of these accusations. Personal foibles and missteps seemed to be more the 20th century approach to campaign attacks, turning to more subtle advertisements that treated the electorate as an intelligent being, filling the airwaves and printed leaflets with nuanced references. Perhaps it was the more litigious nature of America, but the straightforward “Candidate X has a fat wife!” was no longer permitted, leaving parties to spin stories and sometimes ride out complete fabrications. In an era when candidates could not always dodge the accusations, Cummins shows just how forgiving the voter could be, or how well the spin factor worked when the Democrats and Republicans were working at their hardest. A wonderful compilation of short vignettes related to each presidential election, sandwiching history and political context between the actual candidates and final vote count. Wonderful for history and political buffs looking for something light to digest.

Cummins does a fabulous job in this collection, which came to fruition because he saw much mud-slinging and so many attack ads coming out of Bush-Kerry in 2004. What came to print was a great primer for the curious reader, allowing the development of the basics of a scandalous campaign approach. With the additional layers of history and some of the key issues found between the presidential candidates permitted this foundational piece to hold its own. This is sure to fuel a fire for any reader who wants to know more, though some of the information found herein is more or less ‘general knowledge’. It is when the reader gets to some of the more obscure presidents (and I say this, knowing full well my Canadian education would make far more of these men obscure than my American counterparts) that Cummins offers some humorous anecdotes that may have the reader rushing to Wikipedia or the library to substantiate these comments. Most electoral campaigns are summarised in 5-10 brief pages, though there are others that seem less controversial and can be tied off in under four. Cummins also adds his own “sleaze-o-meter”, allowing the reader to better understand how scandalous things turned out to be. Light and surely entertaining, the reader can learn a great deal. Perhaps its only downside (surely not Cummins’ fault) is that the 2016 campaign could not be included. Wouldn’t reading all about the backstabbing and bribery and cheating be tweet… I mean, sweet!

Kudos, Mr. Cummins for this wonderful collection. I will check to see if you have other presidential pieces out there to entertain me between deeper books.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? I love Presidential trivia, and this covers every Presidential election America ever had up until 2008. It's pretty biased toward the newer elections (probably for the simple reason that there's more information available), and the illustrations are goofy, but the information is good and quite easily read. I enjoyed it.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This will become a popular nonfiction title for both young adult and adult readers. Those who have been fans of Georgia Bragg's titles that share information in a humorous way in easily digestible chapters with a uniquely beneficial layout that includes some illustrations, various sidenotes, highlights, and quotes.

For this title, the subtitle says it all and Cummins has does a superb job in organizing the information he gathered complete with some folksy humor to understand the lengths politicians will go through from WAAAY back to present to win elections and the hearts of Americans. Will absolutely share this book with many because it's as fascinating and well-researched as it is accessible and playful.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is full of interesting information, but is seriously marred by awful editing. It mentioned "Mr. Roger's sweaters" (his last name was Rogers, not Roger). It referred to the shootings of the protesters at "Kent State College" (while it was known as "Kent State College" for a brief period, it has been Kent State University since 1935). Most damningly, they referred to an electoral runnerup whose main campaign position was stopping slavery as being "too radically proslavery".

But he did comb through the records so you don't have to, so it's a tricky balancing act on how to rate this.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't say much about this book because there isn't much here to really comment on. The author gives us a thumbnail report on all the presidential campaigns from Washington to Obama v Romney. It reads like an editor assigned a reporter to do story on the sleaziness of presidential campaigns of the past and this is what he came up with. The story is somewhat informative if you have read much about presidential politics and very informative if you haven't. There are some interesting bits of trivia to be picked up and some insider gossip on the behavior and character of various candidates across time. The only conclusion to be reached is that it seems that the more "educated", "informed", and "civilized", the electorate and the candidates have become the sleazier the process of selecting our leadership became. This is probably a good beach read for a history or poli sci nerd but not something I can honestly recommend.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Michael Kokias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of book that makes you feel like you’re being gaslit by everyone around you who says “We used to be a proper country!” The book’s Sleaze-o-meter is a helpful indicator of just how ugly some elections in our past have gotten. It’s a shame the book ends with 2004 - although I imagine what would be unique is that we would have successive elections with a 9 or 10 on the Sleaze-O-Meter from 2016 on to today.
It had me chuckling just about every chapter because politics has never really changed in our country’s history since the first real election of Adams v Jefferson - just the names of those elbowing for power.
Here’s to eventually lowering the Sleaze of our elections - something that this book thankfully doesn’t get into. Because that’s not the point. Thanks for staying in your lane, author.

Happy Election Week everyone.

[Deacon Tom F. (Recovering from a big heart attack) · Rating 4 out of 5]

informative

A well organized and well written book that summarizes the US Presidential races from Washington to Obama.

It is chocked full of little stories that make the book a fast read.

[Lexi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historically interesting--Cummins traces the evolution of presidential election politics over the full course of USA history. However, the type is difficult to read at times (the spacing is weird) and the pages are the thickness of a postcard, so it's heavy and uncomfortable to read. A decent editor would have been helpful as well, since there are frequent awkward sentences and grammar errors. In web page format this would get 3.5 stars but due to poor construction and editing, I rate it lower here. Besides, if trees are going to die for a book, it ought to be worth it!

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

even though this was interesting and well written i gave up on it because i already know some people running for the office of president have shaky morals. i read most of the twentieth century listings, was afraid to back to washington, jefferson, monroe, adams etc.
a bit of a sad book.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really interesting read I received from Netgalley. Was very well written and informative. Would recommend this to all.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 4 out of 5]

We just had an ugly election, everything from FBI and Russian interference to a candidate who assigned everyone demeaning nicknames (Little Marco, Crooked Hillary). Many may think that this was the cruelest election ever. It was not, as Joseph Cummins proves in his history of dirty tricks and bad actions in U.S. Presidential campaigns. In 1844, Whig candidate Henry Clay attended a session of The House of Representatives, where his Democratic rival James K. Polk was the Speaker; Clay stood up in the gallery and called out : "Go home, God damn you." The Polk campaign responded with a pamphlet (pamphlets were the big media buy in the days before radio and TV) that said Clay was a white slaver (Hillary, you will recall, was accused of the same) and that he spent "his days at the gambling table and his nights in a brothel." Lee Atwater, the Republican dirty trickster par excellence, pulled out all stops with his Willie Horton campaign. No one called Horton Willie; he was known to all as William, but the Repubs thought Willie sounded more threatening (that is to say, blacker). Martin Van Buren was said to wear women's corsets and Andrew Jackson impugned James Buchanan's masculinity by calling him "Miss Fancy" (although they were members of the same party). ANYTHING FOR A VOTE is a history of drunkenness, debauchery, politicking, and name calling. It is brief, pithy (too pithy sometimes) and not bitter enough. Note: Cummins discusses those running for office only; inheritors to the crown, like John Tyler, are given short shrift. This was published by our friends at Quirk, and it is as quirky a political history as one is likely to find. It belongs on a shelf with Jewell's THE U. S. PRESIDENTS FACT BOOK.

[Tuyet Lan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mình đã kỳ vọng một cuốn sách kịch tính và thú vị hơn.
Nếu là người Mỹ thì mình có thể sẽ cảm thấy nội dung sách hấp dẫn hơn chăng? Còn là một người Việt, không am hiểu mấy về chính trị, mình đã rất là mệt để hoàn thành cuốn sách này.

Sách là một bộ thống kê chi tiết các đợt tranh cử từ lập quốc đến 2012, quá nhiều tên tuổi từ các Đảng phái mình không nhớ hết nổi. Không nói quá khi sách được giới thiệu là đọc từ bất cứ phần nào, hoặc đọc từ dưới đọc lên cũng được. Chẳng phải vì cấu trúc sách đặc biệt, mà là các phần quá giống nhau: tóm tắt ngắn gọn bối cảnh khi cuộc tranh cử diễn ra, các ứng viên chính với các ưu nhược điểm và chiến dịch tranh cử của họ.

Điều đáng hoan nghênh của cuốn sách này là mục đích viết sách của tác giả - không phải dùng để tôn vinh tính tự do, dân chủ của một cường quốc hàng đầu thế giới. Mà là một cái nhìn khách quan về chính trị - những chính khách và bè đảng của họ từ xưa đến nay luôn như vậy - luôn sử dụng những mưu hèn kế bẩn để giành phần thắng về mình. Không có chiến dịch tranh cử nào có thể nói là trong sáng và lịch thiệp, chắc chỉ trừ kỳ bầu cử đầu tiên - khi chỉ có một ứng cử viên duy nhất.

Đọc về các chiến dịch vận động - khi mà các chính trị gia dùng truyền thông để thao túng ý nghĩ của người dân, mình lại nhớ đến cuốn Sapiens - trụ cột của các nền văn minh. Đúng là khái niệm "dân chủ" là một huyền thoại hư cấu mà nhiều người cùng tin tưởng. Họ tin những tấm phiếu mà họ bầu là do chính trí não họ quyết định, chứ không phải do bị ám thị, ảnh hưởng từ bất kỳ các yếu tố bên ngoài nào khác. Có đúng thế không, khi mà các chiến dịch vận động ngày càng trở nên tinh vi hơn, truyền thông vào cuộc nhiều hơn, và cuộc bầu cử ở Mỹ trở thành show thực tế hấp dẫn nhất hành tinh?

[Rmslis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers all of the presidential elections from the very first one through 2012. It was very informative and eye-opening at times to read about the most salient facts concerning the campaign tactics utilized by both parties in order to advance their front-runner in each of the nation’s presidential races. The author’s use and illustration of a “sleaze-meter” certainly helped cement the fact on which of the presidential campaigns were the most sleaziest. Apparently very little has changed throughout history, as according to the author, some of the most corrupt presidential campaigns occurred even at the infancy of the creation of the office of President. The author provided just enough information on each election to give the reader a good gist of the campaign without getting bogged down in too many details. I’ve certainly learned a lot more about the history of the nation via the author’s brief discussion of all of the presidential campaigns and elections that had occurred over the past 200 plus years. I would love to read the author’s brief presentation and sleaze rating of the presidential campaigns of 2016 and 2020. Maybe a republished version with an update?

[Bob Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

After this election I thought I would see how past elections for president went. Now I knew about some of the races and how dirty they were, but there were plenty of election races to look at. It seems that even from the beginning the idea of a civil display by the candidates was only a dream. Now this book doesn't go into great detail of each campaign, but there is just enough to make you think the candidates had no scruples when it came to what was fair. One thing I was watching for was the author attempting to paint one party as the evil doers and the other as paragons of virtue. But he did do that in fact he makes you wonder why grown men act this way. Now in some of the races he does note that one side or the other comes across scandalous information and chose not to use it. This was rare but it did happen. So if you want to discover just how far we have advanced in the election of the president be prepared to be surprised because it hasn't got a whole lot better. Just sit back and enjoy a bumpy ride through politics.

[Mike Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, Informative and A Easy Read

Informative and easy to read. A brief synopsis of each election cycle from George Washington and the 2012 election. Non-partisan. I gave it 4 stars. I stress “brief Synopsis“. Sometimes it gives electoral votes, sometimes not. Sometimes it give the 3rd party nominee’s, sometimes not. Sometimes you would simply like more information. But still a good choice for when you feel like a simple, informative and relaxing read. I enjoyed the book.

Our country has grown to what it is today because every 4 years, we are forced to confront and debate where our country is and where we want it to go. Each chapter presents information on each election cycle. Who ran, what the issues were and the political rhetoric that goes along with our political system. First thing you notice is that nothing has changed in over 300 years. Although it stays at a high level and anyone with a modest knowledge of history will have an opinion on what he should have included, I think it still provides an interesting overview.

[Herb Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining, informative, and ultimately depressing book. Democracy really is a dirty business and there were no good old days. This compendium of dirty tricks and lies is well worth reading. However, it drives home the point that American presidential politics is no more nasty today than it has been in the past. Their opponents described John Adams as a hermaphrodite, Martin van Buren as a transvestite, Andrew Jackson as a murderous adulterer, and James Buchanan as being so inept he failed at suicide. Making fun of Trump's hair and allergy to the truth seems tame by comparison.

There is a lot United Stated History in this little book and I highly recommend it.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers every presidential election from 1789 and thoroughly enjoyable if you're bit of a political junkie (guilty as charged!). Naturally, each election is not covered in depth - usually around 12 pages, but fewer still for some of the less 'famous' stoushes such as Reagan vs Mondale, Clinton vs Dole. Pretty good overviews however of races such as Truman / Dewey, Kennedy / Nixon, Nixon / McGovern, Bush / Clinton / Perot and Obama / McCain (the book was written before Trump / Clinton, but would have been intriguing fitting that into a dozen pages!). One thing is glaringly apparent throughout : while Nixon might have mastered the art of 'dirty tricks', it had been going on for over 200 years!

[wbforeman]

This book isn’t bad I enjoyed what I read, and I think it’s a great concept of showing that the cattiness and the underhanded dealings in campaigning have been around us since the second presidential election. So why did I bail one in the audiobook version the narrator is kind of monotone boring, and he kind of put me to sleep that didn’t help and the format of this book is very segmented where you can basically skip around two different elections that you find interesting And you wouldn’t miss anything. I think reading this in a non-audiobook format probably would be the best route and treating this not as a book you read from beginning to end, but it’s something in small segments

[Alan Carrillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a nice little collection of funny stories about US presidential elections. The book covers every US presidential election between 1789-2004. It's a popular history book, so don't expect any deep insight into the political history surrounding these elections. But as an overview? It's a fun read. The only two things going against the book are that it's outdated, and it's pages are very thick. Literally. I think the pages are made of some kinds of cardstock. So it's a little awkward to handle.

[Renee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every presidential election brings out people complaining about how nasty elections have gotten. Cummins does a fantastic job of showing how these elections have always been nasty. Each section focuses on an election going from Washington to Obama with a good deal of humor. What was most interesting to me was that there was outright fraud in many elections that no one seemed to care about. It was part of politics as usual. Now that we have systems that make it virtually impossible to corrupt an election, so many people want to believe an election has been rigged. Scores of court cases that failed to show any voter fraud can't compete with decades of history when fraud did happen.

[Daniel Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. I learned so much from this book and have probably already forgotten a ton of that. For that reason, I'm going to keep it and reread again in the future. Very well written with perfect cheeky comments in there by the author. I only wish this was current enough to cover the Obama, Trump and Biden elections.

[Kathy Myres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enlightening

I wondered if the current campaign was a new phenomena, everyone commenting that they had seen nothing like it. Well I was shocked to discover that the prospect of power brings out the worst in political spheres and almost no one is above the fray!

[Lisa Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little overview of all of the US presidential elections from the beginning, through the 2012 election. Didn't seem skewed to any particular party, most were equal opportunity train wrecks! Easy and fun read.

[Khánh · Rating 3 out of 5]

1 góc nhỏ bức tranh toàn cảnh lịch sử Mỹ. Vì đ��y là cuốn sách tập trung nhiều vào những bê bối cũng như chiêu trò trong lịch sử bầu cử tổng thống Mỹ nên không làm nổi bật được những sự kiện quan trọng trong lịch sử Mỹ.

[Carole Sustak · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great Read

If you feel that we are living in the worst of times, this book will relieve that stress as it shows examples of just how brutal politicians have been since George Washington.

[Marcia King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brief, sarcastic

The title alerts one to the tone of this book about U.S. elections. Although somewhat accurate, it just left a bad taste in my mouth.

[Mark Mears · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, but not fantastic.

[Douglas Reedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Plenty of humor and facts.