250 Years of Campaigns, Cash, and Corruption

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Mother Jones needs your help. Our fiscal year ends today, and we still need $60,000 in online donations to get to break-even, or a lot closer. We’ve already cut $1 million in costs. We can't afford to come up short. Learn more about why this is so urgent in “News Never Pays,” or about our finances and nonprofit operation here, and please support the journalism you get from us if you can right now. We need more help than normal.

The history of money in American politics is one of shady characters and a dramatic battle between the forces of reform and influence that goes back more than 250 years before the birth of the super-PAC. Check out this timeline for its juiciest events and milestones. (It may take a few seconds to load.)