Monday, November 7, 2005

Election Day through the years (part VI)...

Just one day remains before Election Day 2005 and with that in mind we continue our series of key election results through the years by taking you way back to 1820 and bringing you into the 21st century by ending with results from 2000...

1820) James Monroe, our 5th U.S. President ran unopposed for the Democratic-Republican party nomination and to no one's surprise, was reelected. Only one elector did not vote for Monroe so that George Washington would be the only president unanimously chosen by the electoral college...

1848) Whig candidate and Mexican War hero, General Zachary Taylor defeated Democrat Lewis Cass and was elected the 12th President of the United States...

1876) The outcome of this election was not known until the week before the inauguration itself (remind you of another recent presidential election ?). Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote but Republican Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio remained in the race with Tilden just one electoral vote shy of winning. In the end the electoral college selected Hayes as our 19th President...

1916) Woodrow Wilson, our 28th President ran on a platform of getting America involved in World War I to make the world "safe for democracy" and was reelected...

1916) Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the 1st woman elected to Congress...

1944) President Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented 4th term in office (our last President allowed to do this) by defeating Thomas E. Dewey...

1962) Richard M. Nixon, who failed in a bid to become governor of California told reporters "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore"...

1967) Carl Stokes was elected mayor of Cleveland, becoming the 1st black mayor of a major American City (Stokes would later be a news anchor on NBC-TV's channel 4 in New York)...

1972) President Richard M. Nixon was reelected in a landslide over Democrat George McGovern...

1989) L. Douglas Wilder becomes the nation's 1st elected black governor (Virginia)...

1989) David N. Dinkins is elected New York City's 1st black mayor...

1998) House Speaker Newt Gingrich resigns following election results in which the Republican House majority shrinks from 22 to 12...

2000) Republican George W. Bush is elected president over incumbent Democratic Vice President Al Gore who wins the popular vote (the winner is not known for more than a month because of the dimples and chads in Florida, a great name for an R&B duo, 'here they are, 'Dimples & Chads')...

2000) Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes the 1st lady to win public office, defeating Republican Rick Lazio for a U.S. Senate seat from New York...

More November 7 Memories...

1874) "Harper's Weekly" features a cartoon critical of President U.S. Grant with the image of an elephant representing the Republican party (this is the 1st time an elephant will be used to represent Republicans)...

1929) The Museum of Modern Art opens to the public in New York City...

1959) Bill Russell & Wilt Chamberlain play against each other for the 1st time in the NBA as the Celtics beat Philadelphia 115-106 at Boston Garden. Chamberlain outscores Russell 30-22 but Russell outrebounds "The Stilt" 35-30...

1962) Former 1st lady Eleanor Roosevelt dies at 78...

1962) Blackhawks goalie Glenn Hall's NHL consecutive games record ends at 502 because of a back injury (Hall who played without a mask had never missed a game for 7 seasons)...

1963) Elston Howard of the Yankees becomes the 1st black player to be named the American League's MVP (note: it had been done in the National League prior to 1963)...

1965) The "Pillsbury Dough Boy" debuts in TV commercials...

1967) President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a bill establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting...

1973) New Jersey becomes the 1st U.S. state to permit girls to play Little League baseball...

1975) Two-time Bruin MVP, Phil Esposito is traded to the Rangers (for Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and 2 others) in a trade that shakes Beantown...

1980) Steve McQueen dies at 50...

1982) Liz Taylor chalks up divorce #7 (John Warner)...

1986) Willie Nelson makes a guest appearance on "Miami Vice" as a corrupt policeman...

1989) Richard Ramirez, convicted of California's "Night Stalker" murders, is sentenced to death...

1991) Frank Zappa is diagnosed with prostate cancer...

1991) Actor Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman pleads no contest to charges of indecent exposure (in a Sarasota movie theater)...

1995) The Captain and Tennille (Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille) renew their wedding vows on their 20th anniversary...

1999) Tiger Woods becomes the 1st golfer since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win 4 straight tournaments...

2000) Garth Brooks files for divorce from wife Sandy...

Happy Birthday To...

1918) Reverend Billy Graham...

1926) Opera singer Joan Sutherland...

1938) Former pitcher and Yankee broadcaster Jim Kaat...

1942) Johnny Rivers...

1943) Joni Mitchell...

1974) Met pitcher Kris Benson...

Commentary...

A footnote on the election of Hillary Clinton in 2000:

I remember running into Rick Lasio who unsuccessfully ran against Hillary Clinton in the 2000 election and Mr. Lasio who is a lawyer by trade explained that there was no way he could have defeated Clinton in that election because of the money behind her but more importantly because of the sympathy factor. The State of New York, where Democrats outnumber Republicans would not vote against the woman who so bravely defended her beleaguered husband...

Our series on "Election Day through the years" ends with tomorrow's Election Day 2005 issue of 'Mel Phillips Remembers'...

Unlike politicians, I don't have the solutions but I do admire the problems...