Who doesn’t like a good slogan, especially when it comes to politics? Love it or hate it, “Make America Great Again” has become as ubiquitous as apple pie. Presidential campaign slogans go way back.

In politics, it seems, bad times make good slogans. Herbert Hoover’s promise of “a chicken in every pot” did not get him re-elected in 1932, but it was a far more ingenious catch phrase than the ...