European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 1, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                 from the cover precisely Jet it often recycles scripts As similarities Between the 1812 and 1992 presidential campaigns suggest. In some ways the Campaign ending tuesday is unusual even unique. But on the whole even though George Bush Bill Clinton and Ross Perot want to convince us they re the agents of change the fact is we be seen this act before. The 1812 Campaign Isnit even the Best example. Consider this scenario As in 1992, a Republican Yale graduate and son of a successful politician is seeking re election. In his first term he never managed to Charm the country the Way his popular Republican predecessor did. The Democrat a scholar tuned governor seems assured of Victory because a third candidate is siphoning votes from the president. Tax increases Trade barriers National health insurance and women a rights Are major Campaign issues. This time its 1912. The incumbent William Howard Taft finishes third behind Woodrow Wilson the Democrat and sex president Theodore Roosevelt of the Bull Moose progressive ticket. Quot All Over the country from one Ocean to the other people Are becoming aware that in less than a week the common people of America will come into their own again Quot Roosevelt said in a pre election remark that might be mistaken easily for one of Perot a. Roosevelt who preceded Taft As president  quite reclaim the White House. This years democratic nominee is a governor in his 40s who has been accused of womanizing and dodging the draft. The same description also fit Grover Cleveland in 1884 a and he won. Just As Clinton admitted marital problems during the primary season Cleveland then a Bachelor admitted that a Buffalo woman had borne his baby and he was paying child support. Cleveland also paid $300 for a substitute to fill his draft Slot during the civil War. That did no to Sway voters however because 1884 Republican nominee James Blaine also had avoided military service. Clinton and vice president Dan Quayle who avoided the Vietnam War Era draft by joining the Indiana National guard can learn from history that its never too late for military experience that might help them in future campaigns a Andrew Jackson the Only sex prisoner of War president captured As a teen Ager in the revolutionary Warwas a congressman senator and Tennessee Superior court judge before he commanded the forces that defended new Orleans from the British in 1815. He was president from 1829 to 1837. A Franklin Pierce was a congressman and senator before he suffered two injuries and became an army brigadier general in the mexican War. He served As president from 1853 to 1857. A Theodore Roosevelt was assistant Navy Secretary when the Spanish american War began in 1898. He took command of the 1st . Volunteer cavalry regt or rough riders and led the famous july 1 charge up Kettle Hill not san Juan Hill As often reported in Cuba. His presidency ran from 1901 to 1909. A even sex presidents sought military service. Eight years after leaving office Roosevelt offered to set up a Volunteer Force to fight in world War i but president Wilson turned him Down. Also eight years after leaving the White House in 1853, Millard Fillmore actually became a major in the Union Continentals a group of Middle aged troops who performed ceremonial duties in Buffalo during the civil War. The mud slinging aspect of the 1992 Campaign has appalled some observers but its tame compared to name calling of the past. In 1796, John Adams called Thomas Jefferson an new York historical society Andrew Jackson was criticized for ordering the execution of six mutinous soldiers in 1815. Atheist and a tool of France. Jefferson said dams was an anti Liberty monarchist. Adams wont the whigs ridiculed president Martin vein Buren in 1840 for his aristocratic airs even though their winning candidate touted As Quot log Cabin and hard cider William Henry Harrison lived in a 22-room mansion. Harrison won. Andrew Jackson was reviled As a candidate for several acts of violence including killing a Duel opponent and ordering executions of soldiers. Jackson lost to John Quincy Adams in 1824 but bounced Back to win in 1828 and 1832. The mockery Horace Greeley suffered in the 1872 Campaign helped drive him insane and kill him three weeks after he lost the election to Ulysses s. Grant. Democratic nominees Alfred Smith 1928 and John Kennedy 1960 suffered from allegations that their roman catholicism would make them puppets of the Pope. Smith lost and Kennedy won. Campaigns even led to violence. Outgoing president James Monroe threatened candidate William Crawford with a pair of fire tongs in 1824. After Aaron Burr lost to Jefferson in 1804, he killed Jefferson a Backer Alexander Hamilton in a Duel. Urary of co a Oss Woodrow Wilson Rose from his Donkey to beat president Taft and Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. Civil War nearly erupted in 1800 when no candidate won a majority of electoral votes and it did break out after Abraham Lincoln won in 1860. Quot in the United states we appear to be in a Middle position in regard to mud slinging. It is not everyday practice but neither is it a rarity a Nelson Polsby and Aaron Wildavsky write in their Book presides tial elections strategies of american electoral Polh tics Quot a glance at the history of presidential campaigns suggests that vituperation is largely irrelevant to the outcomes of campaigns and that its benefits Are  the authors cite attacks against Jefferson Jackson Lincoln and Cleveland a the Point is however that Alt these men won office As have Many others who have been subject to similar  even Perot a presence As a third major candidate in this years election is nothing unusual. Former Alabama gov. George Wallace carried five states with his american Independent party ticket in 1968. He finished third and helped make Richard Nixon a Victory Over Hubert Humphrey one of the closest in history. The 1824 election had four major candidates John Quincy Adams Jackson Henry Clay and Crawford. No one received a majority of electoral votes and the House of representatives awarded Adams his presidency. Jackson lost despite receiving the most popular votes a distinction he shares with Samuel Tilden in 1876 and Grover Cleveland in 1888. Cleveland is the Only president who served separate terms. He won in 1884, lost in 1888 and came Back to win in 1892. If so much about the 1992 election is familiar what could today a candidates Tell the voters that a new and different president Bush has referred to Bill Clinton occasionally As a failed a Small state  he could make the observation sound More ominous. Arkansas with 2.4 million people is indeed Small. If Clinton is elected he will be the first president in history whose Home state comprises less than 1 percent of the . Population Bush could also cite the Clinton Gore tickets Youthful inexperience. Clinton 46, would not be the youngest president Theodore Roosevelt was at 42. But the democratic ticket with a combined age of 90, would be the youngest Ever. The record holders for youngest ticket Are Ulysses Grant and Schuyler Colfax elected in 1868 with a combined age of 91. Clinton could counter by observing that if he wins he will be the first president in this Century with the Chance to seek advice from five living former presidents a Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan and Bush. The Only other person in that position was Lincoln who took office in 1861, when Van Buren John Tyler Fillmore Pierce and James Buchanan were still alive. It did Lincoln Little Good. The civil War was about to begin. Tyler joined the Confederate government then died on Jan. 18,1862. The aged Van Buren who supported Lincoln a War Effort died in mid-1862. Fillmore and Buchanan backed Lincoln but Pierce was pro slavery anti War anti Lincoln and often drunk a presidents consultations with predecessors is no Small Issue according to Thomas Tulloss . History professor for the University of Maryland in Heidelberg Germany. Tulloss believes Nixon suffered in his second term from the fact that All previous chief executives were dead. The last of them Lyndon Johnson died two Days after Nixon a second inauguration. Shortly afterwards details of the watergate scandal emerged. A to Chat was the big problem. There was nobody to advise him a Tulloss said referring to Nixon a a former president certainly would have been Able to advise him on damage control during the  if sen. A1 Gore wins the vice presidency the num her of former vice presidents will be the largest Ever a six. Three later became presidents Nixon Ford and Bush. The others Are Spiro Agnew Walter Mondale and the incumbent Quayle. What a missing from the 1992 Campaign Tulloss notes that with the demise of the soviet Union the . Communist party Isnit involved in the election for the first time in 72 years. Page 4 a sunday november 1. 1992