Very cool.

Very cool.

Thanks. The only problem is, since I created Blaine, I can't get the 1880 campaign slogans out of my head.

"Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine,
Continental liar from the state of Maine!"

"Ma, ma, where's my pa?
Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!"

Okay, I made two more Republicans: William McKinley and Levi P. Morton.

William McKinley
State: Ohio
Party: Republican
Stats:
Charisma: 6
Comeliness: 1
Compassion: 5
Credibility: 5
Experience: 7
Integrity: 1
Intelligence: 6
Media Bias: 7
Military Experience: 2
Minority Appeal: 7
Religious: 1
Stamina: 9
Fund Raising: 10
Money: 8

I had a hard time balancing out McKinley....some of his stats are exagerated in how low they are.

Levi P. Morton
State: New York
Party: Republican
Stats:
Charisma: 6
Comeliness: 1
Compassion: 6
Credibility: 5
Experience: 7
Integrity: 4
Intelligence: 7
Media Bias: 6
Military Experience: 1
Minority Appeal: 7
Religious: 1
Stamina: 9
Fund Raising: 8
Money: 7

sweet!

If you want to go beyond the amount of points allowed by the game you can create your own files using this post as a guide WWW Link

A very easy way would be to create the characters using the 'new' button in the game and then going into the file in the data folder and editing those stats. Never edit the core characters file. My advice is to not go overboard on any stats.

Those who have studied history will know that Bryan is famous as one of the great orators in American politics. You will note though that he never won the presidency despite being nominated several times. So while his oratory in the game might be able to get the issue he wants at the top, something always caused him to lose. I found it difficult and arbitrary when I created my historical candidates. I used the encyclopedia to get an idea of the person's strengths and balanced that with how well they did in the elections.

Trying to balance the points out to what is offered is self defeating. The points should be used to determine how good a candidate is. If you have a character like Alf Landon or George McGovern then you may not even use all the points. If you're creating a character like William McKinley or Andrew Jackson, there is no way that you can do that realistically on the points they give.
When I create a character I try to balance out how good a candidate they are balanced against their place in history. I did research on each of the persons involved and tried to hit their perceived strengths and weaknesses. Some of the candidates in the game are treated more reverently because of their place in history than in their results at the ballot box. If you make a Herbert Hoover character the first impulse is that he would be horrible. To balance out the view of history with the reality you must remember that in 1928 Hoover had the most lopsided victory in presidential history. His place in history has to be more than his results in facing the depression as president. He was called upon after both world wars to feed a starving Europe. His handling of the great flood of '27 set the standard reacting to a disaster. But he was too hands on in governing and trusted the markets more than the government to come out of the economic upheaval of the depression. FDR brought the power of the governement into the fray and gave the people hope.
Thomas Jefferson is considered the top Democrat in the game because of his place as a founding father. Jefferson lost to Adams in 1796. When finally elected in 1800 it was because the matter went to the House of Representatives in an electoral tie with that immortal figure Aaron Burr. He did manage to cream Charles Pinkney in 1804, but the point is made that his stats are based more on his place in history than in his prowess at garnering votes.

Rutherford B. Hayes
State: Ohio
Party: Republican
Stats:
Charisma: 8
Comeliness: 5
Compassion: 6
Credibility: 6
Experience: 6
Integrity: 5
Intelligence: 8
Media Bias: 2
Military Experience: 5
Minority Appeal: 5
Religious: 5
Stamina: 5
Fund Raising Ability: 7
Money: 7

Historical note: Was the victor in the disputed election of 1876. His low stamina rating is a result of the fact that he left the electioneering to others. The result of that was the irony that a man of high integrity was stuck with some very under the table deals that gained him the presidency. The election was actually turned when shenanegans on the other side turned against them. They tried to bribe the only independent member of the election commission with the US senate seat from Illinois, only to have him show integrity and resign from the commission after accepting the seat.
Its hard to know who really won as there were irregularities on both sides in the south. Republicans contolled the voting boards in the disputed states. They probably had the votes to win in South Carolina and Louisiana without cheating but not in Florida. That balances off against militia in other states that were effective in preventing black from voting and also in fooling them to vote for Democrats in other areas.
Hayes promised to govern only one term and kept to his promise. From what I've read I don't think that with all the compromises he made that he would have won re-election anyway.

Rutherford B. Hayes
State: Ohio
Party: Republican
Stats:
Charisma: 6
Comeliness: 5
Compassion: 6
Credibility: 6
Experience: 6
Integrity: 5
Intelligence: 8
Media Bias: 2
Military Experience: 5
Minority Appeal: 5
Religious: 5
Stamina: 5
Fund Raising Ability: 7
Money: 7

Historical note: Was the victor in the disputed election of 1876. His low stamina rating is a result of the fact that he left the electioneering to others. The result of that was the irony that a man of high integrity was stuck with some very under the table deals that gained him the presidency. The election was actually turned when shenanegans on the other side turned against them. They tried to bribe the only independent member of the election commission with the US senate seat from Illinois, only to have him show integrity and resign from the commission after accepting the seat.
Its hard to know who really won as there were irregularities on both sides in the south. Republicans contolled the voting boards in the disputed states. They probably had the votes to win in South Carolina and Louisiana without cheating but not in Florida. That balances off against militia in other states that were effective in preventing black from voting and also in fooling them to vote for Democrats in other areas.
Hayes promised to govern only one term and kept to his promise. From what I've read I don't think that with all the compromises he made that he would have won re-election anyway.

Bejamin Harrison
State: Indiana
Party: Republican
Stats:
Charisma: 7
Comeliness: 6
Compassion: 7
Credibility: 6
Experience: 6
Integrity: 5
Intelligence: 8
Media Bias: 2
Military Experience: 6
Minority Appeal: 5
Religious: 5
Stamina: 5
Fund Raising Ability: 6
Money: 7

Historical note: Was grandson of William Henry Harrison, who died in office after one month when he caught pneumonia on his inaugeration. For some reason the younger Harrison was obsessed with the success of his grandfather.
He won the campaign based upon 80 speeches given to 300,000 people that came to hear him in Indianapolis.

Grover Cleveland
State: New York
Party: Democrat
Stats:
Charisma: 6
Comeliness: 6
Compassion: 6
Credibility: 6
Experience: 6
Integrity: 8
Intelligence: 6
Media Bias: 2
Military Experience: 3
Minority Appeal: 5
Religious: 5
Stamina: 7
Fund Raising Ability: 6
Money: 7

Edit: can edit above, don't know why

Harrison's stamina should be 7

Winfield S. Hancock
State: Pennsylvania
Party: Democrat
Stats:
Charisma: 8
Comeliness: 7
Compassion: 6
Credibility: 6
Experience: 4
Integrity: 6
Intelligence: 6
Media Bias: 7
Military Experience: 8
Minority Appeal: 5
Religious: 5
Stamina: 7
Fund Raising Ability: 6
Money: 7

This one was difficult because almost everything written about him is his military history. He lost to Garfield by just 10,000 votes.