Primary Source Learning: Presidential Elections
Guided primary source analysis activities
- Does Your Vote for President Count? electoral college to 1912
- Footrace, Pennsylvania Avenue 1844
- Great presidential puzzle 1880 & 2016
- The whole story (election 1888) in a nutshell!
- Taft About to Eclipse Bryan 1908
- Goal! 1908 & 1912
- Biggest Business in the World 1920
- Massachusetts Did It 1920
- Election Day contemporary
More teaching resources
- American Memory Timeline: The Presidential Election of 1960
- Analyzing Primary Sources: Identifying Bias in Presidential Election Newspaper Coverage
- Analyzing Primary Sources: Technology & Presidential Nominating Conventions
- Elections… the American Way
- Election Week Special: “The Dodger” and the Election of 1884 Folklife Today blog, November 3, 2016
- Electoral College: Are All Votes Equal? Citizen U lesson
- Presidential Elections and Voting in U.S. History
Teaching with the Library of Congress blog posts
- Design a Mock Election in 2012: Lessons from Historical Primary Sources
- Know Your Candidate: Analyzing Sheet Music to Explore Presidential Nominee Identity
- A Look at the Electoral College through Math and U.S. History Lenses
- Multimedia Moment: American Archives of Public Broadcasting
- Path to the Presidency: Catching the Voters Eye
- Path to the Presidency: Political Speeches
- Presidential Elections: Newspapers and Complex Text
Topics in Chronicling America historic 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
Images
- Selected presidential election images 1836-1908
- More presidential elections images
- American Treasures: Lincoln for President
- American Treasures: Dewey Defeats Truman
Political cartoons
Primary source sets
- Campaign Ephemera
- Primary Source Spotlight: 1876 Contested Presidential Election
- Today in History: Uniform Presidential Election Day
- Today in History: Political Debates
Digital Resource Guides
More Library resources
- Presidential Elections and the Electoral College: The Proceedings of the Electoral Commission of 1877
- The Electoral College – What Is It and How Does It Function? In Custodia Legis November 6, 2012
- American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election
- LC Web Archives: United States Election 2000 Web Archive
- Useful election search terms for delving further into the Library’s collections
- “Daisy”: The Most Effective Political Commercial Ever? Now See Hear! September 7, 2016
- “Vote!” Election Day Pages in Historic Newspapers Teaching with the Library of Congress November 3, 2022
Select resources outside the Library
- Electing a U.S. President: in plain English Common Craft
- Living Room Candidate: Presidential Campaign Commercials 1952-2004 Museum of the Moving Image
- American Presidency Project Documents
Related resources