{"product_id":"the-carnival-campaign-ronald-g-shafer-9781613735404","title":"The Carnival Campaign: How the Rollicking 1840 Campaign of Tippecanoe and Tyler Too Changed Presidential Elections Forever","description":"\u003cp\u003eAmericans have come to expect that the nation's presidential campaigns will be characterized by a carnival atmosphere emphasizing style over substance. But this fascinating account of the pivotal 1840 election reveals how the now-unavoidable traditions of big money, big rallies, shameless self-promotion, and carefully manufactured candidate images first took root in presidential politics. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePulitzer Prize-nominated former \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e reporter Ronald G. Shafer tells the colorful story of the election battle between sitting president Martin Van Buren, a professional Democratic politician from New York, and Whig Party upstart William Henry Harrison, a military hero who was nicknamed \"Old Tippecanoe\" after a battlefield where he fought and won in 1811. Shafer shows how the pivotal campaign of \"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too\" marked a series of firsts that changed presidential politicking forever: the first presidential campaign as mass entertainment, directed at middle- and lower-income voters; the first \"image campaign,\" in which strategists painted Harrison as an everyman living in a log cabin sipping hard cider (in fact, he was born into wealth, lived in a twenty-two-room mansion, and drank only sweet cider); the first campaign in which a candidate, Harrison, traveled and delivered speeches directly to voters; the first one influenced by major campaign donations; the first in which women openly participated; and the first involving massive grassroots rallies, attended by tens of thousands and marked by elaborate fanfare, including bands, floats, a log cabin on wheels, and the world's tallest man. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSome of history's most fascinating figures--including Susan B. Anthony, Charles Dickens, Abraham Lincoln, Edgar Allan Poe, Thaddeus Stevens, and Walt Whitman--pass through this colorful story, which is essential reading for anyone interested in learning when image first came to trump ideas in presidential politics.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ronald G. Shafer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1613735405\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781613735404\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Chicago Review Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.20lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.30d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2017","brand":"Ronald G. Shafer","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43939178971391,"sku":"9781613735404","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_610ad54d-7a67-49e6-b200-767dd7e5f704.jpg?v=1681439964","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-carnival-campaign-ronald-g-shafer-9781613735404","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}