Sophisticated political history is comprised of three overlapping but conceptually distinct elements—the unique, giving to the story its special flavor and identifying detail; the systematic, offering generalized context and causal explanation; and the original, indicating breaks in the time series and a precedent for future developments. Ellis’ account of the 1840 U.S. presidential election masterfully combines all three elements. The resulting volume is well-written and documented, articulate in presentation, rigorous in evidence, and plausible in argumentation.
The 1840 presidential election is most often remembered for huge, raucous, popular demonstrations and distorted campaign appeals. The Whig Party portrayed its nominee, William Henry Harrison, as a great war hero from humble, log-cabin origins and denounced the Democratic incumbent, President Martin Van Buren, as pompous and out of touch. In the conventional version of the story, Van Buren’s defeat, ending twelve years of Democratic dominance, demonstrates the political potency of distracting hoopla and...