Campaigns That Changed the World

www.ozy.com [OZY]() The newsletter to fuel — and thrill — your mind. Read for deep dives into the unmissable ideas and topics shaping our world. Dec 16, 2021 TODAY Every election cycle, we’re told that it’s the most important one ever. And in many ways, that’s true — if only because we can shape the future, but not what’s in the past. Yet the past is our best tutor for making sure we don’t repeat mistakes, learn from other societies and innovate in ways that make democracy stronger. Today's Daily Dose takes you on a tour back in time to some of history’s most pivotal elections — votes that made modern democracy what it is today. Dive in, and be sure to check out our quiz at the end! Setting Precedent 1 - New Zealand, 1893 Which is the [world’s oldest democracy](? Is it the U.S., which has had continuous, elected governments for more than two centuries, longer than any other nation? Is it Iceland or the Isle of Man, both of which have legislatures more than 1,000 years old? Or is it the country that first gave all its citizens the right to vote? While access to the ballot was still very much a privilege for wealthy, male, racial elites in America and Europe, New Zealand in 1893 held the first election where everyone — [Maori, white, men and women]( — could vote. Universal suffrage had finally arrived and would slowly be embraced by modern democracies around the world. 2 - Sri Lanka, 1960 Known as Ceylon at the time, the country hadn’t yet reached its teens as an independent nation when it was thrown into turmoil by the [assassination of Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike]( in 1959. His wife, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was derisively dubbed the “weeping widow” because she would frequently break into tears. But she would have the last laugh. In the 1960 national elections, Sirimavo — as she was widely known — led her husband’s party to victory. She became the [world’s first-ever female prime minister](, paving the way for leaders like India’s [Indira Gandhi](, Israel’s [Golda Meir]( and Britain’s [Margaret Thatcher](. Sirimavo tilted the country toward a cocktail of democratic socialism and Buddhist nationalism, overcoming a coup attempt and a period of political exile to return to power again in the 1970s and in the 1990s. No one was mocking her then. 3 - Benin, 1991 The Berlin Wall had just fallen, in 1989, when Mathieu Kérékou, the army major turned socialist leader of the small West African nation of Benin, decided to transition the country to a multiparty democracy. In the 1991 elections held after nationwide consultations, Kérékou contested, lost and calmly gave up power. The first democratic transfer of power in postcolonial West Africa set an example that the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, Togo, Burundi, Rwanda and Niger would all follow in the 1990s. And unlike many such tectonic shifts that have been stained by civil wars, Benin’s transition was totally peaceful. [Read more]( American Mavericks 1 - The Pathbreaker The first Black woman elected to Congress had to fight for every inch she ever got in politics. Take the [1972 Democratic presidential primaries]( where she was initially blocked from participating in the three televised debates. The first woman to seek the Democratic Party nomination — and the first-ever African American to compete for the presidency — Shirley Chisholm had to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission just to get on stage. [Read more]( 2 - The Flamethrowers There’s little in common between the politics of Howard Dean and Pat Buchanan. But Dean, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004, and Buchanan, who sought the Republican ticket in 1991, 1996 and 2000 both challenged their party establishments. Dean took on Democratic leaders over the Iraq War while Buchanan, in 1992, was in some ways a precursor to Donald Trump: opposing illegal immigration and claiming he would “Make America First Again.” 3 - The Disruptors Their critics might describe them as spoilers, but if you think about it, the third party candidates Ross Perot and Ralph Nader were a tribute to American democracy and its ability to field more than two candidates. Perot, a Texas billionaire, won 17 percent of the vote in 1992 running against then-President George H.W. Bush and Democratic challenger Bill Clinton. Nader, who first drew national attention in the 1960s as a consumer rights activist, won a pivotal 97,000 votes on a Green Party ticket in 2000 in Florida, where Democrat Al Gore eventually lost to George W. Bush by 537 votes. [Reach & watch]( Drawing Battle Lines 1 - Germany, 1932 Two elections within five months paved the way for the “democratic” rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis to power. Their provocative and violent methods — including brutal street clashes with Communists — had brought them prominence in the previous decade. But it was the [Great Depression of 1929]( that truly fueled their popularity. In the July elections of 1932, the Nazis emerged as the single largest party, but they were far from a majority. A November rerun saw them retain the dominant position — but with fewer seats. Using a combination of street violence, political blackmail and support from big German businesses, [Hitler convinced President Paul von Hindenburg]( to appoint him chancellor. Under Nazi rule, Germany would never again hold genuinely free and fair elections. 2 - Mexico, 1861 The country had gained independence from Spain four decades earlier, but it was the landmark election of 1861 that sparked a chain of events that would allow Mexico to truly gain freedom from foreign intervention. Elected President Benito Juárez instituted a [two-year moratorium]( on the payment of loan interest to France, Britain and Spain, triggering a [France-led invasion]( that was backed by Mexican conservatives. After an initial military victory on May 5, 1862 — celebrated as Cinco de Mayo ever since — Juárez and his cabinet had to flee Mexico City, and the French-installed Austrian Archduke Maximillian served as emperor of Mexico. But Mexican forces, supported by U.S. diplomatic pressure (yes, America was once the good guy in Latin America), eventually defeated the French. Juárez — often compared to Abraham Lincoln because of their pivotal nation-shaping roles at roughly the same time — returned to the capital victorious. If you visit Mexico, you’ll find streets, monuments, airports and cities named after Juárez. Now you know why. 3 - Egypt, 1950 Google “[Suez Crisis](” and the first name that crops up is that of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. But the seeds for one of the 20th century’s most pivotal moments were planted in an election six years before the actual 1956 war that shook the world. In Egypt’s 1950 elections, the Wafd Party of [Prime Minister Mustafa al-Nahhas]( came to power. Desperate for more support from the Egyptian streets, Nahas in October 1951 abrogated the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty that gave the British control over the Suez Canal. That set the stage for localized battles with British soldiers near the canal, and a full-fledged war after Nasser took over following the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. Israel, the U.K. and France invaded Egypt, eventually withdrawing thanks to American and Soviet pressure — the superpowers played peacemaker for once. Humiliated, British Prime MInister Anthony Eden resigned. Nasser was a hero in the Arab world, but perhaps it’s the mostly forgotten Nahhas who deserves some of the credit. Whatever It Takes 1 - A New Mail Voting System … and a New State In 1864, Abraham Lincoln sought reelection in the middle of the Civil War, and for the first time rolled out voting by mail for soldiers in the field. It turned out to be a bit of a legal mess, and, like today, a political fight: Soldiers were more favorable to Lincoln, so mail balloting was pushed by Republicans and opposed by Democrats. In another wrinkle, pro-Lincoln Nevada was added to the Union just nine days before the election. [Read more]( 2 - Daisy Girl Spooky but highly effective, this 1964 ad from President Lyndon B. Johnson’s reelection campaign birthed modern [political attack ads](. A little girl counting daisy petals in a field gives way to a military countdown to a massive explosion. Johnson’s portrayal of Republican opponent Barry Goldwater as a dangerous warmonger worked. 3 - Stealing Debate Papers We’ll never know how much of a difference they made. But shortly before Ronald Reagan delivered a confident, commanding performance against President Jimmy Carter in the only presidential debate of 1980, the Republican’s team had managed to secure the material Carter had used to prepare for the verbal joust. Reagan’s team used the material — including the attack lines Carter was planning to unleash — during practice sessions. On the debate stage, Reagan, a former Hollywood actor, made sure he knew his lines. [Read more]( Historic Shifts 1 - United Kingdom, 1945 It was a shock that would reverberate throughout the British Empire. The ruling Conservative Party under [World War II hero Winston Churchill]( was trounced in the parliamentary elections that saw Labour’s Clement Attlee emerge as prime minister. Attlee was sympathetic to the idea of India’s independence — Churchill, by contrast, recent research suggests, was willing to [let millions of Indians die]( in the Bengal famine of 1943 as long as that stopped the march of Japanese forces. With India’s independence in 1947, the British Empire lost its crown jewel, and the U.K. would follow Attlee’s approach with most of its other colonies, including across Africa. The sun had set on the British Empire. 2 - India, 1977 For three decades after independence, the Indian National Congress — the party of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru that led India’s freedom struggle — ruled the world’s largest democracy with little opposition. But in 1975, Nehru’s daughter and then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed a state of national emergency, suspending civil liberties, arresting opposition leaders and curbing press freedoms after a [court ruled her election illegal]( on charges that she had misused government machinery for her campaign. That brazen act of authoritarianism galvanized and united a previously fractured opposition that in [elections in 1977]( — when the emergency was lifted — trounced the prime minister to form India’s first non-Congress government. 3 - South Africa, 1994 Like the Indian National Congress, the African National Congress has dominated South African politics for the past 26 years, increasingly drawing charges of corruption and economic and social mismanagement. It’s a far cry from the heady days of April 1994, when South Africa held its first free and fair elections where voters of all races were allowed to participate. Nelson Mandela was elected president, hammering the final nail in the coffin of apartheid. Days later, [Mandela would build on his vision]( for a “rainbow nation” — picking his closest electoral rival, former Prime Minister F.W. de Klerk, as one of his deputy presidents, and another political opponent, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, as his minister of home affairs. 4 - Brazil, 2002 It was [fourth-time lucky]( for Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva. The former trade unionist had established a reputation as the perennial bridesmaid of Brazilian politics, losing the presidential elections of 1989, 1994 and 1998. But 2002 would be different — a watershed for South America’s largest nation and for the broader continent. Lula won and ushered in some of history’s biggest social welfare programs, such as the [Bolsa Família]( cash transfers for low-income families that reached more than 50 million Brazilians and spawned copycat initiatives in multiple nations. His win also strengthened the wave of left democratic wins across the continent that started with Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 1998 and would go on to include Argentina, Bolivia and Ecuador in the 2000s. By 2009, Lula had an unlikely fan — U.S. President Barack Obama, who described him as the “most popular leader in the world.” His popularity remains intact. He was expected to win in a landslide when he tried to run for president again in 2018, but was barred by a court verdict over a corruption conviction. Now 76 years old, his personality continues to dominate Brazilian politics. 5 - Tunisia, 2014 Egypt. Libya. Syria. Yemen. Bahrain… The Arab Spring of 2011 spread across the region. But it started in Tunisia, and that’s the one country where that year of revolutions didn’t just unseat a dictator — it replaced him with a democracy that has endured. [In 2014](, Tunisia held its first free and fair elections after the Arab Spring, and successfully [repeated the process in 2019](, offering a template for the rest of the region. Quiz Time!! So what have you learned about political campaigns? Let's see! Which of these countries did not have a democratic transfer of power in the 1990s? - - Niger - Zimbabwe - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Burundi  Who is widely thought of as Mexico’s Abraham Lincoln? - - Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla - Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador - Benito Juárez - Porfirio Diaz Which of these was not a first for Shirley Chisholm? - - She was the first Black member of Congress. - She was the first Black presidential candidate. - She was the first female Democratic presidential candidate. - She was the first Black vice presidential candidate. Who was the world’s first female prime minister? - - Jacinda Ardern - Sirimavo Bandaranaike - Indira Gandhi - Golda Meir Who, according to former President Barack Obama, was the most popular world leader in 2009? - - Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva - Barack Obama - Shinzo Abe - Angela Merkel Which world leader appointed his country’s two biggest opposition leaders to his cabinet on winning the presidency? - - Ronald Reagan - Tony Blair - Nelson Mandela - Narendra Modi Answers: - Zimbabwe - Benito Juárez - She was the first Black vice presidential candidate. - Sirimavo Bandaranaike - Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva - Nelson Mandela Go Deeper Read: - Long Walk to Freedom: [Nelson Mandela’s autobiography]( is in many ways the story of South Africa. [The book]( charts Mandela’s journey from his childhood through his days in prison on Robben Island to the presidency of South Africa in 1994, capturing an inspirational struggle that ultimately crushed apartheid and brought democracy to the nation. - The Queue: Egyptian author Basma Abdel Aziz uses [biting satire]( to expose the [authoritarian backlash in multiple nations after the Arab Spring](. In this novel, residents of an unnamed Arab city must stand in a queue that grows longer every day to seek permission to perform everyday tasks. Watch: - Mrs. America: This fast-paced and brilliantly edited TV series sheds new light on America’s [women’s rights movement]( in the 1960s and 1970s — including Shirley Chisholm’s historic run. [Check it out](. - Carter-Reagan Debate, 1980: Watch Jimmy Carter attack Ronald Reagan, and Reagan laugh the criticism away with a confidence that experts believe helped him win the White House. Here’s the [full debate]( and a [key moment](. Listen: - The Argument: [This podcast]( has a very simple philosophy: You’ve got to listen to the people you disagree with, and argue based on facts, for a democracy to survive. [Ursula Burns on 'The Carlos Watson Show']( Meet who Carlos describes as perhaps the most impressive person he’s ever met … yes, ever (and that’s including five presidents and countless CEOs, athletes and celebrities)! Ursula Burns, the first Black female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, shares her journey from a New York City housing project to leading Xerox, and becoming the most influential African American woman in corporate America. How many other talk show interviews get interrupted by a phone call from President Obama? Because this one does. Tune in to learn, to be inspired, and for powerful insights into America’s “soul-crushingly disturbing” race problem. 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