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The 1940 presidential election saw a shocking Republican nomination when Wendell Willkie was chosen to lead the ticket. Willkie was an American lawyer and corporate executive and largely not a political figure. To counteract this lack of political experience, his running mate was Charles McNary, who had been a senator of Oregon for 23 years and was highly experienced. 

Willkie gained momentum late into the process and passed expected winners, William Taft and Thomas Dewey. Both Taft and Dewey were staunchly isolationist and wanted to avoid getting involved in World War II. Republicans at the time wanted to help their allies, which Willkie was in favor of. Willkie lost the election in a landslide, losing to popular incumbent Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelt was running an unprecedented third term, and his soaring popularity showed up during the election leading to his massive victory.

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The border wall separating key points between Mexico and the United States is one of the key campaign promises that helped Donald Trump secure the presidency. At many rallies, the crowd would enthusiastically chant, “build the wall,” to show support for the initiative. Designed to curb the flow of illegal immigration, the idea of the wall was not well-received by much of the American public and the dissent was largely non-partisan, although it has been framed to be a partisan issue in recent years. Many would lose land that had been in families for generations along the border in order to construct a wall and the cost of animals and wildlife being unable to cross the border at intervals would create a large environmental impact. Others believed that the wall would not prevent any drug traffic from coming across the border, but would prevent migrant workers from being able to take seasonal jobs. Whether or not building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico is effective in reducing drug traffic is yet to be seen. Once in office, the Trump administration had issues funding to replace parts of the existing wall and add more walls across the border.

The response to the border wall is mixed, many Democrats arguing the wall is meant to keep certain races out of the United States. In response to the idea of a border wall to keep things out of the United States, people have jokingly asked that a wall be built around Trump to keep his ideas out of the United States.

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President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore’s re-election campaign in 1996 emphasized the importance of education. This caught the attention of teachers. In the midst of a technological boom, Clinton and Gore felt it was vital to expand their efforts of supporting the public education system and teachers to set them up for success. The campaign promised to support teacher’s education, redesign failing systems, ensure tax dollars are going to public schools, support students with disabilities, and bring technology into the classrooms. Even further, they promised to support higher education to provide Americans with the opportunity to take part, and expand work study options.

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JFK: Superman Comes to the Supermarket was written by Norman Mailer and first published in 1960 by Esquire magazine. The rights to publish the material were eventually picked up by Taschen publishing. The content was eventually re-released in book format, and it covers the 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy. The book is unique in that it is a photo book that covers the campaign from beginning to end. The reader can experience the surge of momentum that Kennedy brought as they advance in pages. This eventually culminates in his election victory, with Mailer covering every step in between.

Taschen publishing was founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen and originally only published comic books. The company later evolved to publish other art books, hence the acquisition of Mailer’s photo book. The company is still managed by Benedikt, who now co-manages with her daughter, Marlene Taschen.

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Henry T. Synek was a Chicago-based attorney who ran for Illinois State Senate in 1970. Synek won the democratic nomination in March of 1970 and ran against incumbent Republican W. Russell Arrington in the general election in November. Arrington had held the seat for five terms since a special election in 1954. Arrington took 60% of the vote to Synek’s 40%. This would be Synek’s only campaign in politics. 

In 1971, Synek represented five plaintiffs in a legal case against the deceased Illinois politician Paul Powell’s estate. Powell was Illinois Secretary of State and despite earning a salary of $30,000 was found to have acquired over $2 million unaccounted for upon his death. Synek, on behalf of his clients, sued to have the money put under the charge of a court ordered trustee.  Eventually, it was discovered that Powell had received nearly $4.6 million in bribes for giving government contracts to political associates. Several contractors were later jailed for their roles in the bribery.

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Democratic candidates Adlai Stevenson II and running mate Estes Kefauver campaigned in the 1956 presidential election. Stevenson was the former Illinois State Governor from 1949-1953. He ran for office in both the 1952 and 1956 elections and lost both times to Dwight D. Eisenhower and his running mate Richard Nixon. He attempted to gain the democratic nomination again in 1960, but lost the nomination to John F. Kennedy.

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William Scranton was a longtime Republican politician, who served as both a Governor to Pennsylvania and as an ambassador representing the United States in the United Nations. Scranton is known for his bipartisan appeal and would blur the line between liberal and conservative. He was in favor of social and civil rights issues such as increasing minimum wage, increasing aid to at-risk children, and making access to education easier. At the same time, he was fiscal conservative in matters relating to taxes and government spending.

Scranton became a late addition to the 1964 Presidential election, initially resisting advice to join the fray. Unfortunately for Scranton, by the time he did join, Barry Goldwater had already secured a sizable lead. His campaign became undone when a staffer wrote and published a letter highly criticizing Goldwater, but signed it as Scranton. This damaged Scranton’s reputation in the Republican party and Goldwater secured the nomination easily.

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Texan industrialist and billionaire Ross Perot unsuccessfully ran as a third-party candidate in the 1992 presidential election. Perot ran on an Independent ticket and placed third to the runner-up, George Bush, and winner, Bill Clinton. He was successful in getting his name on all 50 ballots and even got on the debate stage with the other two candidates. While he gathered no electoral votes, Perot still managed to gather almost twenty million popular votes.

It can be argued that his campaign played spoiler to Bush’s election and cost the incumbent president key votes that may have won him the election. Perot’s campaign showed that while third-party candidates may not win, they could play spoiler and affect the race. His campaign also started a trend of financial moguls entering the national political scene.

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The 1984 presidential election was a contest between incumbent President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H.W. Bush, and the Democratic Party's ticket former Vice President Walter Mondale and New York Representative Geraldine Ferraro. Mondale had wanted to choose New York Governor Mario Cuomo as his running mate, but he declined. Ferraro, recommended by Cuomo, was the first woman nominated for Vice President by a major party, and Mondale hoped to appeal to women voters. 

President Reagan could point to a strong economic recovery and renewed national confidence during his first term, while Mondale supported the Equal Rights Amendment and the need to decrease budget deficits. The Mondale/Ferraro ticket was damaged during the campaign by questions about Ferraro's husband, real estate developer John Zaccaro. Although there were some questions about Reagan's age and capacity to continue in the office, the Reagan/Bush ticket was successful on Election Day, receiving the electoral college votes of 49 out of 50 states.