The Baily memorandum was circulated among members of the Democratic party in 1956, arguing that Catholic voters were a key demographic that could be harnessed …
Political patronage is the system of rewarding political allies with government jobs, especially prestigious positions which pay well and demand little in the way of work. Political patronage is sometimes also referred to as “spoils.”
The political patronage system is …
“Missile gap” is a phrase used during the Cold War, referring to the theory that the US lagged behind the Soviet Union in terms of its ballistic missile defenses.
The US and the USSR were engaged in a high-stakes arms …
“Wilderness years” are a period of time in a politician’s career when he or she is not holding a position of power. This may happen because the politician has left his or her political party or has taken a hiatus …
“Ratfucking” is the art of carrying out dirty tricks and crafty maneuvers, usually in the name of winning an election.
The term dates back to the 1960s, when a young man named Donald Segretti was a student at the …
“Effete snobs” was a phrase used by Vice President Spiro Agnew to denounce anti-war protesters, and young intellectuals in general, during the Vietnam era. The phrase quickly caught on and was adopted as a slogan by the anti-war movement.
Agnew …
“Weasel words” are used to evade a question or an issue. They are a way to avoid direct statements of fact or principle.
Weasel words are deliberately ambiguous; their double meaning leaves people guessing as to what the speaker is …
A “nose count” is a tally of people to see how many are present. It’s similar to a head count. The census is a form of nose counting.
Linguists have suggested that the origin of the term “nose count” …
A “big lie” is an extreme distortion of the truth, used for the purpose of spreading propaganda. It is often somewhat outrageous.
In theory, people will more easily believe a big lie than a smaller one, because most people assume …
A politician who is undaunted and cheerful, even in the face of adversity, is said to be a “happy warrior.”
The phrase comes from an 1806 poem by William Wordsworth, titled “Character of the Happy Warrior.” Wordsworth described the “happy …
In 1948, when President Truman was running for re-election, he frequently attacked the Republican-controlled Congress as the “do-nothing Congress.”
In fact, the 80th Congress passed 388 public laws, making it hard to call it exactly “do nothing.” But, the president …
An imperial presidency which one characterized by greater powers than are clearly provided for in the Constitution.
The historian Arthur Schlessinger popularized the term with a book, Imperial Presidency, published in 1973. Schlessinger’s book focused on what he saw …
A highly divisive political or social issue. A wedge issue can create divisions between a candidate’s supporters or between members of the same political party. This can damage the candidate’s chances of winning elections, since it splits up the vote.…
The “old guard” is the more conservative, often older, branch of any political grouping.
The old guard of a party might not be politically more conservative than other members of the same party; “conservative,” here, refers to the old guard’s …
The “loneliest job in the world” is a reference to the presidency of the United States, supposedly a supremely lonely and isolating job because of the enormous responsibility that it entails.
William Howard Taft, upon handing over power to Woodrow …
A “power broker” is someone who wields indirect political power, either by influencing the outcomes of elections or by exercising influence over key decision makers.
A power broker is not usually motivated by ideals, or by lofty policy goals. …
A floor fight is an argument that threatens to derail either a convention or a congressional proceeding. Most of the time, floor fights are non-violent; the fighting is verbal. However, American history also includes some memorable incidents in which floor …
“It’s the economy, stupid” was a phrase coined by James Carville in 1992, when he was advising Bill Clinton in his successful run for the White House.
In 1992, the US was experiencing an economic recession and the incumbent president, …
A “thousand points of light” was slogan used frequently by former president George H.W. Bush to praise volunteerism and individualism.
Bush first used the phrase in his 1988 speech accepting the Republican nomination to the White House. In that speech, …
An “opinion leader” is one whose opinions about something have a significant impact on the opinions of others. “Influencer” is sometimes used as a synonym for opinion leader.
In politics, an opinion leader helps to shape public opinion about policies, …
“Man in the street” is used to evoke the idea of the average voter, with mainstream political opinions and interests.
Merriam Webster notes that the phrase was first used in 1831, to mean an average or ordinary person. The phrase …
The Byrd rule is a parliamentary tripwire that prevents tangential material from being included in a budget reconciliation bill in the Senate.
It allows any senator to raise a point of order against “extraneous” provisions. If the point of order …
“Machines politics” is a phenomenon in urban politics, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Political machines are characterized by tight organization and a strong centralized leadership, typically in the form of a “boss.” They operate by dominating the political …
During the Cold War, the division between western Europe and the Soviet bloc countries was called the “iron curtain.” The iron curtain was never a physical barrier, but served as a metaphor to describe the limit of Soviet influence.
The …
“That dog won’t hunt” is a dismissive phrase, used to mean that a particular idea or approach is going to fail.
The expression can also mean that a certain accusation is false.
The phrase likely originated in the South and …
“Hizzoner” is a nickname used by journalists to refer to big city mayors, especially in New York City. Hizzoner is a contraction of “his honor,” the mayor’s formal title.
Merriam Webster notes that the term was first used in 1882. …
A quorum call is a procedure used in both houses of Congress to bring to the floor the number of members who must be present for the legislative body to conduct its business.
The quorum call is established in Article …
An off-year election is one which takes place in a year when a presidential election does not also take place.
Most elections in the United States take place in even-numbered years. As the US Senate’s website notes:
…National Elections take
The “lunatic fringe” is the wing of a political or social group that holds more extreme views than the rest of that group. The lunatic fringe tends to hold stronger opinions, as well as more fanatical views.
Merriam Webster notes …
Henry Clay was a U.S. congressman who eventually served as Secretary of State under John Quincy Adams. Clay also ran for the presidency three times, losing on each venture. Today, he is probably best-remembered for a speech in which he …
Pinko is a pejorative word for someone with left-wing views. Over time, the term has evolved and is now often used in a slightly comical way.
Merriam Webster says that pinko was first used in 1925 to mean “a person …
NIMBY is an acronym meaning Not In My Back Yard.
NIMBY refers to people who resist having potentially dangerous or disruptive projects carried out in their own neighborhoods; they usually don’t object to those projects when they are carried out …
In politics, a phrase invoking the average American citizen. The implication is usually that the forgotten man has suffered some major economic hardship and has been neglected by the federal government.
The phrase was first popularized in 1932 by Franklin …
“Twenty years of treason” was a catchphrase used by Sen. Joseph McCarthy to denounce alleged communist sympathizers serving in the US government.
McCarthy was first elected to the US Senate in 1946. In 1950, the Wisconsin native made headlines when …
An armchair strategist is a person who creates plans and military strategy without being directly involved in the area. The term is often used in a derogatory manner.
“Armchair general” is often used interchangeably with armchair strategist. Terms like “armchair …
“Nobody drowned at Watergate” was a phrase used, especially by supporters of President Richard Nixon, to minimize the impact of the Watergate scandal and to point to scandals in the Democratic party.
On June 17, 1972, five men managed to …
“Tell it like it is” is a common phrase used by politicians who want to highlight their own supposed candor.
Politicians who are “straight shooters” like to say that they “tell it like it is” without sugar coating any tough …
“Grass will grow in the streets” is a gloom-and-doom phrase sometimes used by politicians to imply that the country will go to economic ruin if they don’t win election, or if their own plan doesn’t prevail.
The phrase is sometimes …
A “trial balloon” is a preliminary announcement for a possible campaign, appointment, or other political action.
Floating a trial balloon means testing public opinion to see whether a project is likely to succeed. This is often done through the media, …
A pecking order is a social hierarchy which spells out the specifics of how the power structure operates.
The term was coined by the Norwegian zoologist Thorleif Schjelderup-Ebbe in the beginning of the 20th century. Schjelderup-Ebbe spend his childhood vacations …
In June of 1934, Adolph Hitler ordered his troops to carry out a large-scale purge of suspected dissidents within the Nazi party.
The night of the long knives actually took place over the course of several days and nights. Historians …
A gag rule prevents members of a legislative body from raising a particular issue, usually because that issue is considered too controversial or divisive.
In the United States, the most famous example of a gag rule involved slavery. Members …
A “grand design” refers to any kind of deliberate plan of action. In politics, the term is usually used to mean an overarching strategy or a long-term plan.
A grand design implies long-term thinking.
The opposite of a grand design, …
“Forty acres and a mule” is a popular name for an order which promised freed slave that every family would be given a plot of land, measuring up to 40 acres. The land was to be seized from southern plantation …
The person who has his “finger on the button” has the power to launch a nuclear weapon. The expression is used to evoke the possibility of nuclear war and to imply that the president of the United States – or …
“Not for attribution” refers to a specific kind of arrangement between a journalist and a politician or anyone passing along information to that journalist.
Journalists make a range of different arrangements with their sources, setting out exactly how the journalists …
Throwing one’s hat in the ring means announcing one’s intention to compete in a contest. In politics, it means running for political office.
The phrase originally comes from boxing, where contestants would literally throw their hats into the boxing …
A series of radio addresses which President Franklin Roosevelt carried out over the course of his presidency. Roosevelt delivered a total of 30 such addresses between 1933 and 1944. They were known as “fireside chats” because they were delivered in …
“Trickle down theory” is a derisive term for the idea that giving benefits to large, powerful people and companies can yield benefits for society as a whole.
Trickle down theory is also known as “trickle down economics.”
The theory got …
Karl Marx famously declared that religion is the opiate of the people. There are a few conflicting translations of the quote, so that sometimes religion is the “opium of the masses,” and sometimes it’s the “opiate of the people,” but …
The Great Society was a sweeping set of proposals for social reform, put forward by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and aimed at improving access to education, good jobs, and healthcare for ordinary Americans.
Johnson had already proposed a “War …
“Little old ladies in tennis shoes” is a derisive reference to members of the John Birch society.
In 1961, the California Attorney General’s offices investigated the ultra-conservative John Birch society and determined that the group was paranoid and authoritarian …
To “electioneer” is to actively take part in an election by working for the election of a candidate or a party.
The word is almost always used in a pejorative sense. Most of the time “electioneering” is used to suggest …
The “madman theory” is a political theory commonly associated with President Richard Nixon’s foreign policy during the Cold War.
Nixon tried to make the leaders of hostile Soviet bloc nations think the American president was irrational and volatile. According to …
In 2017, President Donald Trump announced plans for an “infrastructure week,” a series of high-profile events which were aimed at building support for the president’s trillion-dollar plan to rebuild the country’s highways and bridges.
Said Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn: …
A “fifth column” is a group which operates in secret, usually within enemy lines, in order to help further a cause which they secretly support.
The term originated with Emilio Mola Vidal, a Nationalist general who served under Franco during …
“Don’t change horses” is a phrase used to urge voters to stick with the incumbent president during times of turmoil and conflict. The full expression is “don’t change horses mid-stream” (or, sometimes, “don’t swap horses midstream”).
The expression is usually …
“The torch has been passed” is one of the most famous lines of John F. Kennedy’s presidency.
In 1961, in his inaugural speech, Kennedy spoke about the legacy of the American revolution:
…We dare not forget today that we
John Q. Public is a reference to the ordinary man or woman. His name is used as a shorthand for popular opinion and a personification of the general public.
Katy Waldman described John Q. Public as follows:
…He’s an upstanding
Hustings are the speeches and campaign events associated with an election cycle. “On the hustings” is a synonym for being on the campaign trail.
The word itself derives from the Old Norse word “husthings,” or “house assembly,” which was a …
“Greenwashing” is an attempt by a company to create the impression that a consumer product has benefits to the environment, even when it does not or may even be harmful to the environment.
As Sara Goddard writes about the practice…
The phrase “heartbeat away from the presidency” refers to the fact that the vice president will automatically succeed the presidency in the case of the president’s death, disability, or resignation.
The vice presidency is not a powerful position in itself. …
“Evil empire” was President Ronald Reagan’s name for the USSR.
Reagan often portrayed the struggle between the US and the USSR as a moral war between good and evil. In some of his most famous speeches, he advocated a strong …
“Little Tin Box” is the title of a song in the 1959 musical, “Fiorello,” which told the story of one of New York City’s most famous mayors. Fiorello LaGuardia, a progressive politician who was a strong supporter of the …
“Eight millionaires and a plumber” is a dismissive reference to President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first cabinet.
Eisenhower’s critics complained that the president’s top advisers were all wealthy and therefore, by implication, out of touch with ordinary people. The only exception …
“Dyed in the wool” is a phrase referring to people who hold very strong opinions and are unwilling to change them. Synonyms include “uncompromising” and “inveterate.” In politics, people might be can be referred to as “dyed in the wool …
“Third-rate burglary” is a phrase which President Richard Nixon’s press secretary used to describe the Watergate break-in.
In June 1972, five men were arrested while trying to break in to the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, in …
A “gutter flyer” is a political attack ad, traditionally distributed in paper form. It is also typically anonymous, so that nobody can be held accountable for it or asked to verify the information contained in it.
Gutter flyers are a …
The acronym CREEP is short for The Committee for the Re-election of the President, which in 1972 was the fundraising organization of then-president Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign.
The committee officially launched in 1971 and was originally abbreviated CRP. After the …
A “three martini lunch” is a long, leisurely lunch, usually associated with either business or backroom political dealings.
The three martini lunch had its heyday in the middle of the 20th century, when attitudes about alcohol were more relaxed. It …
“I am the law” is a phrase attributed to Frank Hague, the mayor of Jersey City from 1917 until he retired in 1947. He is remembered as the ultimate political boss, in an era when bosses ruled local politics.
Hague …
The “eunuch rule” is a reference to the provisions in many state constitutions which prevented state governors from running for a second consecutive term in office. Those provisions have been amended in almost every state; as of 2020, Virginia is …
“Little group of willful men” is a reference to President Woodrow Wilson’s dispute with a group of anti-war congressmen in the lead-up to America’s entry into World War Two.
The dispute led to the introduction of a cloture rule in …
The “great debates” were a series of public debates between Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. In 1858 Douglas, an Illinois Democrat, was running for re-election to the US Senate. Lincoln, a Republican, challenged him. The two held a series of …
A “cabal” is a group of people involved in a secret plot or conspiracy. Cabal can also refer to the plot itself, or to the secret organization of the plotters.
Cabal originally is derived from the Hebrew word Kabbalah, …
A “honeymoon period” is a period of popularity enjoyed by a new leader. Usually, the term refers to an incoming president. Traditionally, both Congress and news outlets give presidents a bit of a break at the start of their first …
“Give ’em hell Harry” is a reference to President Harry Truman’s 1948 re-election campaign. It’s also the name of a very successful play and movie.
In 1948, President Harry Truman was running for re-election. During a campaign stop in Bremerton, …
In politics, a “clean sweep” occurs in an election when a candidate or party achieves an overwhelming or complete victory, winning in all or almost all districts or precincts. A related term is “landslide” or “wipeout” victory.
In open democracies …
The practice of backing up diplomatic efforts with a visible show of military might. A nation using gunboat diplomacy is making use of implicit military threats to achieve its policy objectives.
A gunboat was a relatively small ship which could …
In politics, a Bircher is an adherent to the teachings and philosophies of the John Birch Society, an anti-communist organization founded in 1958. The heyday of the Bircher movement was in the 1960s and early 1970s, when the organization had …
In politics, “ballot box stuffing” is a term that refers to the practice of illegally submitting more than one vote in a ballot in which just one vote is actually permitted. The goal is ballot box stuffing is to rig …
“Guns before butter” refers to the debate over how governments should use their revenue: should resources be used to build up the military, or should they be spent on domestic programs?
The concept of “guns before butter” was probably first …
The Final Solution was a euphemistic name used by Nazi leaders for their plan to exterminate all of the Jews in Europe. The plan’s full name was the “final solution to the Jewish question.” The plan led to the murder …
The Dixiecrats were a group of Southern Democrats who broke away from their party in 1948 because they objected to the Democratic Party’s stance on desegregation. The Dixiecrats were also known as “States’ Rights Democrats.” They represent part of a …
In politics, gridlock is a situation in which the government is unable to pass new legislation, often because the presidency and the Congress are controlled by different political parties.
As the Brookings Institution has pointed out, gridlock has been …
“Every Man a King” is the title of a speech delivered in 1934 by Senator Huey Long of Louisiana. The speech, which Long delivered on national radio, is one of Long’s most famous speeches, along with his “Share the Wealth”…
A “boodle” refers to a large sum of bribe money or graft money.
Boodle can also be used to mean a large collection of something. In fact, some linguists believe that the phrase “the whole kit and kaboodle” is a …
“Five o’clock follies” is a familiar and derogatory nickname for the daily press briefings that the U.S. military held for American reporters during the Vietnam War. In modern times, the phrase has been used to refer to any establishment effort …
“Salami tactics” refers to a divide and conquer approach, which aims to split up the opposition. The expression evokes the idea of slicing up one’s opposition in the same way as one might slice up a salami.
The phrase was …
“Red meat” is rhetoric on an issue used to inflame supporters. It is often associated with populist ideas and campaigns.
The phrase was first seen in 1911 in the movie industry, describing movies that were sensationalized. It shifted into a …
A “hatchet man” is an operative in charge of doing political dirty work — or dirty tricks — both during a campaign and sometimes as part of normal government functions.
The word was first popularized during the Watergate scandal. Several …
The domino theory was critical in shaping US foreign policy during the Cold War. Domino theory argued that if one nation became communist, its neighboring states would go the same way. In theory, if one state “fell” to communism, its …
Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, it now includes events coordinated globally in more than 193 countries.
The event emerged against the backdrop of an …
The grassroots are the ordinary people in a region, or in a political party. The “grassroots” level is the opposite of the leadership level. In politics, having grassroots support means having the backing of the people, rather than of party …
“Chicken in every pot” was Republican campaign slogan of the late 1920s. The slogan is often incorrectly attributed to Herbert Hoover; it became a means for Democrats to attack Republicans as out of touch with economic reality.
The desire for …
In politics, “slow walk” is a term used to describe an effort to prevent legislation or a political process from moving forward by intentionally slowing it down to a crawl. Another similar term is “obstructionism.”
The origin of …
The Fair Deal was a package of economic and social reforms put forward by President Harry Truman, with the stated purpose of giving all Americans access to education, healthcare, and good jobs.
Truman began talking about reform almost as soon …
A “captive candidate” is one who is allegedly “owned” by special interests or political groups. Calling someone a “captive candidate” is similar to saying that they are the puppet or the pawn of an interest group.
As William Safire has …
The term “bleeding hearts” refers to people who care deeply — so deeply that their hearts bleed — about the suffering of the needy. The term is almost always derogatory. It’s usually applied to those on the left, hence the …
To be”on the fence” is to be hesitant about taking a political stance. Someone who is “on the fence” resists joining one side or the other of an argument, especially when taking a side could be politically risky.
On a …
In politics, a “fat cat” is a rich and influential person, usually one who donates generously to political campaigns.
Typically, “fat cat” refers to an executive whose earnings vastly exceed those of the average American. The expression suggests that the …