• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

WyoFile

Indepth News about Wyoming People, Places & Policy. Wyoming news.

  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19
  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19

The ghosts of wild elections past — nationally and in Wyoming

The ghosts of wild elections past — nationally and in Wyoming

Wyoming’s State Capitol Building in Cheyenne is dressed for the holidays in this photo. But handouts may not be in order as lawmakers begin debating whether to eliminate some sales-tax exemptions. (Gregory Nickerson/WyoFile )

November 1, 2016 by Anne MacKinnon Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Pin
Email
0 Shares
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Elections are a big deal: this is a democracy, after all. So no wonder they get wild.

But for a little relief from this year’s events, take a look at the phenomena of the past:

Nationally:  “U.S. Presidential Elections have ALWAYS been crazy.” This is a recent offering from a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and a website called Zocalo Public Square. In 2014 the two organizations launched a 3 year collaborative effort looking at “What it Means to be American,” and the set of interesting articles on past elections is part of that. The Smithsonian describes the overall project this way: “This national, multi-platform conversation will bring together leading thinkers, public figures, and Americans from all walks of life to explore big, visceral questions about how America’s history of migration and immigration, democratic traditions, and shared history and culture have made us the nation we are today.”

In Wyoming: “Riot at the 12th Wyoming Legislature: Fisticuffs on the House Floor.” National politics often have a ripple effect here, as this essay from WyoHistory.org by former WyoFile reporter Greg Nickerson reminds us. In a major ruckus in the national Republican Party a little over a century ago, former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt created a huge rift among  Republicans. He went to the extent of founding his own Progressive Party in the presidential election year of 1912, and the result was that incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft lost the White House to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. In Wyoming those tensions expressed themselves in a fight — literally — on the House floor in Cheyenne, in January 1913, over who would be Wyoming’s next U.S. senator.


Popular Articles:


Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims


Wyo’s fight against clean energy drives young people away


Doctors, not talk-show hosts, should make public health decisions


Filed Under: Capitol Beat, Columns/Blogs

Anne MacKinnon

About Anne MacKinnon

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to join the discussion? Fantastic, here are the ground rules:
- Identify yourself with full name and city. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish and expects commenters to do the same.
- No personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats. Keep it clean, civil and on topic.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Tweets by @WyoFile

Search WyoFile

Become an Underwriter
Sign Up for Free Weekly Newsletters

Recent Comments

  • Susan Simpson on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
  • Barbara Miller on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
  • Bruce Runion on Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
  • Bruce Runion on Invasive zebra mussels land in Wyo via aquarium moss
  • Bruce Runion on New lawmaker’s tattoo has ties to far-right anti-government movement

Footer

Recent Posts By Date

March 2021
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Feb    

From The Archives

  • About Us
  • People
  • Careers
  • Freelancing
  • Underwriting
  • How to Republish
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 by WyoFile