The process of electing the President of the United States begins long before election day. Campaigning begins before the primary elections and caucuses. Nominating conventions follow where the candidate for each party is selected. At this time, the nominee for each party announces a running mate. Then campaigning continues across the country right up until election day. Even though Americans cast their votes at polling places or through the mail, these votes do not directly elect a president. To win, the candidate must receive the majority of Electoral College votes. The number of electoral college members, and thus votes, each state has is determined by population.
The resources on the right are arranged by type: books, eBooks, articles, streaming videos, and websites. They all relate to this process in some way, some are specific to a particular election.
(S)electing the president: The perils of democracy by 
Conventional wisdom and American elections: Exploding myths, exploring misconceptions by 
The imperfect primary: Oddities, biases, and strengths of U.S. Presidential nomination politics by 
Political rhetoric, social media, and American presidential campaigns by 
Presidents and parties in the public mind by 
Representation and the Electoral College by 
What it took to win: A history of the Democratic Party by 
Election meltdown: Dirty tricks, distrust, and the threat to American democracy by 
The first in the South: Why South Carolina's presidential primary matters by 
Florida and the 2016 election of Donald J. Trump by 
Latinos and the 2016 election: Latino resistance and the election of Donald Trump by 
Lost in a gallup: Polling failure in U.S. presidential elections by 
The men and the moment: The election of 1968 and the rise of partisan politics in America by 
Protecting the presidential candidates: From JFK to Biden by 
Quest for the presidency: The storied and surprising history of presidential campaigns in America by 
Saving the Electoral College: Why the national popular vote would undermine democracy by 
A short history of presidential election crises (and how to prevent the next one) by 
Words that matter: How the news and social media shaped the 2016 presidential campaign by
The following library databases can be accessed from the Databases page.
Films on Demand - Provides streaming films from sources such as Films for the Humanities and Sciences and Cambridge Educational.
Kanopy - Provides streaming videos on a variety of subjects; includes titles from PBS, BBC, Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation and more.
Alexander Street Videos - Multidisciplinary collection contains thousands of videos.
Videos:
YouTube Videos
Series Presidential Elections in American History includes a video for each election from 1788 - 2020
