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- Political slogans have a long history in the US, dating back at least to the 1840 election campaign for President William Henry Harrison.
- With the advent of mass communications after World War II, slogans became a vital way of distinguishing candidates jostling for attention on the airwaves.
- Here, Business Insider surveys some of the winning slogans of the last 60 years, from Dwight E. Eisenhower’s "I Like Ike," to the Barack Obama’s "Change You can Believe In."
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Political slogans are often derided — but if you want to be President of the United States, you’d better have a good one.
An effective slogan will sum up a candidate’s pitch to the country in a few words, and be powerful enough to cut through the endless onslaught of information in people’s lives.
They cast the candidate as someone who understands the countries woes, and can guide America through them.
Here, Business Insider looks at the slogans of every winning campaign since World War II, and asks what makes them successful.
1948: Harry Truman — The Buck Stops Here
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In the first presidential election since the end of World War II, incumbent Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, was widely expected to lose.
While campaigning on a whistle stop tour of the country, a supporter yelled "Give em’ hell, Harry!" At the candidate, and the phrase was adopted as the slogan of the plain-speaking former general’s supporters.
He went on to trounce Republican Thomas E. Dewey in the election.
While the campaign’s official slogan was "I’m Just Wild About Harry" — a reference to the lyrics of a popular 1921 song — another more famed slogan associated with the 33rd president is "The Buck Stops Here," which Truman had written on a sign he kept on his desk.
1952: Dwight E. Eisenhower — I Like Ike
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"I like Ike," is one of the most celebrated political slogans in US history.
It was used by former Allied Supreme Commander Dwight E. Eisenhower — nicknamed "Ike" —in his successful 1952 presidential campaign.
Eisenhower’s campaign was revolutionary, as it was the first to focus on pitching the candidate thorough TV ads.
A Madison Avenue advertising executive persuaded Eisenhower to abandon lengthy campaign speeches for a punchy 30-second campaign ad on primetime. It featured cartoon elephants drumming a beat to the the catchy campaign slogan.
1956: Dwight E. Eisenhower again — I Still Like Ike
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The tactic for choosing Eisenhower’s 1956 re-election campaign slogan was to stick with what works: "I still Like Ike."
Americans did, re-electing him by a landslide as America enjoyed a post-war economic boom, despite growing Cold War tensions.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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Source: Business Insider – tporter@businessinsider.com (Tom Porter)