--- title: Was the 2016 Campaign Really the Dirtiest Election Ever? description: "Unhinged." "Corrupt." "Egomaniacal." "Puppet." Those are just a few of the barbs Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have traded during what has undoubtedly been a... canonical: https://time.com/4565967/the-dirtiest-election-ever/ author: Emily Barone article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-10T10:58:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:48:38.527Z article:section: Politics og:title: Was the 2016 Campaign Really the Dirtiest Election Ever? og:description: "Unhinged." "Corrupt." "Egomaniacal." "Puppet." Those are just a few of the barbs Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have traded during what has undoubtedly been a... og:url: https://time.com/4565967/the-dirtiest-election-ever/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Was the 2016 Campaign Really the Dirtiest Election Ever? twitter:description: "Unhinged." "Corrupt." "Egomaniacal." "Puppet." Those are just a few of the barbs Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have traded during what has undoubtedly been a... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Was the 2016 Campaign Really the Dirtiest Election Ever? > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=18294923-1905-4e7a-b2fa-abfc969b3f1d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Emily Barone](https://time.com/author/emily-barone/) ## Emily Barone Nov 10, 2016 10:58 AM UTC by [Emily Barone](https://time.com/author/emily-barone/) ## Emily Barone Nov 10, 2016 10:58 AM UTC “Unhinged.” “Corrupt.” “Egomaniacal.” “Puppet.” Those are just a few of the barbs Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have traded during what has undoubtedly been a nasty, negative campaign season. But how does this election’s rhetoric stack up against that of its historical predecessors? Perhaps nobody can answer that question better than Joseph Cummins. For his book Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots, and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Campaigns, the political-history specialist spent months researching and ranking the worst insults and antics of every election since 1789, when George Washington ran unopposed. His verdict: This election was indeed the worst of the past 100 years and among the top five dirtiest of all time. One reason is the profoundly personal nature of the attacks. Back in the 19th century, political candidates generally didn’t insult each other directly. They relied on their supporters and the media to sling mud on their behalf. Now candidates often call one another out by name at rallies or by their @ on Twitter. But the more pervasive cause is polarization. In many ways, says Cummins, today’s Republicans and Democrats are a lot like the Federalists and Republicans of 1800–neither side agrees with the other, and both are firmly convinced they’re in the right. “And whenever that happens, where you have two ideologies clashing,” he explains, passions tend to flare–as does a campaign’s rhetoric. –EMILY BARONE CLASSIC ATTACKS THROUGHOUT HISTORY Too reckless Physically weak Not smart enough Inferior supporters Can’t be trusted Bad résumé 2016 Clinton harped on Trump’s statements about nuclear weapons, like his recommendation to be “unpredictable” with them. 2016 Trump repeatedly questioned Clinton’s strength and stamina. 2016 Both Trump and Clinton criticized each other’s temperament and intellect. 2016 Clinton said Trump supporters are “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it.” 2016 More than anything else, Trump called Clinton a liar, alleging that she “may be the most corrupt person ever” to run for President. 2016 Clinton described Trump’s foreign policy experience as running “the Miss Universe pageant in Russia.” 1940 Wendell Willkie told crowds that voting for FDR would result in war and “wooden crosses for sons and brothers and sweethearts.” 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson’s famous “Daisy” ad juxtaposed a young girl with a mushroom cloud, insinuating that opponent Barry Goldwater would steer the country into nuclear war. 1852 Franklin Pierce, who had fainted during a battle in Mexico, was dubbed “the fainting general.” 1800 A writer hired by Thomas Jefferson described John Adams as “a hideous hermaphroditical character \[with\] neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” 1920 “A dummy, an animated automaton, a marionette.” –Democrats’ description of Warren Harding 1848 Whigs called Democratic candidate Lewis Cass a “potbellied, mutton-headed cucumber.” 1864 “Nothing more than a well-meaning baboon.” –Democrat George McClellan on Lincoln 1960 “If you vote for Nixon, you might go to hell.” –Harry Truman, acting as a surrogate for John F. Kennedy 1796 Federalists called Thomas Jefferson’s Republican followers “cutthroats who walk in rags and sleep amidst filth and vermin.” 1996 Republicans attacked Bill Clinton for “Travelgate,” “Filegate” and a real estate controversy known as Whitewater. 1844 He spends “his days at the gambling table and his nights in a brothel.” –A Democratic leaflet about Henry Clay 1828 A pamphlet published by John Adams supporters called Andrew Jackson a cockfighter, drunkard, thief, liar and husband of a very fat wife. 1992 “My dog Millie knows more about foreign affairs than those two bozos.” –George H.W. Bush, referring to Bill Clinton and Al Gore 2008 John McCain repeatedly slammed Barack Obama over his lack of experience: “He has never taken the hard but right course of risking his own interests for yours.” HALL OF SHAME 1876 Rutherford Hayes vs. Samuel Tilden Anonymous letters were printed in newspapers claiming that Hayes had once shot and wounded his own mother. HALL OF SHAME 1972 Richard Nixon vs. George McGovern Among the various dirty tricks Nixon implemented, the most famous was bugging the Democratic National Convention offices. The so-called Watergate scandal later cost him the presidency. HALL OF SHAME 1964 Lyndon Johnson vs. Barry Goldwater LBJ’s aides put out a kids’ coloring book in which Goldwater was dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes. HALL OF SHAME 1796 John Adams vs. Thomas Jefferson A Republican newspaper accused Adams of having “sesquipedality of belly,” which meant it was 18 inches long. SOURCES: NEWS REPORTS; ANYTHING FOR A VOTE: DIRTY TRICKS, CHEAP SHOTS, AND OCTOBER SURPRISES IN U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4565967/the-dirtiest-election-ever/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4565967/the-dirtiest-election-ever/"},"headline":"Was the 2016 Campaign Really the Dirtiest Election Ever?","datePublished":"2016-11-10T10:58:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:48:38.527Z","description":"\"Unhinged.\" \"Corrupt.\" \"Egomaniacal.\" \"Puppet.\" Those are just a few of the barbs Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have traded during what has undoubtedly been a...","url":"https://time.com/4565967/the-dirtiest-election-ever/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","presidential campaign"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Barone","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emily-barone/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4565967/the-dirtiest-election-ever/","name":"Was the 2016 Campaign Really the Dirtiest Election Ever?"}}]}] ```