Elections in early days were no 'popularity contests'

The just don't make them like they used to in terms of American political leaders, says Dr. Don Higginbotham, a professor of history at the University of North Carolina.

Higginbotham was the speaker at the fifth annual Veryl L. Riddle Distinguished History Lecture at Southeast Missouri State University Thursday night.

A native of Malden, Mo., Higginbotham delivered a presentation called "Washington's Remarkable Generation," exploring what made the Founding Fathers of America great leaders and why such leaders don't dominate American politics in the modern day.

When the nation began, said Higginbotham, American politics was still somewhat in the embrace of elitist ideals, and leaders where expected to be men of greatness, not men who were like the commoners they governed.

"Deference remained a powerful and seductive force," he said.

"Americans continued to elect their betters to office. That the presidency might ever become a popularity contest was unheard of to the Founding Fathers.

"After all, how could that be when the Electoral College picked the leader, not the general population?"

Jacksonian democracy

With the advent of Jacksonian democracy and its populist ideals, said Higginbotham, political leaders focused more on getting and maintaining popularity than on the pursuit of ideals, greatness and their own place in history.

Modern political leaders are more concerned with style than with substance, he said. In contrast, the leaders of the founders' day didn't even make speeches, a key to gaining popularity in today's political arena.

"Today, you couldn't be elected dog catcher if you couldn't make a speech," he joked.

However, there is hope, Higginbotham said, using the examples of Franklin Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln to illustrate that great men can still be elected in more modern, image-based times.

The Riddle lecture was made possible by an endowment from Veryl L. Riddle, a Southeast Missouri native and prominent lawyer.

msanders@semissourian.com

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