THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ELECTION IN OUR LIFETIME
Sound familiar? It should. We’ve heard it many, many times in reference to whatever the imminent election cycle is. In modern times, it’s become a cliche. Politicos don’t even have to come up with a new strategy or slogan. The old one works just fine. It is trotted out every single time, and the general public will fall for it every single time. This blurb actually goes back further than you may think. Here is a sampling:
1856 Buchanan vs. Fremont vs. Fillmore
"This may be the most important election in our nation’s history.”
—Stephen Douglas, Illinois senator (1)
1856 PA Legislature Race
“by all parties conceded the most important election that has been held since the organization of our Government.”
The New York Times (2)
1864 Lincoln vs. McClellan
"We have had many important elections, but never one so important as that now approaching." Gen. James H. Lane, pro-Lincoln campaigner,
The New York Times, March 31 (3)
1868 Grant vs. Seymour
“It would, indeed, be no exaggeration to say that it will be the most important election that Americans ever have known”
Atlantic Monthly
1888 Harrison vs. Cleveland
"The Republic is approaching what is to be one of the most important elections in its history."
New York Times editorial, July 2
1924 Coolidge vs. Davis
"I look upon the coming election as the most important in the history of this country since the Civil War."
Joseph Levenson, Republican leader,
The New York Times, July 20
1924 Coolidge vs. Davis
"I look upon the coming election as the most important in the history of this country since the Civil War."
Joseph Levenson,
Republican leader,
The New York Times, July 20
1952 Truman vs. Stevenson
“This is, my friends, the most important election in your lifetime,”
Harry S. Truman
"I am campaigning for the Democratic ticket because this is the most important election ... since the Civil War.”
Harry S. Truman
1960 Kennedy vs. Nixon
“I believe that when we are trying to determine who should lead the free world—not just America—this is perhaps, as Senator Kennedy has already indicated, the most important election in our history.”
1972 Nixon vs. McGovern
"It was the most important election in U.S. history ... Victory was vital in 1972.”
—The Realist
1976 Ford vs. Carter
"I think this election is one of the most vital in the history of America."
President Ford,
debating Jimmy Carter, Oct. 22
1980 Reagan vs. Carter
The International Union of Electronic Workers said it felt it was important to take a stand early because the critical problems the nation faces may make the 1980 election "the most important of this century."
Associated Press, Nov. 2, 1979
“I am working hard in this campaign because I think it is the most important election in many, many years. The future of our country is wrapped up in the decision.”
—Jimmy Carter
“This is the most important election of my life … The outcome will affect the nation and the world”
1984 Reagan vs. Mondale
"This is the most important election in this nation in 50 years."
Ronald Reagan, Nov. 5
1988 Bush vs. Dukakis
"It may be the most important election of this century."
Senator Robert C. Byrd,
Democrat of West Virginia, Oct. 22
1992 Bush vs. Clinton
"I ask you to join with me for these last three days to reach out and call your friends and family and neighbors to tell them this is the most important election in a generation."
Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas, Oct. 30
1996 Clinton vs. Dole
"This is the most critical election in the long history of the American labor movement."
John Sweeney, AFL-CIO president,
The Washington Post, March 3
"It's the most important election of our lifetime."
Ralph Reed,
Christian Coalition director,
The Tulsa World, April 14
"Talk about a bummer! Can you imagine how the Republicans must feel at this, the beginning of the most important election year in decades? Pass the Prozac, please."
Robert Beckel,
Democratic political analyst;
commentary in The Denver Post, Jan. 31
"the most important election of our lifetimes and an election in which the choices have never been clearer." -Bernie Sanders, Clinton-Dole presidential election
2000 Bush vs. Gore
"The first national election of the 21st century is the most important election (so far) of the 21st century."
Ebony magazine, November
"2000 historically is the most important national election in my lifetime." United States Representative Zach Wamp
Chattanooga Free Press,
Nov. 22
"No question about it. This is the most important election in our history.”
Rush Limbaugh, on the election of 2000
2004 Bush vs. Kerry
"Christian Coalition of America believes this is the most important election in our nation's history."
Press release, Aug. 24
"My fellow Americans, this is the most important election in our lifetime"-John Kerry, DNC acceptance speech, presidential election
"For that reason, ladies and gentlemen, the election of 2004 is one of the most important, not just in our lives, but in our history."
Vice President Dick Cheney
on September 1
Larry King: "Is this the most important election ever?"
President Bush: "For me it is."
2008 Obama vs. McCain
This year, with what's at stake, 2008 is the most important election in our lifetime. Rudy Giuliani’s Speech at the Republican National ConventionSeptember 3, 2008
“In 2004, many Americans, particularly liberals fearful about a second Bush term, took to calling that election ‘the most important of my lifetime.’ And it was, for a while. Now this one is.”
Michael Tomasky
WEST: This is the most important election, I believe, of our lifetime. Back in 1979, 1980, I worked in London for Peter Jennings when he was chief foreign correspondent. And Bill, if you'll remember, that's when 52 Americans were being held hostage for more than 400 days in Iran.
O'REILLY: Yes, no, this is — you're right, and you did the right thing. So we appreciate you. You got "The Factor" stamp of approval. Ms. West, thank you.
The O'Reilly Factor, Interview with Barbara West, anchor WFTV Orlando FL
2010 Mid Term Elections
It may be commonplace for commentators to announce that every election is "the most important election in our lifetime" or something analogous. But having never said that of a presidential election, let alone an off-year election, this commentator cannot be accused of crying wolf when I say that this off-year election is not simply the most important of my lifetime. It is the most important since the Civil War.
Dennis Prager Show, Oct. 26, 2010
We could blow the most important election cycle in decades if we win these races but have more of the same kind of leadership, a leadership typified by our presidential campaign.
Rush Limbaugh, Dec. 15, 2009
2012 Obama vs. Romney
"2012 is the most important election in our lifetime'- the Jon Huntsman Campaign, presidential race, upon suspending his campaign and endorsing Mitt Romney.
2012 the most important election in "everyone's lifetime."
Michael Barone, senior political analyst for the Washington Examiner
“The usual description of presidential elections—‘the most important in our lifetime’—is true this time. In fact, it may be the most important election since the Civil War, and possibly since America's founding.”
Dennis Prager
May 1, Real Clear Politics
“2012 is the most important election of our lifetime.”
2016 Trump vs. Clinton
“This is by far the most important vote you’ve ever cast for anyone at any time,”
Donald Trump, Vox
2016: The most important election since 1932
Henry J. Aaron, Dec. 18, 2015
With the Iowa Caucuses under our belts, the 2016 presidential election is finally underway, and it will likely prove to be the most important election of our lifetimes.
Joshua Holland, Feb. 4
2020 Biden vs. Trump
“There’s just one month left before the most important election of our lifetime — one that will shape the future of our nation for decades to come.”
"Brothers and sisters, this is the most important election, not only in our lifetime but in the modern history of our country,"
Bernie Sanders, Oct 5
On The Trail: Why 2020 is the most important election in our lifetime
“The presidential contest alone will represent perhaps the starkest choice between two competing visions for the nation’s future since the elections of 1860 that set the Union on course for a civil war” Reid Wilson, The Hill Jan. 26
This validation of Trump in some ways would be more consequential than the election of Trump—and set up the 2020 contest as the next most important election of our lifetime.
David Corn, Dec. 2018
Mother Jones
And if that isn’t enough to tie your stomach in knots, see it for yourself:
Source: All Quotes in Aqua are from New York Mag
Source: All Quotes in Pink are from Politico
Source: All Quotes in Yellow are from the New York Times
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