Grading the Presidential Campaign Slogans: 1840-2012
Like many things, some are much better than others.
I was politely challenged by a friend and colleague, based on a currently circulating TikTok, to grade all of the U.S. Presidential campaign slogans on social media, and in my personal preference, to make it not use NC-17 language like the TikTok does, so...away we go:
(I'm not grading all of the losing slogans, just the ones I feel like.)
1840
"Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" – William Henry Harrison
Grade: A
You get credit for being the first mover, and let's face it, if people remember anything about WHH, it's this, and the whole died in 30 days thing.
1844
"54-40 or fight" – James K. Polk
Grade: A-
Credit for brevity, but neither of these things ended up happening. Did Polk invent the Overton window?!?
"Who is James K. Polk?" – Henry Clay
Grade: B-
You're giving your opponent name recognition that you don't think he has. You're doing his work for him!
1848
"For President of the People" – Zachary Taylor
Grade: B
I grant this is a good slogan in the sense that it makes no specific commitments, but it also makes no specific commitments.
1852
"We Polked you in '44, We shall Pierce you in '52" – Franklin Pierce
Grade: A
An absolute banger, so stupid you will never, ever forget it once you read it.
"The Hero of many battles." – Winfield Scott
Grade: C-
Ol' Fuss and Feathers was not getting it done.
1856
"We Po'ked 'em in '44, we Pierced 'em in '52, and we'll Buck 'em in '56" – James Buchanan
Grade: F
Mr. Buchanan needed to see his assistant principal for a detailed review of this nation's plagiarism policy.
"Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, Fremont" – John Fremont
Grade: A-
Makes good use of what you already have going on with your candidate's name, but the list gets a little long to remember all of them, which is why you should probably trim two of the ideas.
1860
"Vote yourself a farm and horses" – Abraham Lincoln
Grade: B-
Full marks for attempted deflection from, you know, the other stuff happening.
1864
"Don't change horses midstream" – Abraham Lincoln
Grade: A
Good advice, short, clever, and lasting.
"An honorable, permanent and happy peace." – George B. McClellan
Grade: F
Wrong then, wrong now; also, it's never a bad time to remember McClellan sucks.
1868
"Let Us Have Peace" – Ulysses S. Grant
Grade: B+
It's not a terrible sentiment, and it plays nicely vis-a-vis the guy who is pitching it.
1872
"Grant Us Another Term" – Ulysses S. Grant
Grade: B+
I like this more than I should.
1876
"The boys in blue vote for Hayes and Wheeler" – Rutherford B. Hayes
Grade: C
We're gonna get a lot of waving the bloody shirt here.
1884
"Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?" – Used by James G. Blaine supporters against Grover Cleveland. The slogan referred to the allegation that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child.
Grade: A
As the original video said, this is a top-tier diss track.
(When Cleveland was elected, his supporters added "Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!" which is a pretty great response.)
"Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine! The continental liar from the state of Maine!" – Grover Cleveland
Grade: B+
We really need to consider going back to calling more American politicians "continental liars."
1888
"Rejuvenated Republicanism" – Benjamin Harrison
Grade: C
You're not even trying, Ben.
1892
"Our choice: Cleve and Steve." – Grover Cleveland and Adlai Stevenson
Grade: B+
I like this more than I should
1896
"Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity" – William McKinley
Grade: B-
Appealing to patriotism rarely fails in American politics. Three Ps seems pretty easy to put in people's heads.
"No Cross of Gold, No Crown of Thorns." – William Jennings Bryan
Grade: Inc.
It clearly is sort of a post hoc thing, and it kind of works, but you really need way more context of what is happening to understand how good this is.
1900
"Four more years of the full dinner pail" – William McKinley
Grade: B
It's a variant of the Lincoln re-election slogan and a reminder that I should really research dinner pails.
1904
"National Unity. Prosperity. Advancement." – Theodore Roosevelt
Grade: C-
This is kind of close to Kang and Kodos's "Twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom."
1908
"Vote for Taft now, you can vote for Bryan any time" – William Howard Taft
Grade: A
Oh, that's good. That’s top-notch diss track.
1912
"It is nothing but fair to leave Taft in the chair" – William Howard Taft
Grade: C-
But is it fair to Flair?
"Win with Wilson" – Woodrow Wilson
Grade: B
Woodrow Wilson is terrible, but this isn't a bad slogan.
"A Square Deal All Around" – Theodore Roosevelt
Grade: A-
A much better effort from Teddy this time as the challenger.
1916
"He has kept us out of war." – Woodrow Wilson
Grade: B
It was true at the time!
"America First and America Efficient" – Charles Evans Hughes
Grade: S
I can't really grade this fairly, even in context.
1920
"Return to normalcy" – Warren G. Harding
Grade: B+
If anyone knows anything about Harding, it's the word normalcy, so that works.
"From Atlanta Prison to the White House, 1920." – Eugene V. Debs
Grade: A
I mean, he's telling you what's up, for sure.
1924
"Keep Cool and Keep Coolidge" – Calvin Coolidge
Grade: B
Seems reasonable; good use of the candidate's name.
1928
"Who but Hoover?" – Herbert Hoover
Grade: C-
Never ask a question that you don't want to be answered there.
1932
"Happy Days Are Here Again" – Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Grade: A
Remember, Happy is relative. Also remember, it took a while. (Grade adjusted as it was pointed out that the DNC has used this at every convention since 1932, so it has staying power.)
1936
"Forward with Roosevelt" – Franklin Roosevelt
Grade: C-
It would be better if you could have made the middle word start with a D, and
"Let's Make It a Landon-Slide" – Alfred M. Landon
Grade: C
Well, I like the idea, but...
1940
"Better A Third Termer than a Third Rater" – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Grade: B+
It was certainly the primary focus of the campaign, so it's a clever flip on its head.
"No Third Term" – Wendell L. Willkie
Grade: D+
This isn't even an argument for you, WLW; it's just a reason to vote against the other guy.
1944
"Don't swap horses in midstream" – Franklin Roosevelt.
Grade: F
Please see our nation's plagiarism policy in the citizen handbook.
"Dewey or don't we" – Thomas E. Dewey
Grade: D
I really expected more out of a Michigan man, Thomas.
1948
"I'm Just Wild About Harry" - Harry Truman
Grade: B-
Honestly, solid use of pop culture here.
"Give Em Hell, Harry!" – Harry Truman (After a man shouted it during one of his whistle-stop railroad tours)
Grade: A+
Occasionally, committees work!
"Dew it with Dewey" – Thomas E. Dewey
Grade: C-
Had Mountain Dew been a national brand prior to the mid-1960s, this could have worked!
1952
"I like Ike" – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Grade: A+
The gold standard. Eight total letters, it can fit on a pin and be legible across the room. The ne plus ultra of campaign slogans.
"Madly for Adlai" – Adlai E. Stevenson
Grade: C-
You tried Adlai; you tried.
1956
"I still like Ike" – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Grade: A
You don't mess with a good thing.
"Adlai and Estes – The Bestest" – Adlai E. Stevenson
Grade: D+
Do you hear yourself right now? Seriously?
1960
"A time for greatness" - John F. Kennedy
Grade: C+
It's not a strong slogan; it's why the New Frontier idea took hold when looking back at the Kennedy campaign.
"Peace, Experience, Prosperity" – Richard Nixon
Grade: C
You didn't want "Fixin' for Nixon"?
1964
"All the way with LBJ" – Lyndon B. Johnson
Grade: A
Rhyming with the J in LBJ. Good here, less good two years later when the protestors did it to him.
"In Your Heart, You Know He's Right" – Barry Goldwater
Grade: B+
There is a tremendous level of self-confidence here, and one could probably go on and on about how this slogan is an encapsulation of the modern conservative movement.
"In Your Guts, You Know He's Nuts" – Lyndon B. Johnson
Grade: A-
Bonus grading here for the fact that Goldwater walked right into that one, AND IT RHYMES! AND IT'S FUNNY!
1968
"Nixon's the One" – Richard M. Nixon
Grade: A
Simple, clear, confident. It brings me no pleasure to report this.
"Some People Talk Change, Others Cause It" – Hubert Humphrey
Grade: C-
HHH, what are you doing here? You're making a case but also not.
1972
"Nixon Now, More than Ever" – Richard M. Nixon
Grade: A-
For as bad as the 1960 slogan was, the Nixon campaign got it right the other two times.
"Come home, America" – George McGovern
Grade: C-
You're not running an Applebee's, George.
"Unbought and Unbossed" – Shirley Chisholm
Grade: A
Bonus grade for a kick-ass slogan memorable enough to be with us today.
1976
"Why not the Best?" – Jimmy Carter
Grade: B+
I like this one because it is a question and because it puts the onus on the voter, but they realize Carter may be on to something.
"He's making us proud again" – Gerald Ford
Grade: C
Oh, Jerry, you should have asked if America liked nachos. You would have done better there.
1980
"Are You Better Off Than You Were Four Years Ago?" – Ronald Reagan
Grade: A
It's a slogan so good that it's become the default question for the challenger in every reelection campaign. It was also a REALLY EASY answer in 1980 for most people.
"Let's Make America Great Again" – Ronald Reagan
Grade: B-
Yep, it was here first. Just saying.
"A Tested and Trustworthy Team" – Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale
Grade: C-
Carter honestly would have been better off talking about your gas mileage as he did in the Our Dumb Century version.
1984
"It's Morning Again in America" – Ronald Reagan
Grade: A+
It's the single greatest piece of political advertising for an incumbent. It's the exact same as the 1980 slogan, but he answers the question for you.
"For New Leadership" – Walter Mondale
Grade: D+
I mean, yes, that's what you're doing. That's not even half a slogan Fritz.
1988
"Kinder, Gentler Nation" – George H. W. Bush
Grade: B
It's sometimes hard, in my own recollection, to separate what were Bush 41's actual slogans and what was just stuff Dana Carvey said while parodying Bush.
"On Your Side" – Michael Dukakis
Grade: D
Michael, you're not an investigative unit of a local news team.
"Keep Hope Alive" – Jesse Jackson
Grade: A-
Bonus grade for one of my all-time favorite political slogans
1992
"For People, for a Change" – Bill Clinton
Grade: C
It's not bad, it plays on the whole 12 years of Reagan/Bush, but it also isn't memorable.
"It's the economy, stupid." – Bill Clinton
Grade: A+
Gets to the heart of the matter, and if you put it out there for everyone else, they realize it too.
"Stand by the President" – George H. W. Bush
Grade: D-
You squandered a 90% approval rating George. They're leaving for a reason.
"A Proud Tradition" – George H. W. Bush
Grade: D-
Bush running on the "we haven't made a bowl game in six years, and people are getting frustrated" vibe.
"Ross for Boss" – Ross Perot
Grade: B+
People like rhyming!
1996
"Building a bridge to the twenty-first century" – Bill Clinton
Grade: C-
It's a good millennium on the horizon thing; people like the bridge metaphor, we're going somewhere, but yeah, there's too much here.
"The Better Man for a Better America" – Bob Dole
Grade: C+
It's honestly a solid diss track, but it's also attached to Bob Dole.
2000
"Leadership for the New Millennium" – Al Gore
Grade: C-
It's just, it's so middling.
"Compassionate Conservatism" – George W. Bush
Grade: B
You can argue the truthiness of it, but at least it was a recognition of a base of concern.
2004
"A Safer World and a More Hopeful America" – George W. Bush
Grade: C
We occasionally tend to forget how weird post-9/11 America was for a while there.
"A Stronger America" – John Kerry
Grade: C-
John, I know what you were going for here, and it's not bad, but it's just...[sigh]
2008
"Yes We Can" – Barack Obama
Grade: A-
Loses a little bit because it's cultural appropriation, BUT the quick hit of it, the affirming tone, the belief in the collective whole, yes.
"Hope" – Barack Obama
Grade: A-
Needs the visual for the full effect, but man, that really just lays it right there.
"Country First" – John McCain
Grade: B+
It's a very McCain slogan, it plays on his military career, and it's not centering on self, but still, it's missing something.
2012
"Forward" – Barack Obama
Grade: B+
You weren't going to top the 2008 slogans, but this at least acknowledges the idea of continuing ahead.
"Believe in America" – Mitt Romney
Grade: D+
So, there were actually like six slogans listed for Romney, which speaks to how they couldn't land on something that sticks.
And that's it; thankfully, American history ends in 2015, and political science takes over, so I am off the hook here.
Thank you for playing along!