Introduction

This is the inital blog of what I anticipate will be a series of entries documenting the presidential elections in the United States. Each post will provide an upgrade of the narrative of one of these elections at www.ourcampaigns.com. They will be posted in no particular order. I have a table set up at http://www.ourcampaigns.com/UserBlogPostDetail.html?UserBlogID=24&UserBlogPostID=337 that shows the progress of upgrading the narratives.

The posts will fall into five categories:

1) Primaries. These will only cover the Democrats and Republicans. Primaries of minor parties will be discussed in #2. The two main parties have held contested primaries for US President beginning in 1908. These entries will include a brief overview of the history of the party in the presidential administration coming to a close and will include information on the party conventions/caucuses to select national convention delegates.

2) Conventions. This category will include the major parties and minor parties, as well as the caucuses held from 1800 until 1824. These posts will include an overview of the history of the party in the previous presidential administration (if not documented in #1 above), the convention site, and (for minor parties) information on the general election campaign.

3) Debates. All presidential debates will be covered separately. The first presidential debate was held in 1948 between Thomas E. Dewey and Harold E. Stassen during the Oregon primary campaign.

4) The Popular Vote. All presidential elections 1789-2008 will be covered. A recap of the selection of nominees will be included along with information on the conduct of the campaign, key issues, and the results.

5) The Electoral Vote. These posts will discuss what happened after "election day." For elections prior to the Civil War, states with legislation selection of Presidential Electors will be discussed. The meetings of the Presidential Electors and the Joint Session of Congress to count the electoral votes will be discussed. The three contingent elections (1800, 1824, and 1836) will have separate entries.