Playing A Unique Role in History: The New Hampshire Presidential Primary and Saint Anselm College

Every four years, New Hampshire serves as a magnet to politicians and the press as the nation’s first presidential primary unfolds. The New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College is right in the middle of it all, hosting presidential hopefuls and providing a backdrop for American democracy in action.

Over the past 40 years, hundreds of Presidential aspirants have delivered policy speeches at Saint Anselm College. We have also hosted numerous Presidential debates. These events have afforded the Saint Anselm College community as well as our neighbors in Greater Manchester unique opportunities to participate in American democracy. Some of the candidates who have talked politics at Saint Anselm College have gone on to become American presidents, including the last seven. Future presidents who visited Saint Anselm College since 1959 include President John F. Kennedy; President Richard M. Nixon; President Gerald Ford; President Jimmy Carter; President Ronald Reagan; President George H. Bush; President William Jefferson Clinton; and President George W. Bush.

Saint Anselm and the Institute have become a “must stop” for the campaigns, providing what The Washington Post calls “a box seat on America’s most riveting political theatre.” 

Whether it’s a political debate or a candidate teaching a class, the Institute’s goal is to add context to complicated issues and to actively promote civic responsibility. As one of the few undergraduate colleges in the nation to offer such an experience, Saint Anselm gives its students unprecedented access to world leaders and renowned academic scholars.