Today in History: Uniform Presidential Election Day

Today in History–November 4–the Library of Congress features the passage of legislation on this day in 1845 requiring a uniform election day for President of the United States on the: “Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November of the year in which they are to be appointed.” The 1848 election was the first presidential election in which Americans in every state voted on the same day. Find out more by visiting the Today in History section then click the links below for more presidential resources.

Elections interactive activity (teacher guide)

Primary Source Investigation: Campaign

Presidential Elections & the Electoral College: Proceedings of the Electoral Commission of 1877

American Memory Timeline: The Presidential Election of 1960

Presidential election maps

Selected Presidential Campaign prints: 1836-1908

Presidential election images

Films related to presidential elections

Political cartoons

• Presidential Campaigns (Oliphant’s Anthem)
• Presidents & Elections (Herblock’s History)
  • Don’t Look Now, but He’s Still Standing There 1936
  • Naughty, Naughty 1952
  • You Don’t Hear Much About Liberalism Lately—We’re Not Leaving Anything to be Liberal With 1988
  • Getaway Car 2000
  • Drill the Wilderness! This Is An Energy Crisis! 2001
• Elections (Humor’s Edge, Ann Telnaes)
• More presidential election cartoons

Topics in Chronicling America historical newspaper guides

• Presidential Elections: Cleveland vs. Harrison (1884)
• Presidential Elections: Cleveland (1892)
• Presidential Elections: McKinley (1896)
• Presidential Elections: McKinley-Roosevelt (1900)
• Presidential Elections: Roosevelt (1904)
• Presidential Elections: Taft (1908)
• Presidential Elections: Wilson (1912)

Presidential election historical newspaper articles (tip: use the advanced search to refine the results)

LC Web Archives: United States Election 2000

U.S. federal legislation related to presidential elections

United States & International Election Law online

Campaigning for President Timeless Stories from the Library January 24, 2017

Election Day Collection Coverage Timeless Stories from the Library November 8, 2016

Primary Source Learning: Presidential Elections activities & lessons

U.S. Presidents primary source collections & teaching resources

Recommended Resources outside the Library

• Electing a U.S. President: in plain English (Common Craft)
• The Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2008
• The American Presidency Project: Election Data