John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon have the first televised presidential debate; one where presentation made as much of an impact as message, and may have cost Nixon the election.
Lincoln's oratory and underhanded tactics gave him the chance to beat Stephen Douglas, one of the most formidable politicians of his generation.
Vice President Bush deals with the scandal of Iran Contra while campaigning against Michael Dukakis with television attack ads that would sink the Democrat's presidential chances.
Harry Truman travels by train across America, in a race against time to win the presidency, as he falls in the polls while leading an unpopular, divided party against Thomas Dewey.
After losing the election of 1824 to John Adams, General Andrew Jackson comes back with a vicious, vile and personal attack campaign to win the 1828 election.
Bill Clinton fights back against a tarnished image as adulterer and draft dodger to win the presidency.
The 2008 race sees freshman Senator Barack Obama go up against Republican Senator John McCain.
The 1980 race sees President Carter and Republican Ronald Reagan fighting off fierce challenges from within, as both parties struggle to re-invent themselves and use the global media spotlight to their advantage.
The 1964 race was held in a country still reeling from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and pits incumbent Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson against conservative Republican Barry Goldwater.
The 1912 race is an election between four remarkable candidates - former Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, his anointed heir President William Howard Taft, scholarly and religious Democrat Woodrow Wilson, and Socialist Eugene Debs.
The election of 1976 pits the politician establishment personified by President Gerald Ford against Jimmy Carter.
Republican General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Democrat Adlai Stevenson both were persuaded to run for the White House, but as the gloves come off this becomes a fierce battle for hearts and minds.