American Presidential Election Campaigns 1789–2024 60 Campaigns That Shaped US Politics
By Iain Dale
Few political events capture the world’s attention quite like American presidential elections. As Donald Trump’s second term begins to draw to a close and politics grows ever more polarised, many are asking what comes next. But the American experiment has often been tested over the course of its history, and there are lessons to be learned from what has come before.
America has gone to the polls to elect a President on sixty separate occasions, from the young republic’s first experiment in democracy in 1789 to Trump’s 2024 victory over Kamala Harris. This comprehensive anthology features a chapter on every election, each written by a different contributor from politics, academia or journalism, including Karl Rove, Emily Maitlis, Jon Sopel, Sarah Smith, Justin Webb, Tim Shipman and Lord Blackwater.
From Reconstruction to realignment, from pamphlets to polling, from overwhelming victories to one-vote margins, this timely, insightful and well-researched collection vividly brings to life the drama, debates and characters of each campaign, alongside an accessible introduction that sheds light on how the American system really works. Appealing to the general reader and political obsessive alike, this is the essential guide to US presidential election campaigns.
Reviews
“I lasted eleven days in the White House; Iain Dale’s brilliant book explains the other 86,870. He has assembled sixty campaigns, from Washington’s coronation to Trump’s comeback, and every one proves American democracy has always been equal parts poetry, skulduggery and sheer chaos. It took a Brit to explain our elections to us. Wise, gossipy and wildly entertaining, this is essential reading before 2028.”
Anthony Scaramucci, former White House Director of Communications
“Day by day it becomes clearer that in Britain we are increasingly in the hands of the American political system. Yet most of us know little about it beyond the odd presidential anecdote. This book is a brilliant primer on an entire political history that every interested person in Britain needs to understand.”
Andrew Marr, broadcaster, LBC Radio
“What a brilliant galère of writers Iain Dale has brought together to create this excellent book, which will be unvaluable both for historians and the general reader. The expertise and erudition shine from every page.”
Andrew Roberts, author of Churchill: Walking with Destiny
“Iain Dale has done it again! Enlisting an impressive array of historians, political journalists and former government officials, American Presidential Election Campaigns delivers an extraordinary collection of insights, with telling anecdotes, into how complicated and challenging it is to win the hardest job on the planet. No one can truly say they understand the United States without reading this book.”
Mitchell Reiss, former US ambassador to Northern Ireland
“These chapters shine a light not just on elections but on the broader political moments that shaped them. A must-read for anyone interested in the great democratic experiment of the United States.”
David Lammy, former Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister
“Iain Dale helms the definitive US election compendium, from the first forging of America’s democratic experiment all the way through to the clear-and-present danger the country’s governing system currently faces. Across sixty presidential elections, you’ll experience the country’s formation; the threats posed by wars, pandemics and other global challenges; its territorial and industrial expansion; and the central characters who rose to the fore to write America’s storied history. A must-read for anyone who wants to understand today’s America and the portents for its future.”
Simon Marks, Washington correspondent, LBC
“American Presidential Elections are the greatest democratic show on Earth and this is a wonderful, all-encompassing guide to these historic contests. Iain Dale has assembled a stunning array of writers who more than do justice to these momentous events.”
Michael Gove, editor, The Spectator
“Every campaign professional likes to believe their race is unprecedented. Iain Dale’s collection is a bracing corrective. Across sixty elections and sixty contributors, you watch the tools of the trade get invented, abandoned and reinvented – the front-porch campaign, the whistle-stop tour, the attack ad, the viral clip. The mix of British and American voices brings a perspective you won’t find in the usual histories, and the data at the head of each chapter makes it as useful as it is readable. It belongs on the bookshelf of any serious politico.”
Shane Greer, publisher, Campaigns & Elections
“There is no job in the world quite like the American presidency and no shortage of men and women, living and long dead, who have deemed themselves fit to hold it. This vast and fascinating book vividly brings to life the extraordinary pressures candidates must withstand to enter this most exclusive club. What emerges are the recurring ingredients of a winning presidential campaign: ego, funding, preparation, stamina, energy, messaging, communication, counterpunching, technology, vision, competence and, often, sheer luck.”
Daniel Forrester, US political commentator
“From high-stakes rallies and make-or-break debates to scandals and subterfuge, this is an exhilarating and definitive guide to the weird and wonderful world of American presidential campaigns.”
Professor Brian Klaas, professor of global politics, University College London
“For anyone with even a passing interest in American politics, this book is a narrative masterpiece. With a scholar’s vigour and a novelist’s sense of drama, these essays highlight the development of American democracy over more than two centuries. Riveting and well researched, they offer a factual history of each election with a nuanced interpretation and analysis of the ebbs and flows of each campaign. This book is a must-read for any political junkie.”
Sir Simon Burns, former Conservative MP and expert on US politics
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- Hardback, 656 pages
- ISBN: 9781785909795
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3 November 2026
Available to pre-order - £30.00
- eBook
- ISBN: 9781837360833
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3 November 2026
Available to pre-order - £24.99