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Happy Days

The Not-Making of the President

Season 2, Episode 15, Aired Jan 28, 1975

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Richie goes against Howard and, to get a girl, campaigns for Adlai Stevenson in the 1956 Presidential race.

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Stephanie Steele

Debbie

Ron Howard

Richard J. Cunningham
Marion Ross

Marion Kelp Cunningham
Anson Williams

Warren "Potsie" Weber
Henry Winkler

Arthur Herbert "Fonzie" Fonzarelli
Donny Most

Ralph Malph
Tom Bosley

Howard C. Cunningham

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Fan Episode Reviews (3)

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Howard is appalled when Richie flaunts tradition and backs a Deomcratic candidtae for the presidential elections as the Cunninghams have always been Republicans.

7.0

"Good"

By Lady_Lancaster, Jan 16, 2011

In the 1950s, young people began to take more of an interest in politics than ever before. In the 1956 race, much to Howard's disgust, Richie decides to back the Democratic candidate, Adlai Stephenson against Dwight D. Eisenhower. Father and son argue very heatedly on this issue because Richie wants to make his own choices and Howard simply can't move past the fact that his son wants to back someone who isn't a Republican.

This episode highlights Richie's political awareness and the fact that he is grown up enough to make informed decisions as to which candidate he wishes to throw his support behind. Inevitably, of course, Eisenhower won the election, but 1960 brought with it the beginning of the Kennedy era and so if Richie decided to stick to his choice, maybe he got his way in the end.moreless
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The generational conflict in the fifties.

8.0

"Great"

By francklloyd, Apr 24, 2008

Like MASH, Happy Days tended to deal with contemporary issues in a historical setting. This episode is one of the few that tied the show with a particular moment in history, the 1956 election, but it also depicted that universal conflict that occurs between generations when politics are concerned. So Howard Cunningham is a republican, a fan of Eisenhower because of the war. Richie, with fewer memories of WWII, goes for Stevenson, though in the beginning for the wrong reasons. Youthful enthusiasm versus conservative certainties. The episode first aired in the winter of 1975, some months after the resignation of President Nixon. You can imagine that many households were having discussions similar to those of Howard and Richie Cunningham.

I was distracted by one little weakness of the show. Though set in Milwaukee it was filmed in California and the weather conditions could be unrealistic. For an episode set in the Milwaukee fall of 1956, it was weird to see the heavy tans of Anson Williams and Tom Bosley. The speech outside Arnold's may have occurred on a crisp, sunny November day, but the extras seemed uncomfortable wearing heavy clothes.moreless
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It's election time, and Richie knows exactly which candidate to support - the one a cute blonde girl is campaigning for...

7.9

"Good"

By Jay-Spacedust, Sep 17, 2007

This episode is set around the 1956 Presidential Elections, one of the few solid events to date the series (It can generally be worked out that the series stared set in 1955 and ended in 1965).

The plot concerns Richie joining up with a political campaign to try and win over the typical girl-of-the episode. The side he's campaigning for just happens to be at odds with Howard's own political views, which naturally causes friction in the Cunningham household.

All in all, a fair but average sort of an episode. It's not bottom of the barrel, but it's not overly outstanding either.moreless
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TRIVIA (1)
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- This episode focuses on the upcoming 1956 Presidential election. In 1956, there were 48 states and 48 stars on the U.S. flag. On a flag in this episode, there were 50 stars. Alaska became the 49th state on January 3rd, 1959, and Hawaii became the 50th state on August 21st, 1959.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Richie: Since when is politics the key to sex? Ralph: Are you kidding? I heard about a guy who was canvassing in '52. He rang a lady's doorbell and didn't come out till '54.
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- Richie: I know I'm right. Why should I have to apologize? Marion: Because he is your father. Joanie: Right or wrong, I always apologize. It keeps my allowance coming in.
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- Fonzie: I like Ike. My bike likes Ike!
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NOTES (2)
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- Jerry Paris appears as a heckler during Richie's speech but is not credited.
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- There is some actual footage of a Stevenson concession speech and an Eisenhower victory rally in this episode.
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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