[Bryce] To gain some historical perspectiveon 2016, lets look back at the previous 13 presidential elections. In 1964, less than a year after the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy, the power of the Democratic Party was at its peak. President Lyndon Johnson had just signed the
historic Civil Rights Act into law in July.
The result? Johnson trounced the ultra-conservative Barry
Goldwater in the most lopsided popular vote margin in presidential election history. 1968 Was the most tumultuous election year
of the century. [King] Mine eyes have seen the glory of
the coming of the lord! Both Martin Luther King, Jr and Robert Kennedy
were assassinated, and with protests raging over the war in Vietnam, LBJ chose not to
run for reelection. [Johnson] I will not accept the nomination
of my party for another term as your president.
The result was a major political realignment,
as Republican Richard Nixon took advantage of racial resentment. But the segregationist George Wallace - an
independent - was a major beneficiary, winning most of the deep south. [Wallace] Why dont you young punks get
outta the auditorium. The backlash was strong among whites over
the Democratic Partys embrace of Civil Rights and Johnsons ambitious Great Society
programs to fight poverty.
That realignment was on full display in 1972
as incumbent President Nixon destroyed his opponent, George McGovern, and won 49 states. News stories on the Watergate scandal that
would force Nixon to resign from office two years later were just beginning to break. The 72 election is also notable for the
attempt on the life of the Democratic frontrunner George Wallace, who was shot five times and
paralyzed from the waist down, ending his campaign. With the Republicans reeling from the fallout
over Nixon - [Nixon] I shall resign the Presidency.
1976 Was the only time in the 24 year-period
from 68-92 that a Democrat won the presidency. That candidate was deeply religious southerner
Jimmy Carter, who was - momentarily - able to switch the South back to Democratic control
in his narrow victory over Nixons successor, President Gerald Ford. In 1980, the Republican former governor of
California, Ronald Reagan offered a more optimistic vision for an American economy weakened by
high unemployment and inflation. [Reagan] Is there more or less unemployment
in the country than there was four years ago? The Iran hostage crisis was the nail in President
Carters political coffin, helping Reagan win more electoral votes than any non-incumbent
presidential candidate in history.
Four years later, Reagans Democratic challenger,
Walter Mondale, only managed to win his home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia--which
has never voted Republican. Mondales uphill battle against a popular
sitting president was pretty much impossible from the start with the economy booming under
Reagan. Mondale did make some history by choosing
Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, the first woman nominated to a major-party presidential
ticket. In 1988, the Republican torch was passed to
Vice President George HW Bush--who had spent most of his adult life serving the country.
To fend off Democrat Michael Dukakis, Bush
turned to the dark arts, unleashing a series of negative attacks against his opponent,
who failed to respond in kind. [Narrator] Dukakis not only opposes the
death penalty, he allowed first degree murderers to have weekend passes from prison. One was Willie Horton, who murdered a boy
in a robbery, stabbing him 19 times. While Bushs electoral college victory margin
was convincing, his too-close-for-comfort popular vote margin and underwhelming voter
turnout foreshadowed a tough road to reelection.
And in 1992, Bushs reelection was made
much tougher when he alienated his conservative base by breaking a campaign pledge against
raising taxes. [H.W. Bush] Read my lips: No. New.
Taxes. Bush shouldve been flying high after leading
a decisive American victory in the Persian Gulf War... [Frontline Narrator] The man often derided
as a political wimp had maneuvered his generals, his country, and the most world... But the economy dipped into recession, opening
the door for a young charismatic southern democratic governor named Bill Clinton.
Clinton and Independent Ross Perot, who ran
an incredibly strong third-party campaign, picked Bush apart and held him to just 37.4%
Of the popular vote. Clintons 43% was enough to give him a convincing
electoral college victory. Going into the 1996 election, Clinton was
very beatable after failing to enact his main target: health care reform. But the economy was booming, the world was
peaceful, and the Republicans nominated the uninspiring Bob Dole, a man 23 years older
than Clinton.
Ross Perot ran a second time, and his 8.4%
Again undercut the Republicans, cementing Clintons reelection, and making him the
first president since Woodrow Wilson to win two terms without crossing the 50% threshold
in the popular vote. The November 7, 2000 election between Clintons
Vice President Al Gore, and Texas Republican governor George W. Bush, was the most dramatic
- and controversial - since 1876. For the first time in 112 years the eventual
winner failed to win the popular vote.
The race came down to Florida, where Bush
led Gore by less than 1,000 votes, out of more than 5.8 Million cast. After more than a month of recounts and court
battles, the U.S. Supreme Court (in a 5-4 decision) awarded Floridas 25 electoral
votes, and the presidency, to Bush. Bushs 2004 reelection was defined by two
things: the war on terrorism.
[W. Bush] The people who knocked these
buildings down will hear all of us soon. And the war in Iraq, which Bush launched under
the false assertion that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed nuclear and biological weapons. Senator John Kerry - the current U.S.
Secretary
of State - was the Democratic nominee. Kerrys critiques of Bush were undermined
by his vote authorizing the Iraq War, and a smear campaign to cast doubt on his record
as a Vietnam war hero. Bushs margin of victory was the smallest
ever recorded for an incumbent president and, just like his 2000 victory, was not without
controversy, as the results from Ohio were highly questionable after numerous voting
irregularities came to light. Going into the 2008 election, the stage was
set for a Democratic wave.
Bush and his Iraq War were deeply unpopular
with an American people yearning for change, opening the door for two historic candidacies. Barack Obama - a young, freshman senator from
the state of Illinois - burst onto the scene to challenge the junior senator from New York,
former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, for the Democratic nomination. The two superstars battled for an entire year,
debating more than 20 times. Fueled by the energetic support of young Americans,
commanding oratory, and a brilliant grassroots-driven campaign, Obama came from behind to narrowly
secure the nomination.
The Republicans chose Senator John McCain
as their nominee, a political moderate and former war hero. Recognizing the power of Obamas movement-oriented
campaign, McCain made a desperate play, tapping a little known Alaskan governor as his running
mate. But Sarah Palin quickly proved to be unqualified
in the eyes of most American voters, eroding McCains credibility. [Couric] Can you name a few? [Palin] I have a vast variety of sources
where we get our news too.
Alaska isnt a foreign country. [TV News Reporter #1] The stock market
is now down 21% [Reporter #2] Were now down 43%
[Reporter #3] I have never, live, looked at the DOW Jones Industrial board and seen
a 600 point loss. [Reporter #4] Who knows where this is going
to end up. I mean this is volatility we havent seen,
of course, since way before you and I were born, even before our grandparents.
You know, 1929. [Reporter #5] So almost everything there
completely wiped out. And the NASDAQ everything and more has been
completely wiped out. [Bryce]
With the economy collapsing on Bushs watch, and hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars
flowing into Wall Street banks to keep them solvent, Obama and his democratic party surged
to victory.
The election of the first African American
president turned a higher percentage of his fellow citizens out to vote than in any election
since the tumultuous 1968 campaign. [Charles Gibson] Barack Obama will be the
44th President of the United States. [Crowd cheering loudly]
[President-elect Obama] Its been a long time coming. But because of what we did on this day, in
this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.
2012 Was defined by three things. President Obamas all-hands-on-deck approach
to rescuing the economy; the Republican Partys efforts to block Obama at all costs; and Obamas
signature achievement, the Affordable Care Act that dramatically reduced the number of
Americans without health insurance. With the economy recovering slowly, Obama
seemed beatable. But on May 2, 2011, the President announced
the death of Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, hunted by
the US Government for 10 years.
[President Obama] The United States has
conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda. The moment - celebrated as a victory in the
War on Terror - helped cement Obamas image as a formidable Commander-In-Chief. [Crowd singing national anthem] Gave proof
through the night, that our flag was still there. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney
captured the Republican nomination.
[Mitt Romney] Too many Americans are struggling
to find work in todays economy. He was a capable opponent, but after making
hundreds of millions of dollars as a capital investor, he was labeled as a representative
of the increasingly vilified 1%. [Protesters chanting] Whose streets? Our streets! The Occupy Movement, led by protesters who
encamped at Zuccotti Park in Manhattans financial district, had focused the worlds
attention on social and economic inequality. In the end, Obama was carried by his best-in-history
political organization - still fully intact after his 08 campaign - and secured a larger-than-expected
reelection victory.
2016 Is set to be another historic, first
of its kind election for the United States. But will it be the first time we elect someone
who has never served their country before? Or the first time America chooses a woman
as its leader? Until next time, thanks for watching, and
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