October 31, 2015

Quiz: How Much Do You Know About America’s Sleaziest Presidential Races?

A new book looks at nasty races where Donald Trump would have felt right at home.

Courtesy of Quirk Books

Think the 2016 election is shaping up to be an ugly fight? In historical terms, it might not be so bad.

In his new book, Anything for a Vote, Joseph Cummins looks back at more than two centuries of campaign sleaze and scandal, from twisted words and unfounded rumors to blackmail and burglary. While this grimy lens can be a hilarious way to look at the history of presidential politics, it’s often a sobering one as well—colored by policies of discrimination and assaults on voting rights that are still relevant today. It’s enough to make Donald Trump’s Twitter-bullying look pretty tame.

How much do you know about the dirty tricks and cheap shots of presidential campaigns past? Take this quiz of trivia from Cummins' book:

 

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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