"Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?"

[Garson O'Toole]

Fred Shapiro asked
> I would be interested in any suggestions as to the origin of the
> election-year question, "Are you better off today than you were
> four years ago?"
> When is some version of it first recorded?  When was it
> popularized?

Here is an instance from a newspaper opinion piece in 1900. The author
seems to believe that readers should answer the question affirmatively
and support the incumbent, McKinley.

Cite: 1900 September 20, Aberdeen Weekly News, [Untitled opinion
article], Quote Page 2, Column 4, Aberdeen, South Dakota.
(GenealogyBank)

[Begin excerpt]
Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Are your
prospects better now than they were then? Do you think your interests
will he advanced by turning down the policies that have worked so well
during the past three years and returning to the policies that
produced the hard times of 1893-1896? These are questions each voter
should consider, and he can think them out for himself better than any
other man can think them out for him. The issues now are precisely the
same as they were four years ago as far as the people of the United
States are concerned.
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 8:30 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> FDR asked the same thing in 1936, I believe.
> DanG
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 8:22 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
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>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: "Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?"
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> Ronald Reagan asked this in 1980.  I've seen the tape.
>>
>> JL
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 7, 2012 at 8:00 AM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
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>> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> > Subject:      "Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Four Years Ago?"
>> >
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > I would be interested in any suggestions as to the origin of the
>> > election-y=
>> > ear question, "Are you better off today than you were four years ago?"
>> >  Whe=
>> > n is some version of it first recorded?  When was it popularized?
>> >
>> > Fred Shapiro
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>>
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