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Full-Text Articles in United States History
Laying Aside Vanities: Neil C. Macdonald And The Nonpartisan League, Mark Myrdal
Laying Aside Vanities: Neil C. Macdonald And The Nonpartisan League, Mark Myrdal
Senior Honors Theses
The Nonpartisan League was an agrarian political movement founded in North Dakota in the early twentieth century. The League was characterized by its radical rurally-minded platform and its passionate leadership. Neil C. Macdonald, the League nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1916, was one of the leaders, but was voted out of office in 1918 before the generally accepted peak of the Nonpartisan League. Very little Nonpartisan League scholarship has included Macdonald and this work examines Neil Macdonald and his understated importance in the study of the Nonpartisan League. In this examination, Macdonald proves to be a valuable figure …
How Trump Won: Media And The Silent Majority In The 2016 Us Presidential Election, Joshua K. Miller
How Trump Won: Media And The Silent Majority In The 2016 Us Presidential Election, Joshua K. Miller
Senior Honors Theses
Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign ended in victory because of two powerful forces: enormous media advantage gained through sensationalism and a strong coalition made up of evangelicals, pragmatic conservatives, and the silent majority. The work of Neil Postman sheds light on the underlying cultural foundation of Trump’s media advantage. Parallels from the video game industry explain how intentional sensationalism played into Trump’s success in the primary process. Evangelicals and pragmatic conservatives joined Trump’s coalition in spite of his scandals, and Eric Hoffer’s work helps explain his appeal to the silent majority. Ultimately, the patterns of Trump’s victory yield significant learning …