17 Atlantic Covers From Completely different Presidential Elections


These covers provide a window into the distinctive and enduring concepts of every electoral period.

An orange-tinted illustration of three issues of The Atlantic magazine side by side. From L to R: The October 1920 issue, the November 1992 issue, and the October 2012 issue
Illustration by The Atlantic

That is an version of Time-Journey Thursdays, a journey by way of The Atlantic’s archives to contextualize the current, floor pleasant treasures, and look at the American concept.

This yr’s presidential election is the sixtieth within the historical past of the US. The Atlantic has for 42 of these election cycles printed tales inspecting the health of candidates to serve, the inclinations of the voting public to vote, and the durability of our democratic establishments to hold on. Our journal’s covers in October and November of presidential-election years provide home windows into the distinctive—or uniquely persistent—nationwide anxieties of every electoral period.

One cowl story from our archives imagined a hypothetical Inauguration Day on which, “for the primary time in historical past, the Inaugural stand has been constructed on the West Entrance of the Capitol,” however by midday in D.C., “there isn’t any new President—not one of the candidates carried a majority of the electoral vote on November 4.” That was Laurence H. Tribe and Thomas M. Rollins writing in The Atlantic in October 1980, in a narrative titled “Impasse” (to be clear, on the precise 1981 Inauguration Day, Ronald Reagan was sworn in, having defeated the incumbent Jimmy Carter in a landslide the earlier November).

Voters on the margins have been a daily topic of research in The Atlantic. “Between campaigns Smith is open-minded on all issues affecting the physique politic,” Meredith Nicholson wrote in an October 1920 essay outlining debates he, a Democrat, had been having along with his pal Smith, a Republican, about whom to vote for within the upcoming presidential election. However “celebration loyalty is likely one of the strongest elements within the operation of our democracy,” Nicholson famous. “If Smith, in his new temper of independence, votes for Mr. Cox, and I, not a little bit bitter that my celebration in these eight years has failed to satisfy my hopes for it, vote for Mr. Harding, which of us, I ponder, will finest serve America?”

Politics is a constant presence, however not all of our fall covers from these years solely involved the election. November 1976, as an illustration, led with the tradition critic Benjamin DeMott’s spirited exploration of the state of the American household. November 1964 contained a particular complement on … the nation of Canada; the month earlier than, nonetheless, The Atlantic made its second-ever presidential endorsement. Nowadays, the months surrounding an election pose a selected problem for our print crew: The November challenge of the journal seems on newsstands after the election, however goes to the printers earlier than it takes place.

In lots of election years, together with the current one, we sought classes from American historical past. Our November 1988 challenge mounted a strong protection for the instructing of American historical past—historical past, not simply civics classes, or info about American authorities. “The possibilities for democratic rules to outlive such crises rely on the variety of residents who bear in mind how free societies have responded to crises previously, how free societies have acted to defend themselves in, and emerge from, the unhealthy occasions. Why have some societies fallen and others stood quick?” the historian Paul Gagnon wrote, in a cowl story titled “Why Research Historical past?”

So spend a second as we speak with historical past: Beneath is a choice of 17 Atlantic covers from election years spanning two centuries. In case you’d wish to learn extra, you possibly can browse our whole assortment of points on-line right here, relationship again to November 1857.


November 2024

November 2024 Atlantic cover

November 2020

November 2024 Atlantic cover

November 2016

November 2016 Atlantic cover

October 2012

October 2012 Atlantic cover

November 2004

November 2004 Atlantic cover

October 2004

October 2004 Atlantic cover

November 2000

November 2000 Atlantic cover

November 1992

November 1992 Atlantic cover

November 1988

November 1988 Atlantic cover

October 1980

November 1980 Atlantic cover

November 1976

November 1976 Atlantic cover

November 1968

November 1968 Atlantic cover

November 1964

November 1964 Atlantic cover

October 1964

October 1964 Atlantic cover

November 1940

November 1940 Atlantic cover

October 1920

October 1920 Atlantic cover

October 1860

October 1860 Atlantic cover

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