After an unusual election season, we asked our twitter followers to weigh in on the following question: “What incident in the 2016 election campaign has most intrigued you as a historian?” Here are some of their responses.
@JournAmHist Democrats with superdelegates produce Hillary; wide-open GOP process gives Trump. Score: Hamilton 1, Jefferson 0.
— Erick Harper (@ObiWanHarp) October 31, 2016
@JournAmHist Former first lady made it to Senate and Sec of State, and might be president. D Madison & E Roosevelt would’ve too if possible!
— Sarah J. Purcell (@SarahJPurcell) November 3, 2016
.@JournAmHist That the GOP’s 2012 resolve to reach out to Latino voters ended in the nomination of the most xenophobic candidate in decades.
— Spencer W. McBride (@SpencerWMcBride) November 2, 2016
@JournAmHist Fracturing of the Religious Right in response to Trump candidacy
— Gabriel Raeburn (@GabrielRaeburn) November 2, 2016
@JournAmHist the resurgence of protectionism among Republicans. Protecting SM/Med bus has a long, but often ignored or forgotten, history.
— Katherine Jewell (@katisjewell) November 2, 2016
@JournAmHist Public interrogation of whiteness b/c of clear class divides among white voters over immigration and racial inequality
— Matthew W. Dougherty (@HeMightBeDuende) November 3, 2016
.@JournAmHist The media’s 1) loose usage of the term “populism” 2) depiction of “working class” as white & depository of racism, xenophobia
— Ryan Driskell Tate (@rydriskelltate) November 2, 2016
@JournAmHist the way that manufacturing jobs/industries have come to represent the US economy (and its shortcomings).
— mreyes (@Marcus5F9) November 2, 2016
@JournAmHist Obama obliquely referencing Prokopios, Justinian & Theodora by asking if he smelled of sulfur (after he and Clinton were called demons)
— Kalani Craig (@kalanicraig) October 31, 2016
@JournAmHist When Trump said “Two Corinthians.” Despite his religious illiteracy, he won evangelical vote but created rifts among leaders.
— Gene Zubovich (@genezubovich) October 31, 2016
@JournAmHist how yet again, as with Shirley Chisholm, HC’s femininity has been challenged—she is both “too masculine” and “unfit bc a woman”
— Suzanne Enzerink (@suzanneenzerink) October 31, 2016
@JournAmHist the reemergence of coded racial rhetoric “law and order.” GOPs inability to overcome racial anxieties post Obama produced Trump
— Eric Nolan Gonzaba (@EGonzaba) November 1, 2016
@JournAmHist Trump referring to supposed influx of Mexicans as The Great Migration.
— Sara Polak (@Sara_Polak) November 1, 2016
@JournAmHist The general populist tone of both campaigns. My students have noted the intriguing parallels to the Jackson campaign of 1828.
— History Prof Brad (@brad_duren) October 31, 2016
@The_OAH the politicization of everything: the Fed, the FBI, the Committee on Presidential Debates…
— Oscar Winberg (@WinbergOscar) October 29, 2016
.@The_OAH The historical implications/precedent of one candidate saying that he might refuse to accept the results of the democratic process
— John Hest (@HestJohn) October 29, 2016
@The_OAH prominence of philanthropy and foundations (also that it wasn’t linked discussion of inequality, capitalism, and poverty)
— Claire M Dunning (@clairemdunning) October 28, 2016
@The_OAH how, when, why and where candidates’ spouses were used in the campaign and depicted in the media
— Melissa J. Gismondi (@melissajgismond) October 28, 2016
As a historian I’m intrigued by the large role played by free media/social media and Trump’s use of Twitter in the campaign. @The_OAH
— Sean Busick (@SeanBusick) November 5, 2016
@The_OAH The resurgence of an explicit white popular sovereignty, culminating in the return of vigilante intimidation tactics like armed pollwatching
— Paige Glotzer (@APaigeOutofHist) November 2, 2016
@The_OAH GOP splintering into polarized factions. Even Bull Moose didn’t destroy party. What happens to GOP after Nov 8 is anyone’s guess.
— Christine Engels (@Schmengels) November 1, 2016
@The_OAH When, in Miami, Sanders defended the Cuban Rev. & critiqued the history of US intervention in the Americas. Previously unthinkable!
— Matt Davidson (@md_ptbo) November 1, 2016
@The_OAH Nomination of Trump. Represents institutional collapse of GOP brought about by long existing internal tensions within conservatism.
— Daniel Elkin (@delks87) November 1, 2016
@The_OAH Trump’s at best tenuous knwldge of the Constitution & sep of pwrs. “his response was ‘I wnt to protect Article I, Art II, Art XII'”
— Emily Burton (@emilytomiko) November 1, 2016
Intriguing? Candidates refer to Abraham Lincoln to build their reputation in 2nd debate. Really?@The_OAH @processhistory #twitterstorians
— Kyle Martin (@HashOutHistory) November 1, 2016
