Two Centuries of Presidential Elections

The United States has held 59 presidential elections, nearly half of which are covered in the University Press of Kansas’s book series American Presidential Elections. Surprises, renovations of old understandings, and punctures of conventional wisdoms abound in this smartly rendered series. Surveying these accounts of elections past from the vantage point of a political scientist, with an eye for patterns and techniques as well as the rich substance that the many volumes provide, highlights the ways that events, independent of creeds or philosophies, have underpinned this electoral past, and underscores the importance of infusing “conditions” considerations into accounts of candidates, issues, and campaigns, particularly in crisis elections.