In the latter half of 1872, the United States was in election mode. Ulysses Grant was seeking a second term in the White House, and the inconsistent and flakey Horace Greeley sought to defeat him. Early feminist Victoria Woodhull wanted to become the first female presidential candidate at a time when women lacked the vote and were still seen as ( Read more... )

Apparently there is some disagreement about who the first woman to run for President of the United States was. As far as I can tell, I consider it to be Victoria Woodhull, who ran as the candidate for the Equal Rights Party in 1872 against Ulysses Grant. It must be kept in mind however that at the time time law did not recognize a woman's right to ( Read more... )

In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant sought re-election to a second term as President of the United States. His opponent was the famous newspaper editor Horace Greeley who ran both as a Democrat and also as the candidate of the Liberal Republican Party. As we all know, Grant was successfully re-elected. Even if he the outcome had been otherwise, Greeley would ( Read more... )

[Originally Posted August 31, 2015]

Alternate Presidents is a collection of 28 short stories edited by Mike Resnick, speculating on what history might have been like if the outcome of 28 presidential elections would have been different. This anthology was released on February 15, 1992. I don't know why I waited so long to read it. I am 300 pages ( Read more... )

The great African American social reformer Frederick Douglass was born with the name Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey sometime in February 1818. (He was unsure of the exact date, and decided that he would celebrate his birthday on St. Valentine's Day). He died on February 20, 1895 (123 years ago today) and in the 77 years that he lived, he was ( Read more... )

On August 31, 1872, a twenty-seven year old former Confederate soldier named Lucien Ferwell walked into a county jail in Brentsville, Virginia, where another former Confederate soldier, lawyer Jim Clark, was now a prisoner. Clark had made false promises of marriage to Ferwell's sister Fannie and was now under arrest for abduction of the 16 year old ( Read more... )

Some of the men who ran for president but fell short also have pretty interesting stories that make for good summer reading. Off the top of my head I've just selected six books that you might want to check out for something a little different. The last two are especially of interest because they concerns candidates not of the mainstream parties. ( Read more... )

Alternate Presidents is a collection of 28 short stories edited by Mike Resnick, speculating on what history might have been like if the outcome of 28 presidential elections would have been different. This anthology was released on February 15, 1992. I don't know why I waited so long to read it. I am 300 pages in on this 465 page book and it is a ( Read more... )

On this day November 5th in 1872 (142 years ago today) it was election day in the United States. President Ulysses S. Grant was running for re-election. One of the candidates running against him was Victoria Woodhull of the Equal Rights Party, the first woman to run for President of the United States. Susan B. Anthony did what most good citizens ( Read more... )

In 1872, Ulysses S. Grant sought re-election to a second term as President of the United States. His opponent was the famous newspaper editor Horace Greeley who ran both as a Democrat and also as the candidate of the Liberal Republican Party. As we all know, Grant was successfully re-elected, but even if he the outcome had been otherwise, Greeley ( Read more... )