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Campaign Missteps: Gaffes on the Trail

How a single phrase or blunder can end up dominating our political discourse.

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Political gaffes have shaped elections from the Gilded Age to today.

Gaffes have cast a shadow on many U.S. elections, from the tense final days of the battle between Grover Cleveland and James G. Blaine in 1884 to modern-day missteps that spread like wildfire across the Internet. Amid our ever-changing media environment, discover how a single phrase or blunder can end up dominating our political discourse, from the 19th century to today.

View transcript here.

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