This story is part of the WTOP Book Report series written by Terik King. Read more of that coverage.

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<figcaption>CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash spoke to the WTOP Book Report about "America's Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History." (Courtesy Hanover Square Press)</figcaption>
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<figcaption>CNN's Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash spoke to the WTOP Book Report about "America's Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History." (Courtesy Hanover Square Press)</figcaption>
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CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash discusses her book America's Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History with WTOP's Terik King

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With political experts warning of potential disruptions in the Electoral College due to ballot-counting changes in Georgia and rule-change attempts in Nebraska, would chaos truly be, as pundits frequently say, “unprecedented?”

CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash says “no.”

Bash recently joined the WTOP Book Report to discuss her first book, America’s Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History. Co-authored with David Fisher, the book examines the 1872 Louisiana gubernatorial election, a chaotic and violent contest that Bash argues continues to reverberate through American politics today.

“This was something that I was shocked and embarrassed that I didn’t know about,” Bash told WTOP. “It begins with the chaotic and horrible election in Louisiana in 1972, but the repercussions are national and are lasting up until where we are today.”

Bash, who anchors Inside Politics and co-anchors State of the Union with Jake Tapper, said she was drawn to the story after learning about it from Fisher and Dan Abrams, with whom Fisher had previously collaborated on other historical works.

The 1872 election, set during the Reconstruction era, involved widespread violence and fraud aimed at disenfranchising newly freed Black voters. According to Bash, the stakes and tactics of that election provide important lessons for today’s political climate.

Louisiana paves the way for Jim Crow

America’s Deadliest Election is divided into two parts. The first focuses on Louisiana’s gubernatorial race, one punctuated by violence, including the Colfax Massacre — where more than 150 Black men were killed in cold blood — and was part of a broader effort by white supremacists to suppress Black political participation.

“It was the first time really in American history that racist segregationists understood the power of the right to vote, “said Bash, “and the need, if they want to keep their white supremacist views in place as policy in their society, to do what they can to intimidate Black voters. And (that idea) has been a tool of those groups and those people who have those discriminatory views ever since.”

After the violent clashes in 1872, empowered by civil rights guarantees in post-Civil War constitutional amendments, the prosecutions of the anti-Black segregationists made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately decided to allow the states to devise and impose voter rights protections.

“The Southern states, including and especially Louisiana, said ‘Great, we agree.’ And they introduced Jim Crow laws,” said Bash, “which affected every aspect of the Black citizen’s life — not just voting.” The Jim Crow laws — which ultimately lasted the better part of the next century — “can all be traced back to this horrific election in 1872 in the state of Louisiana,” Bash added.

An 1870s analog to Donald Trump

In America’s Deadliest Election, Bash highlights the role of Henry Warmoth, the controversial ca