How exactly did that happen? According to Time , the state rose to prominence in presidential politics starting in , the year of the first presidential election after the contentious Democratic convention. Changes to the election calendar meant Iowa was the first delegate-selection event of the cycle. That signified the beginning of Iowa as a possible early indicator of success, according to The Atlantic.
Today, doing well in Iowa can give successful candidates the momentum to raise money and is often a determiner of success. Iowa has even written its placement as the first election-season event into law. But just as Iowa gained power as the first caucus, New Hampshire similarly rose to importance with its position as the first state to hold a presidential primary each cycle.
According to the Brookings Institution , while New Hampshire has held this position since , it was only in , when Richard F. Upon, the speaker of the New Hampshire House of Representatives at the time, passed a law that allowed New Hampshire citizens to vote for presidential candidates directly instead of selecting local delegates for the convention , that the state gained prominence for its role in presidential politics.
Things were every bit as exciting on the Republican side. From the time General Dwight D. Eisenhower arrived home from the Second World War, politicians from both parties had been trying to convince him to run for president. But in a group of Eisenhower supporters in New Hampshire took advantage of the new law and put his name on the Republican ballot.
Taft of Ohio, by 12 points. And the rest was history. In , another unpopular president, Lyndon B. Johnson, also plagued by an unpopular war, found himself finishing ahead of anti-war leader Senator Gene McCarthy of Minnesota by only eight points. Related FixGov Have Democrats become a party of the left?
William A. Share Flipboard Email. Issues The U. Legal System U. Foreign Policy U. Liberal Politics U. Tom Murse. Political Journalist. Tom Murse has been writing about politics and government for over two decades, and has been recognized by the Nieman Foundation for fairness in investigative reporting.
Twitter Twitter. Updated September 28, Featured Video. View Article Sources. White, Theodore H. The Making of the President HarperCollins, , pp. In this small New England state, little-known candidates have moved to center stage while front runners have seen their hopes dashed.
As each primary election draws near, the Granite State itself—its people, landscape, cities, and towns—shares the limelight on the first stop of the long road to the presidency. Early in the 20th century progressive reformers introduced measures in a number of states to provide for popular participation in presidential elections. Begun in Oregon in , these presidential preference primaries had little real impact on maneuvering at party conventions. New Hampshire held its first such contest in and, in , with 20 states holding presidential preference primaries, held its election before any other state.
From that year forward, New Hampshire would hold the first primary in the country for every presidential election. In the state legislature changed the law once again, concerned about low voter turnout. In future presidential primaries, residents would vote directly for the candidates themselves. The new law created the modern New Hampshire presidential primary with only minor revisions in the ensuing years.
Legislators also decided to hold the presidential primary on the same day as town meeting to save towns the expense of mounting two separate elections in a single year. The first presidential contest under the new law took place in From the beginning, it proved to be both popular and significant.
Voter turnout more than doubled from the election.
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