September 11, 2017 – his week, our time machine travels back to 1840 for a belt of hard cider courtesy of presidential candidate — William Henry Harrison. A hero in the War of 1812, “Old Tippecanoe” and served in a variety of public offices, before winning the Whig nomination and making a bid for the presidency with Virginia Democrat John Tyler.

In 2017, we expect the atmosphere of a Coney Island summer to surround our campaigns. We demand style and charisma. Well, 1840 is when it all began. The big money, wild rallies, self-promotion, slogans and stagecraft. Pulitzer Prize-nominated reporter Ronald G. Shafer tells this colorful story in his book, The Carnival Campaign: How the Rollicking 1840 Campaign of “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” Changed Presidential Elections Forever.

You can check out our guest online at CarnivalCampaign.com or follow @Ron Shafer1 on Twitter.