A few Election Day thoughts from the last 200 years

And I’m scripting this earlier than any of us know the end result of what has been a curler coaster-contentious election, particularly in Silicon Valley. We might have solutions by tonight. But when the previous few elections are any indication, it’s distinctly attainable we received’t.

I flip to historical past once I don’t know what to say. I at all times have—ask my associates, who after sufficient beers, will normally say one thing like: “Allie, please, not Napoleon’s invasion of Russia once more.” 

However at this time, trying again may very well be helpful. You’ll be able to learn concerning the current elsewhere and in all places, so proper now I’d like to speak concerning the previous.

Shut, chaotic, and contested elections have lengthy been a recurring a part of American politics. I’ve at all times been drawn to that 1948 photograph of Harry Truman, Cheshire Cat grin, holding up the Chicago Every day Tribune and its screaming entrance web page: “Dewey Defeats Truman.” (Spoiler alert—he didn’t.)

Although there are lots of examples which might be much less amusing. In 1824, Andrew Jackson obtained the preferred and electoral votes, however didn’t win the bulk. The choice fell to the Home of Representatives, the place a string of backroom machinations made John Quincy Adams president and distant runner-up Henry Clay the Secretary of State. Jackson furiously termed it the “Corrupt Cut price,” stepped apart, after which got here blazing again as a populist candidate in 1828. 

The election of 1876 was even worse, and over two names most People at this time will hardly acknowledge: Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. Hayes in the end received though he misplaced the favored vote by greater than 250,000 votes, and the end result was so virulently divisive that some feared it might result in one other civil struggle. Nevertheless it didn’t. 

After which there’s the one all of us keep in mind. 

Each election cycle, my husband has a narrative he likes to inform about his first-grade election night time project—he needed to fill within the 2000 Bush vs. Gore electoral map. (I requested him whether or not he did it in crayon, however he couldn’t recall.) Because the night time went on he crammed in some states purple, others blue. When it was bedtime, his dad and mom—my now in-laws—informed him to name it an evening. He protested: “I’ve to complete my homework or I’ll get in bother!”

His Silicon Valley physician dad and mom informed him: “Honey, nobody is ending their homework tonight. And someplace in Florida, there’s somebody in a lot larger bother than you.”

I used to be in Florida, a child watching my very own dad and mom glued to the TV for that night time—then for weeks. We lived within the Miami-Dade County that was all around the information, with incessant speak of hanging chads. However for all of the hullabaloo, I don’t keep in mind feeling like we have been in bother. My dad and mom have been unsure, sure, alarmed, sure. However afraid? I didn’t sense that my dad and mom have been actually scared of what may occur—or that they thought I needs to be. A lot has modified since then: January 6 revealed how shortly issues can get out-of-hand.

Like lots of you, I consider this is a vital election, however I additionally must consider it’s not wholly unprecedented. I personally discover solace within the thought of being a part of an extended continuum, and I hope that provides a few of you consolation, too. And positive, I might be excited about this all incorrect (my husband thinks so). However what I do know at this time, earlier than the votes are tallied, is that shut, chaotic, and contested elections have lengthy been a part of the American system. 

And that democracy endures via the peaceable switch of energy.

Go vote and see you tomorrow,

Allie GarfinkleTwitter: @agarfinksEmail: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.comSubmit a deal for the Time period Sheet publication right here.

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VENTURE DEALS

– Miros, a London-based visible AI search platform for customers, raised €6 million ($6.5 million) in pre-Sequence A funding. EBRD Enterprise Capital and Tera Ventures led the spherical and have been joined by angel buyers.

– Additional, a distant monetary planning platform for first-time homebuyers, raised $4.1 million in pre-seed funding from Hyperlink Ventures, Vesta Ventures, F4, angel buyers, and others.

PRIVATE EQUITY

– Stonepeak agreed to accumulate Air Transport Companies Group, a Wilmington, Ohio-based plane leasing and cargo and passenger air transportation options supplier, for about $3.1 billion in money.

– Aero Equipment & Restore, a portfolio firm of ATL Companions, acquired Aero Devices and Avionics, a Buffalo, New York-based avionic and instrumentation companies supplier. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– Comvest Personal Fairness acquired a majority stake in Riccobene Associates Household Dentistry, a Cary, N.C.-based dental companies group. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– H.I.G. Capital and Thoma Bravo agreed to accumulate the model and merchandise of the Computing Know-how Trade Affiliation, a Downers Grove, Ailing.-based IT certification and coaching supplier. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– Littlejohn acquired Sunbelt Modular, a Phoenix-based modular options designer and producer. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– Monomoy Capital Companions acquired Oliver Packaging and Tools, a Walker, Mich.-based meals packaging techniques and bakery tools producer. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– Renovus Capital Companions acquired a majority stake in Performive, an Atlanta-based managed IT companies supplier for mid-market enterprises. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– SK Capital Companions acquired the North America Composites and Gasoline Containment division of Parker Hannifin Company, a Cleveland, Ohio-based movement and management know-how firm. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

EXITS

– AMETEK acquired Virtek Imaginative and prescient Worldwide, a Waterloo, Canada-based laser projection and AI-powered inspection options supplier, from American Industrial Companions. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– Domtar Company acquired the North American paper receipt options enterprise of Iconex, an Atlanta-based label producer, from Atlas Holdings.

– Ryan Specialty acquired Innovisk, a London-based funding and insurance coverage agency, from Abry Companions and BHMS Investments. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– 1440 Meals, backed by 4×4 Capital and Bain Capital Personal Fairness, acquired FITCRUNCH, a Bohemia, N.Y.-based protein bar firm, from Robert Irvine, Union Capital Associates, and its founders. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

OTHER

– Apple agreed to take a position $1.1 billion in GlobalStar, a Covington, La.-based satellite tv for pc companies supplier. Apple additionally agreed to accumulate a 20% stake within the firm for $400 million.

– Kewaunee Scientific Company acquired Nu Aire, a Minneapolis-based laboratory and pharmacy tools producer, for $55 million.

– Lincoln Worldwide acquired TCG Company Finance, a Munich-based know-how and digital economic system advisory agency. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

– Mercer acquired Cardano, a London-based funding administration and advisory agency. Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

– Shamrock Capital, a Los Angeles-based funding agency, raised roughly $1.3 billion for its sixth fund and roughly $320 million for its first fund targeted on buyout and later-stage investments in center market corporations within the media, leisure, and communications sectors.

PEOPLE

– Arsenal Capital Companions, a New York Metropolis-based non-public fairness agency, added Joshua Schultz as an working accomplice. Beforehand, he was at Cytel.

– Silversmith Capital Companions, a Boston-based development fairness agency, added Chris Hecht as an working accomplice. Beforehand, he was at Databricks.