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Sunday 8 December 2013

Candidate

In Ancient Rome all those wishing to be elected to official positions wore white togas before the elections were held. The word “candidate” comes from the Latin word “candidus” meaning white.

The first losing candidate in a US presidential election was Thomas Jefferson. He lost to John Adams. George Washington had been unopposed.

In the Southern states of America, during the first presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan in 1892, candidates for elections would parade through the streets led by a band of musicians performing on a horse-drawn wagon. As a publicity stunt, a candidate would mount the wagon as it passed through his own constituency in an effort to woo voters. From this comes the phrase climbing the bandwagon.

Europe’s first women members of parliament were Finns. They were elected in 1907 in the first continental election to include female candidates.

In 1972 Dr Benjamin Spock, the author of The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, stood as a candidate for the People’s Party in the 1972 US presidential election.

Source Daily Mail 

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