Game of Politics, or Race For the Presidency (1887)

The Game of Politics, or The Race For the Presidency was first published in 1887 and patented in 1888. Unlike the later game of the same name by Oswald B. Lord, candidates in this game play cards against each other to reach the office of Mayor, Governor, Congressman, and Senator before moving on to a battle over each state's Electoral votes for the U.S. Presidency. 201 votes out of the 401 for all of the states are required to win. While the game is listed as being for 2, 4 or 6 players, in fact there are only two candidates competing for the Presidency. When there are more than two players, the sides form two teams that play in turn to advance their respective candidates. Few intact copies of the game seem to have survived to the present day. However, the patent application -- which lists the game's rules -- and surviving game boards give a good indication as to what the components were for the W.S. Reed Toy Company's release. These include: Rules Game board Two "wads" (pawns) to move on the board's tracks; one red, one blue 23 pins for use in the left and right columns At least one pin to mark the last bypassed state during the first pass through the state list A deck of 48 cards, containing eight each of the following values: 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 7000, and 10000.