President Abraham Lincoln, amid the most turbulent administration
and deadliest conflict in American history, defeated bitter personal
rival and former Civil War Gen. George McClellan to win re-election
on this day in history, Nov. 8, 1864. 

1864 National Union Party ticket

       
President Abraham      Vice President   
Lincoln                          Andrew Johnson  
                                               
                                      

John F. Kennedy, 43, became the youngest man ever to be
elected president of the United States, narrowly beating
Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. He was also the
first Catholic to become president.

Richard Nixon (left) congratulates the new President.

SANDY KOZEL

Conservative icon Ronald Reagan, the former Hollywood leading
man and California governor who outwitted the American political
elite to reach the Oval Office, was elected president of the United
States on this day in history, Nov. 4, 1980. 

Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004)

In one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history,
Democratic incumbent Harry S. Truman defeated his Republican challenger, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, by just
over two million popular votes. In the days preceding the vote,
political analysts and polls were so behind Dewey that on
election night, long before all the votes were counted, the
Chicago Tribune published an early edition with the banner
headline “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”(above). 

Thomas Edmund Dewey
(March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971)