Watch Presidential Campaign Ads Throughout History [VIDEO]

image
Published: 31 Aug, 2012
Updated: 13 Oct, 2022
1 min read

presidential_campaign_ads

Many political observers have remarked that this election cycle is one of the most toxic in history, contending that campaign vitriol and inaccurate allegations have dominated the national discussion. But how does this campaign cycle compare to previous presidential election years?

For one, we are now inundated with campaign ads both on television and the web, from the official campaigns to PAC ads.

Thanks in part to the Museum of Moving Image, we can at least take look at campaign television ads throughout the decades since the first ads aired in 1952. Included in the collection are official campaign ads--so no devastating Swift Boat Veterans.

How have campaign ads evolved over time? What were the most effective? Which ads backfired? How did television ads change the dynamics of the presidential election?

Here are some notable campaign ads from the Museum of Moving Image's collection. Let us know! Which ads have you found most memorable?

1952 - Eisenhower, "Never Had It So Good": First TV Campaign Ad

1960 - Kennedy, "Kennedy Jingle": Wishing all campaign ads were this catchy...

1964 - Johnson, "Peace Little Girl": "Most Famous of All Campaign Advertisements"

IVP Donate

1980 - Reagan, "Nancy Reagan": Candidate Spouse Front & Center

1996 - Clinton, "Surgeon": Defending Education

2004 - Bush, "Windsurfing": John Kerry 'Flip-Flopper'

 

Latest articles

Marijuana plant.
Why the War on Cannabis Refuses to Die: How Boomers and the Yippies Made Weed Political
For much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American physicians freely prescribed cannabis to treat a wide range of ailments. But by the mid-twentieth century, federal officials were laying the groundwork for a sweeping criminal crackdown. Cannabis would ultimately be classified as a Schedule I substance, placed alongside heroin and LSD, and transformed into a political weapon that shaped American policy for the next six decades....
30 Jun, 2025
-
2 min read
Donald Trump standing behind presidential podium and in front of two American flags.
Has Trump Made His Case for the Nobel Peace Prize?
A news item in recent days that was overshadowed in the media by SCOTUS and the One Big Beautiful Budget Bill was a US-brokered peace agreement that was signed between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – which if it holds will end a conflict between the two countries that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of people....
30 Jun, 2025
-
7 min read
Picture of skyscraper in New York behind a bridge.
Knives Come Out Against Reform at NYC CRC Hearing as Independents Rise
Last week in Staten Island, the NYC Charter Revision Commission held its next-to-last public hearing. As Commissioner Diane Savino commented, addressing NYC's closed primary system “is the single biggest issue we’ve heard this year.”...
30 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read