Presidential scholar John Vile brings together a rich collection of speeches, statements, and related information that focus on a subject largely neglected by presidential studies: How successful and unsuccessful candidates for the highest office in the land deal with the outcome of the election. Every four years Americans select one person to occupy the White House for four years. One or more others must deal with their defeat, in public statements and private thoughts.

In modern times, victory and concession speeches are an expected part of the election pageant, routinely delivered instantly to the nation's voters on television. It was not always so. Formal concession statements in telegrams and speeches did not emerge until the late 19th century. Even victory speeches developed slowly to their modern form. Vile has collected more than 500 speeches and other documents, from George Washington to George W. Bush, that relate to the outcome of elections. Many are actual candidate statements or speeches, while others are private letters, diary entries, interviews, and newspaper and journal articles. Vile shows how, collectively, they create a window to the thoughts of presidential candidates once the voters have made their choice. Although every other kind of presidential statement has been collected and studied, never before has a scholar brought together in one place material about victory and concessions following races for the White House.

Vile treats all presidential elections separately, each with commentary setting the context for the speeches and other material he presents for the victor and the vanquished. He begins the volume with a brilliant analytical essay that shows how victory and concession speeches developed and evolved, and how the study of them helps us understand the American political system. In it he draws parallels between concession and victory speeches and other types of presidential rhetoric, and illustrates how the words and tone of statements serve to heal the wounds of elections campaigns, to set the agenda for an administration, and to rally the partisans of both the winner and loser.

In addition, the volume includes a lengthy bibliography, an appendix elections chart to help track election years, candidates, states, and parties and a complete index.

"This book holds the potential to improve the discourse of political campaigns in America and to reinforce practices that encourage the legitimate transfer of power by making it easy for politicians and their staffs to learn from past rhetorical performance. . . . Presidential candidates and their advisers will find this book an extraordinary resource, as will political pundits and journalists who parse politicians' words. They all will be greatly assisted by John Vile's useful introduction to the volume as a whole, his comments on each election, and his comprehensive selection of primary documents."

"...an excellent reference resource for libraries with large numbers of patrons interested in famous speeches and political history....an important selection for college and university library reference collections."

"Although examples of victory and concession speeches would be appreciated additions to the literature of presidential campaigns and politics, this work goes beyond that to explain the significance of such rhetoric."

John R. Vile is professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Middle Tennessee State University. A graduate of the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia, he has written numerous articles, essays, and reviews and is the author or editor of more than a dozen books and a CD-ROM. His books include Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments; Proposed Amendments and Amending Issues (2d ed., forthcoming); A Companion to the U.S. Constitution and Its Amendments (3d ed.); Great American Lawyers (2 vols.); and Great American Judges (2 vols., forthcoming). He is also a contributor to the third editon of CQ's Guide to the Presidency (CQ Press).