Deliver the Vote: A History of Election Fraud, an American Political Tradition-1742-2004

If elections are the lifeblood of democracy, then the United States is a sorely ailing body politic. From ballot stuffing and intimidating voters to suppressing turnout, buying votes, and manipulating returns, Deliver the Vote is an intensive examination of the corrupt underbelly of American politics. Drawing on records of hundreds of elections from the pre-colonial era through the 2004 election, historian Tracy Campbell reveals how a persistent culture of corruption has long thrived in local, state, and national elections. Among the public figures whose stories are central to his chronicle are Boss Tweed, William Randolph Hearst, Huey Long, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and George W. Bush, as well as countless local and state politicians of all parties. Our elections are often held up as the model for the world's budding democracies to emulate. But after two of the most bitterly contested presidential elections in American history, this book shows how our democratic house has never been in proper order. Using a candid appraisal of our history as a guide, Deliver the Vote offers some surprising suggestions for a demoralized electorate to reclaim its democratic birthright.