Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Election history on the web

The Living Room Candidate posts television commercials from past U.S. presidential elections. Hat tip. Included are downloadable lesson plans for history teachers who want to use the commercials in the classroom. It's worth a visit just for the first commercial on the site. It simply features an image of a television screen with the sound of laughter. On the screen: "Agnew for Vice President?" Then a second image with the words: "This would be funny if it weren't so serious." The candidate using this one lost the election: Humphrey in 1968.

Meanwhile Wikipedia has compiled a list of female U.S. presidential and vice-presidential candidates, from Victoria Woodhall (for president, Equal Rights Party, 1872) and Lucretia Mott (for vice-president, Liberal Party, 1848) to Hilary Rodham Clinton, along with many others, 2008. Hat tip.