Election Day Memories

The first clear memory of a Presidential elections goes back to 1952.

 My earliest memory of things political involves a visit to see President Harry S. Truman when he came to Colorado Springs by train in October of 1952.  He was actually on a Whistle Stop Campaign for Adlai Stevenson.  The photo below was taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado on that very day when I had the exciting opportunity to view the first President of the United States that I remember.  I was only seven years old when I had this introduction to political campaigning. 

My parents took us to the train depot that day and stressed how we were not only fortunate to see the former president, but also they wanted us to see history in the making. My father always brought us up with a rich appreciation for history. He also taught to take very seriously our responsibility to be informed voters who used our voice by participating in the political process.

Reflection

Today, I took some time to listen to the speech that Harry W. Truman gave that day, October 7, 1952, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the old Denver and Rio Grande Depot. He was campaigning for Adlai Stevenson and against the election of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

As I listened, I realized just how my much my political teeth were cut on the times, and on the conversations of my grandparents, parents, and aunts and uncles. Also, I think I was a somewhat astute child at the time and most likely absorbed the core concepts of the speech and the discussion I heard afterwards by my family.

Times were so different then. A military band played “Hail to the Chief” before the speech, and the speech itself only lasted a mere 15 minutes or so. Truman thanked the band, saying, “You did a good job of it.” At the very beginning he spoke of what all of us growing up in the early 50’s heard repeatedly, the threat of the Atomic Bomb, while warning that the President whom would be elected would be the one to protect our “future lives and civilization.” Then, he used a reference we associate with him, saying, “This is a decision the President has to make for himself. He can’t pass the buck…”

What struck me the most from the speech were his words at the end of the speech when he spoke of his view that Eisenhower had succumbed to compromise for the sake of winning votes. As he spoke of this view, he clearly expressed his “disenchantment” with Eisenhower, and said that he had lost his moral compass in order to win votes.

I realize more than ever, that my political views have always been formed by the basic fundamentals of which Truman spoke that day. I leave a few of those words here for you to read.

If you would like to listen to the speech Truman gave on that day, you can listen to it here:

https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/soundrecording-records/sr59-140-president-truman-trainside-address-colorado-springs-colorado

My paternal grandparents, Avery and Elva French were staunch Democrats. (They are shown in this photo from 1971.) They always, as far as I know, voted the straight Democratic ticket, and they were very involved in local Democratic politics. Grandma French was an active member of the Jane Jefferson Club of Colorado Springs.

We all turned out for that day in 1952 to see Harry S. Truman come into town. I was surrounded by my parents, my siblings, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle and my cousins. We all loved Harry. I remember being hoisted up on my father's shoulders so I could see the President. I still remember the excitement I felt that day. The memory has stayed with me with great clarity these nearly seventy years later.

I remember my grandfather’s collection of political buttons and pins. I remember how much he wanted to see Stevenson win. Later, when Ike ran for a second term, I somehow obtained an “I Like Ike” pin and wore it to my grandparent’s home. He was the President at the time I was growing up, so I must have thought it would be good to support his re-election. I learned otherwise when I boldly wore that pin into my grandfather’s home. Now, I understand better why he was not in favor of Eisenhower and why he supported Adlai Stevenson.

Those days, politics seemed kinder and gentler. Even so, I remember hearing tales from my grandmother of back room deals that were brokered in the game of politics. Such things always angered her.

Politics has never been a game for the faint of heart, but I find the nastiness and dishonesty or half truths that we hear today during a political campaign especially upsetting. I wonder what my grandparents and my father would think of the world of politics of today. I know my father in particular would be very upset with the current administration in the White House.

Election Day Memories from the 1970’s ~ My Days as An Election Day Judge

I haven't always been registered as a Democrat.  I have always had a more moderate view of politics as an adult, and for many years, I registered as an Independent.  

When I was a young wife and mother who stayed at home and did not work, I did a few odd jobs to earn money. One job I had, involved working as an election judge. I followed in the steps of my paternal grandmother and some of my paternal aunts in fulfilling this task.

In the 1970’s, the precinct where I lived in Utah was Democratic. They needed Democratic election judges, so I changed my affiliation to Democratic from Independent. The first election I worked was not a Presidential election. In those days, we voted in homes as well as in public places in Utah. The home where we voted was in a very poor part of Ogden, Utah. The woman who had the election in her home had done so for years. She was the mother of at least 12 if not 13 children, and she must have weighed about 250 pounds. She was in her late 50's, about 5' tall, and had stark white hair. I thought she was fascinating. She was a very well read, intelligent, and spunky woman. Her children were great successes, but they all came from this very humble home.

During the day, the woman in whose home we held the election, told stories about elections of the past and of raising all of her many children. She reminded me of the Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe. This house was tiny! It had three bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom and a kitchen. It was crammed full of furniture, books, papers, junk, and people. This is where our precinct voted!

The other judges and I brought food for the day. There were crock pots of great chili, veggies, chips, cookies and etc. I met some great ladies working as the other judges,  and I met many interesting people who came to vote. Of course, as folks left from voting, the other judges told me all the gossip and life histories of these folks. I just wish I would have recorded the events in a journal. 

Times were very different in those days.  The polling places were held in homes, not always in schools or other public places.  There was no early voting.  This year my husband and I voted by mail.  That did not happen in the 70's.

Election Day 1976

In November of 1976, on the two hundredth anniversary of our country's founding, I hosted the presidential election in my home. I earned $50 for working the election that year. I made $25 for hosting the polling place and another $25 for working. Let me tell you, it was hard work doing all that bookkeeping by hand. We had to check each person’s signature, receive the ballots, count them by hand, and call them in to the county clerk’s office. I remember it being very stressful as we counted up and tallied all the votes with our #2 lead pencils. Oh how things have changed!

The polling place itself had to change in our precinct that year, and my home was selected. Our home was a bi-level, so there were complaints by those who came to vote about the site being moved from where it had been for years, and about the stairs they had to climb to vote.

On the day before the election, my husband and I had moved much of the furniture out of the living room so that the tables for voter check-in could be set up there. Voters then could either vote in booths in the kitchen, or the booths in the basement family room, which also had been emptied of furniture.

I remember that our neighbor was one of the judges. Her ex-husband and son traveled around the neighborhood with a speaker system in their truck exhorting people to get out and vote. My youngest daughter Julie was just a baby at the time. She slept in the back bedroom in her crib during most of the day. I was still nursing her, so she stayed at home with me. My second daughter Amy was a toddler. The other two children were in school. I think that my in-laws must have taken care of my other children that year as I was working as an election judge.

Jimmy Carter won the election. My folks were for him. I have a letter from them to prove it. I was not for Carter. So, as you can see, I have not always voted the Democratic ticket.

In 1976, I had planned on using the extra money from working the election to help buy Christmas presents. Instead, I think most of it went to clean the gold carpets that were black by the time the day was over. Do you have any idea how dirty gold carpet gets after a presidential election is held in your home?

The Presidential Election of 2020

This year, history will again be made in this election. Please vote. Record your memories of why you voted the way you did.  I think your children and grandchildren will be interested someday in reading about your views.  More importantly, your commitment to voting and being a part of the political process is a teaching moment.  It is not a responsibility to be taken lightly.

 Today, I will take a bit more time to record my own thoughts and impressions and memories of today in my journal. I decided to have may husband take a photo of me on Election Day 2020.

I’m grateful to live in this country. My roots run deep. On my paternal side we have been in this country since about thirty years after Plymouth Rock. My family has fought in every war this country has ever had since the Revolutionary War. When I was younger, when I would hear my grandfather speak of family history, I would ask, “Grandpa, what is our nationality, our heritage?” He would always say, “We’re damn Yankees, and don’t forget it.”

I’m grateful I live in a country that is not perfect, but one that strives to make sure each of its citizens has a voice and vote. I urge you to use your voice and vote if you have not yet done so.

I’m writing and using my voice as I reflect on elections past and present. I am wearing a blue shirt I bought in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the birthplace of the man I hope will be the next President of the United States. It seemed appropriate to dress in Biden blue today.

I’m also wearing pearls in honor of RBG, but my pearl selection might be different from others. I am wearing a string of pearls given to me by immigrant students I once taught. They brought them to me from China, their home country. I wear these pearls in honor of the immigrant populations with which I worked as an educator.

I am remembering the stranger among us, the alien resident, the ones who came here for freedom and liberty. I am praying we don’t let them down in this election. But mostly I am remembering and praying for the children being held in immigration detention centers separated from their parents and held by this current administration.

I am mindful of the health I have at the moment because I have lived most of this year in separation from society at large. I have not seen most of my family for exactly one year because of concerns over COVID transmission. I am grateful for my health care, my home, and an income, but I am deeply aware of the many suffering because of the mishandling of the COVID pandemic by the current administration.

I end this reflection with a few words from Psalm 146. This psalm was the psalm I meditated on as we ended 2019. I am not putting my trust in princes, or kings, or presidents, but in the Lord God Almighty. I voted according to the man I believe to be on the right side of history. In the end, I know that whomever is elected is a “son of man, in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalm 146:3a) I am also hopeful that the people of this Nation will vote for the one whom I believe will execute true justice for the oppressed, feed the hungry, lift up those who are bowed down, watch over the sojourners, and uphold the widow and the fatherless.” (from Psalm 146)

As a Christian, I clearly state that I understand that my allegiance is to power much higher than those civil authorities in the country in which I live. I also believe that as a Christian blessed to live in this great country I have an obligation to use my vote to uphold the person I believe will best uphold the principles upon which this great country was founded. I have watched the last few years unfold with great dismay. The times truly have been turbulent and I have witnessed history being made that I never thought possible.

In the end, I have great hope for our country. May the process of keeping our Democracy be peaceful. May you all vote wisely, watch the results with patience, and remember do not lose heart no matter the outcome. God Bless you all and God Bless the United States of America.