Similarities Between 2016 And 2016 Elections

For many U.S. elections there have been continuing themes that are apparent throughout history. Of those, the ones with mirroring ideologies can include the 1980, 1992, and 2016 elections. The 1980 election was between Democratic President Jimmy Carter and Ronald Regan. Carter was destined to win the election being the incumbent president. The 1992 election was between Incumbent Republican President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Again, Bush, being the incumbent president, was the likely winner of the 1992 election. And then, most recently, was the 2016 election with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Similarly, Clinton was projected to win the election. For all three of these elections, commonalities among the candidates themselves, as

The major theme that these three United States elections share is that they all resulted in upset wins. For the 1980 election, Jimmy Carter was the current president at the time going against running mate Ronald Regan. Regan was seen as more of a celebrity for his roles in Hollywood movies, not a presidential candidate. In fact, it was stated that “he was also seen as less than a serious contender, even when it looked like he would secure the nomination” (Jacobs, par. 3). Additionally, throughout the race Regan was behind in the polls, simply not measuring up to his opponent. This was a very similar situation for the 2016 election. Donald Trump was best known for his role on television and as a self-made businessman, while Hillary Clinton was the U.S. Secretary of the State. Throughout the election, Hillary was the clear winner. She was ahead in the polls for much of the time, had a background in politics, and was taken as the more serious contender. Much like Regan, Trump wasn’t taken seriously until after his win in the preliminaries. The 1992 election with Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush also had surprising

During the 1992 election, Bush strongly pushed his foreign policy agenda just as Trump did in the 2016 election. Both Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton focused more on the state of the economy. Trump called for a defeat of ISIS while Hillary encouraged rebuilding the middle class. However, at the time of the 1992 election, the biggest threat facing America was the economy. During the 2016 election, the fear of ISIS was stronger than ever. “The economy was in recession and Bush's perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, was regarded as much less important following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the relatively peaceful climate in the Middle East after the defeat of Iraq in the Gulf War” (Wikipedia contributors, par. 2). During Trump’s campaign, his focus on foreign policy was regarded as more important because of the current threat of ISIS. Another similarity could be drawn between Trump and Bill Clinton. Although they had opposing views, their life outside of politics was similar in a sense. Clinton was fighting accusations of infidelity as was Trump, along with many other scandals. Both candidates’ morals were called into question during their campaign countless times. Yet, in the end they were both able to secure the