Thank you, Oxford University Press, for providing this book for review consideration in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished Ballot Battles: The History Of Disputed Elections In The United States, by Edward B. Foley.

I had originally read this book on December 5, 2016. But, I was excited to see that there is a new edition, which includes Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election. I had originally given this book an A.

This book shows that disputed elections, as well at blatant attempts to use legal procedures to steal elections, has been a constant throughout all of US history. It dated back to the time between independence and the Constitution, was part of the first congressional elections under the Constitution and continues to this day.

Among the many highlights of this book are looks at the Massachusetts governor election of 1806, an attempt by the Democrats to steal control of the House after the Civil War midterms in 1862, the presidential elections of 1876, 2000 and 2020 and Lyndon Johnson’s theft of the 1948 Senate primary election.

This was an excellent book, but I do have to bring up one flaw. The author participated in the whitewashing of Nixon’s actions after the 1960 election by claiming he did not challenge the election. But, there were challenges followed in 11 states and, despite the book’s claim that he didn’t challenge Illinois or Texas, lawsuits were followed in both states. And, as Rachel Maddow pointed out in seasons 2 of her excellent podcast series, Ultra, the plan to file alternate electors to create January 6 chaos had originated with the Nixon 1960 campaign.

Despite that flaw, I am going to disagree with the grade that I had given the first edition. I had originally given this book an A. But, after reading the revised and expanded edition, this is not an A. It is instead an A+, which entitles it to induction into the Hall of Fame.  

Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book finished reading this on September 12, 2024.