According to searches of LexisNexis and the TV News Archive, the word unprecedented appears in American media coverage of the 2016 presidential election, 2505 original times by television outlets and 1005 times by major newspapers. From Donald Trump unlikely nomination to Clinton’s stunning loss on Election Day, the 2016 cycle was one for the record books.
The universal support that Hillary Clinton had from the Democratic Party’s establishment was unprecedented . Not even Al Gore , who ran for the party’s nomination in 2000 as the incumbent vice president, received as many early endorsements as Clinton. Her first elite endorsement came from Senator Claire McCaskill in 2013. A year out from the Iowa Caucus she had already amassed commitments from 60 Democratic Party super delegates, including 18 sitting senators, 40 members of the House of Representatives , and 2 governors. 1
The size of the Republican field was also unprecedented . At seventeen declared candidates, the Republican field was by far the largest to ever compete for a party’s nomination . The field was not only large, it was talented. The field included four current governors, five former governors, four current senators, one former senator, two celebrities, and a former CEO of a Fortune 500 company. There were so many Republican candidates that the Republican National Committee (RNC) made a controversial decision. Rather than try to cram seventeen candidates onto one debate stage, they would host two separate debates and use national poll standings to determine which candidates would be invited to participate in the main event.
Some of the candidates’ campaign announcements were unprecedented . Bernie Sanders ’ official announcement came in the form of a ten-minute press conference on the lawn of the Capital Building. After brusquely stating his reasons for challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party’s nomination , he took only one question from an eager press pool before abruptly cutting them off to attend a vote on the Senate floor. 2 Although Bernie Sanders ’ announcement was a no-frills affair, Ben Carson ’s campaign announcement was ostentatious. Carson’s announcement in Detroit featured a full gospel choir singing an Eminem song (both Carson and Eminem are from Detroit). 3 Not to be outdone by Carson on musicality, Mike Huckabee ’s announcement featured Tony Orlando singing a rousing rendition of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon.” 4
Fearing blowback from an over-the-top announcement, Hillary Clinton elected to announce her candidacy completely online. The announcement video’s theme was “I’m getting ready.” It showed average (but notably diverse) Americans discussing things they were getting ready to do before revealing Clinton, in her trademark pantsuit, announcing she was “getting ready to do something too, I’m running for president.” 5 Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal also used an online video for his campaign announcement. The video showed the Jindal family, obstensibly gathered around a table on the back porch of the governor’s mansion, discussing his decision to run for president. 6
Donald Trump staged his announcement speech in the opulence of Trump Tower. With former super model wife Melania by his side and throngs of supporters crowded around the surrounding balconies, Trump descended down the Trump Tower escalator from his penthouse apartment 7 to the tune of Neil Young ’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” to begin his forty-seven-minute announcement speech, the likes of which had never been seen before. With no teleprompter Donald Trump ’s announcement speech meandered between politics and self-promotion and included lines such as “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created.” 8 The media had never seen anything like it and were immediately transfixed. They figured that Trump’s candidacy wouldn’t last long but while it did he’d be ratings gold. Of course, they couldn’t have known then that they were looking at the next President of the United States of America.
Donald Trump ’s capture of the Republican Party’s nomination made history; an achievement only overshadowed by his even less likely victory in the general election . Trump’s candidacy adds many unprecedented elements to the 2016 cycle. He boycotted the final presidential debate in Iowa over a Twitter feud with a Fox News anchor and was the target of a movement to derail his candidacy financed by his own party’s biggest donors. On his way to the White House, Donald Trump didn’t just defy convention wisdoms he blew them apart, breaking almost every rule governing presidential campaigns along the way. And he did it without earning a single endorsement from a Republican member of Congress or Republican governor until three weeks after the Iowa Caucus . Over the entirety of the Republican primary , Trump earned just forty-eight elite endorsements total. 9
Although more conventional, the Democratic primary was also unprecedented . Despite not being a Democrat and being a self-described socialist, Bernie Sanders earned more than 13 million votes and won 23 states, not bad for someone whose main motivation to run was to hold Hillary Clinton accountable to the party’s progressive wing. At times, Sanders seemed awed by the throngs of fans crowding into sold-out arenas and concert halls to hear him speak. Despite a significant disadvantage in fund-raising, name recognition, and elite support, Bernie Sanders came less than 1% away from beating Clinton in Iowa , won New Hampshire handily despite a full court press by the Clinton campaign, and was competitive in the Nevada Caucus . Although ultimately unsuccessful, Sanders won 23 contests, 43.1% of the Democratic Party’s primary votes, collected 39% of the total delegates, and raised more than $235 million dollars; an impressive feat for any candidate let alone one that doesn’t even belong to the party whose nomination he sought.
The 2016 general election would offer more unprecedented elements. For the first time in history, a presidential nominee struggled to find a running mate. Several prominent Republicans took their names out of the running, including Senator Rob Portman of Ohio , Senator Marco Rubio of Florida , Governor Nikki Haley , Governor John Kasich of Ohio , Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, and Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico. 10 The Republican National Committee struggled to find high-profile Republicans to take on speaking roles at the party’s convention in Ohio in July; a position that is usually coveted because of the stature and national exposure it brings. 11 Both former presidents Bush and Ohio ’s Sitting Governor John Kasich announced they would not even attend the convention. Neither would Mitt Romney nor Senator John McCain, both former Republican n...