The Coming of Democracy, Mark R. Cheathem
The Coming of Democracy, Mark R. Cheathem
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The Coming of Democracy
Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson

Author: Mark R. Cheathem

Narrator: Chris Andrew Ciulla

Unabridged: 8 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/15/2019

Synopsis

In The Coming of Democracy, Mark R. Cheathem examines the evolution of presidential campaigning from 1824 to 1840. Addressing the roots of early republic cultural politics—from campaign biographies to songs, political cartoons, and public correspondence between candidates and voters—Cheathem asks the listener to consider why such informal political expressions increased so dramatically during the Jacksonian period. What sounded and looked like mere entertainment, he argues, held important political meaning. The extraordinary voter participation rate—over 80 percent—in the 1840 presidential election indicated that both substantive issues and cultural politics drew Americans into the presidential selection process.

Drawing on period newspapers, diaries, memoirs, and public and private correspondence, The Coming of Democracy is the first book-length treatment to reveal how presidents and presidential candidates used both old and new forms of cultural politics to woo voters and win elections in the Jacksonian era. This book will appeal to anyone interested in U.S. politics, the Jacksonian/antebellum era, or the presidency.

About Mark R. Cheathem

Mark R. Cheathem is a professor of history at Cumberland University, where he is the project director of the Papers of Martin Van Buren. He is the author of Andrew Jackson, Southerner and Andrew Jackson and the Rise of the Democrats.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mark

The presidential election of 1840 in America was a notable one for a number of reasons. Not the least of these was its result, as it was the first election in which the nominee of the Whig Party, William Henry Harrison, triumphed by defeating his Democratic opponent, incumbent president Martin Van B......more

Goodreads review by David H Eil

As the title promises, the book describes presidential campaigns from 1824 through 1840. It is at its most entertaining and edifying when it describes particularly pungent images or songs from the campaigns. I would imagine it's a book worth reading in hard copy rather than on Kindle (I read it on K......more

Goodreads review by Jim

I read “The Coming of Democracy” in preparation for a book club and am glad I did. It is an ordered examination of presidential campaigns from 1824 to 1840, a period dominated by the gigantic figure of Andrew Jackson. Each year’s campaign is divided into Cultural Politics, Public Correspondence, Aux......more

Goodreads review by Gregory

Mark Cheathem argues that cultural politics and voter mobilization were more important factors than the expansion of the franchise for the increased voter turnout in the Age of Jackson. He examines each election between 1828 and 1840 through the cultural communications like public letters, songs, ca......more

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