editors,
here is something i think might interest you: the first instance of an attack ad in a Presidential Campaign, from the very first presidential campaign where little known Luther Standish Treaty ran an unsuccessful campaign against George Washington. thought you might be interested in it...
The First Negative Advertisement in a Presidential Campaign; a Handbill Circulated in 1788 by George Washington's Opponent, Luther Standish Treaty, in the First U.S. Presidential Election
-- courtesy of Stuart Collection of Oldentime Stuff and Archives
