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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. 

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Ronald Reagan was the 40th President of the United States who won his first term in 1980 with George Bush as his Vice President. He won 489 electoral votes against his opponent, Jimmy Carter. Before he was president, Reagan was governor of California and a well-known Hollywood actor with his most famous roll in Kings Row (1942). A few months into office there was an assassination attempt.

Reagan’s goal in office was to make the American people less reliant on the government. He cut funding and social services. He tried to stimulate the economy and lower the unemployment rate. He supported and expanded Medicare and social security. The term “Reaganomics” was coined during this time as he proposed the idea of trickle down economics. 

Reagan believed that negotiating with the Soviet Union was important to restore International relations and aid in peaceful negotiations. Reagan is known for the line, “Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall,” in 1987 referring to the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany. He wanted to stop the expansion of communism, so he pushed for more military spending and American influence. Reagan and Gorbachev would sign the Intermediate Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty in 1987 which eliminated intermediate-range nuclear missiles from both sides. The Iran Hostage Crisis continued into the beginning of Reagan's presidency. After a long series of televised talks, weapons were exchanged for the hostages.

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Charles H. Percy was born September 27, 1919, in Pensacola, Florida. He was a senator for Illinois from 1967 to 1985 and he was the Republican nominee for Governor of Illinois in 1964, but did not win. Percy was anti-isolationist and supported low-cost housing. Prior to his role in politics, Percy became the president of Bell & Howell, a firm in the film industry, in 1949 and expanded the firm to a multinational scale.