The American Presidential Election of 2012

The 57th episode in a very long series about the American presidential elections from 1788 to the present. In 2012, Obama seeks re-election, but a lot of Americans are still upset. #mrbeat #presidentialelectionsinamericanhistory #elections

This is the last episode until the Election of 2016. I can't believe I made the deadline! Thanks to all who supported me during this series.

Feeling dorky? Visit here:

The 57th Presidential election in American history took place on November 6, 2012, my 31st birthday. Oh crap, I’m getting old.

Barack Obama became President as the economy really sucked. It was known the Great Recession, and the Obama administration's solution was to have the federal government micromanage the economy in a way somewhat similar to Franklin Roosevelt’s administration. Then again, the George W. Bush administration micromanaged quite a bit, too. Obama continued the bailouts of corporations, but also of ordinary people, and Obama signed laws like the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to try get the country out of the recession.

By 2012, the recession was over, but the economy just trudged along. It was nothing to get too excited about. And the rich kept getting richer and the poor kept getting poorer. This led to unrest on both sides of the political spectrum, with The Tea Party movement on the right, and Occupy Wall Street on the left.

Still, Obama kept a campaign promise by bringing the troops home from Iraq. Well, kind of. We still have military bases there. Obama did send more troops to fight in Afghanistan, and we are in fact still there fighting right now. Obama also sent troops to Libya and expanded the drone strikes in several countries to continue the War on Terrorism, especially in Pakistan. Speaking of Pakistan, on May 1, 2011, U.S. Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden, the dude who claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, after they found him hiding seemingly in plain sight in Pakistan.

Of course, the most famous and probably biggest accomplishment during Obama’s term in office was his signing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare. The main objectives of the law were to make sure everyone had health insurance and to lower the cost of healthcare.

The Democratic Party still loved Barack Obama, and he was easily renominated, along with the 47th Vice President in American history, Joe Biden. Hi Joe!

The Republican Party, meanwhile, had some division. Yet again, quite a few nominees competed for their nomination. The leading four were former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, back again trying for the nomination after not getting it in 2008, U.S. Representative Ron Paul, also back a second time trying for the nomination after not getting it in 2008, Rick Santorum, a former Senator from Pennsylvania, and Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, who led the Republican Revolution of 1994. I have to mention that Gingrich used to teach both history and geography at the University of West Georgia.

The Republican candidates had some heated debates and definitely disagreed on several issues. It seemed like it would be tough for the party to unite behind one candidate. But they somehow did. They nominated Mitt Romney, although many Ron Paul supporters resisted his nomination, and Paul himself did not endorse Romney. Romney was the first Mormon to be nominated by a major party to run for President. Romney picked Paul Ryan, a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, as his running mate.

The Libertarian Party had gained a lot of momentum, probably because of the popularity of Ron Paul. They nominated Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico for President, with Jim Gray, a former judge, as his running mate. Johnson originally tried for the Republican nomination but wasn’t doing so well so instead joined the Libertarian Party.

But yeah, don’t you know we have a two party system, Mr. Beat? The campaigns for Obama and Romney broke records for the amount of money spent and the amount of negative campaigning. This was the first presidential election after the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC, which opened the door for unlimited election spending by corporations. Most of that spending went toward super PACs, or groups trying to drive public policy or get politicians elected without directly working with any candidates or political parties.

[georgewashington]

Fun fact: 2012 is the only presidential election in American history where neither major party ticket had a White Protestant. Obama was half-Black, Romney was a Mormon, and both Biden and Ryan were Catholics.

[NikkyElso]

It was the first election to be realized as an Epic Rap Battle of History

[stewiegriffin]

I can’t believe this was considered an unusually bitter campaign. 2016 and 2020 make Obama and Romney look like lovers.

[dunk.]

who tf in their right mind names their child "Mitt"

[codfish]

That Joe guy oddly resembles the current President.

[simonster-]

Also, you forgot to mention, Obama's reelection marked the first time since 1820 that 3 consecutive presidents have been reelected (the first was Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe)

[MrBettsClass]

You did it! Take a bow, my friend! This was an incredible undertaking and you got it done. Bravo.

[benv]

If Romney ran in 2016 he would've demolished Clinton.

[jesuschrist]

Damn, Kid President grew up. I'm getting old...

[Duijn]

Hey Mr Beat! I am a student from the Netherlands and got interested in the U.S. election this year. Once I found your channel I watched every video. I like how concise you make the information, and how much you manage to put into one video! I want to thank you for all your hard work making all these video's. I wish I had you as a teacher! :D

[pierresoorden]

October 2009 unemployment rate: 10.2%
October 2012 unemployment rate: 7.9%

[deidara_]

1:51 that moment when you notice Joe Biden creepily whispering into the kid's ear...

[niccolorichter]

Barack Obama ultimately carried the state of Florida with 50.01% of the vote, to Mitt Romney's 49.13%, a margin of 0.88%. Having also won the state in 2008, Obama's 2012 victory made him the first Democratic president since Franklin D. Roosevelt to carry Florida for the Democrats in two consecutive presidential elections and, thus, the first nominated candidate from the Democratic Party to win the state more than once since then. However, as of 2020, this is the last time Florida voted for the Democratic candidate.

[killerkitten]

*promises to pull troops out of Iraq*
*puts them in Afghanistan instead*
Big brain time

[nicoleh]

Here after seeing Romney joining the current protests and speaking out. Imagine if Romney had won. He wouldve likely ran as an incumbent in 2016 and thus Trump wouldn’t have had a nomination under the GOP. US politics and news would be so different today!

[B-Mag]

Shoutout to Romney for being the last candidate to lose with grace

[ed]

I love that you use music that was contemporary to the election’s time

[EforEvery]

You did it! This is half cool half sad, I'm so used to watching these.

[kevsandler]

my favorite part of these videos is hearing the background pop music at the time

[ryko]

“Next election hasn’t happened yet” wipes tear