10 Interesting Facts About Historical US Presidential Elections

For the entire history of the United States, the country’s leader has been decided by a Presidential election. From George Washington in 1789 until today, the process of electing a President of the United States has not changed much. In this article, learn 10 interesting facts about US Presidential elections throughout history that you may not have known.

10. The last person to win a Presidential election that was not a Republican or Democrat was Zachary Taylor

Zachary Taylor served as the 12th President of the United States and was a member of the Whig Party during his time in office. Representing the Whig Party, Zachary Taylor defeated Democratic Party nominee Lewis Cass in the 1848 Presidential election with 163 electoral votes to 127. While he was the last non-Republican or Democrat to win a Presidential election, he was not the last to be President. Taylor died just over a year into his term so his Vice President Millard Fillmore, who also was a member of the Whig Party, became the 13th President of the United States and the last person to hold the position of President without being a member of the Democratic Party or the Republican Party.

9. The most states won by a Presidential candidate was Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984

In the 1972 Presidential election, incumbent Republican President Richard Nixon won in a landslide against the Democratic nominee George McGovern. Nixon won in 49 of the 50 states, only losing Massachusetts, and D.C. (not a state but has 3 electoral college votes) which has never voted for a Republican candidate. Ronald Reagan repeated this in 1984, carrying every state except Minnesota, which was the Democratic nominee Walter Mondale’s home state, and D.C. again. As of the 2020 Presidential election, this is the last time a Republican Party candidate has won in New York, Washington, Massachusetts, New York, Hawaii, Oregon, and Rhode Island.

8. The closest a third-party candidate has got to winning the US Presidential election was in 1912

In the 1912 Presidential election, former US President Theodore Roosevelt was the nominee for the Progressive Party (nicknamed the Bull Moose Party), a party he formed following his failed attempt at obtaining the presidential nomination of the Republican Party. Roosevelt finished the election with 88 electoral votes and 27.4% of the popular vote in 2nd place behind Democratic Party nominee Woodrow Wilson who received 435 electoral votes and 41.8% of the popular vote. This was the closest a third-party candidate has got to winning the Presidential election.

7. George Washington was unanimously elected President at the first Presidential election

The first President was an obvious choice for the people of the United States of America. George Washington, who was the Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and was victorious in securing independence for the new nation, had support from both the Federalists and the Anti-federalists. He was elected unanimously and unopposed in the 1789 Presidential election. This was also the case when he was up for reelection in 1792.

6. The winner has lost the popular vote in 5 Presidential elections

The United States uses a first-past-the-post election system in which each state gets electoral college votes equalling the number of Senators plus Representatives of that state in the House of Representatives, and whichever candidate gets the most votes in that state, receives all of the electoral college votes (Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that do not have a winner-take-all system). This system leads to the potential scenario that a Presidential candidate can receive more votes nationwide but still lose the election as they received fewer electoral college votes. This has happened on five occasions throughout US History:

1824: John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson with 38,149 fewer votes.

1876: Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Samuel J. Tilden with 254,694 fewer votes.

1888: Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland with 89,293 fewer votes.

2000: George W. Bush defeated Al Gore with 537,179 fewer votes.

2016: Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton with 2,833,224 fewer votes.

5. Richard Nixon has appeared on the Presidential election ballot for a major party more times than anyone else

Richard Nixon has appeared on the ballot at 5 Presidential elections for the Republican Party. This is more than anyone else for a major party. His first appearances on the ballot were as the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 and 1956 Presidential elections, which he won. He then became the Republican candidate in the 1960 Presidential election but was defeated by John F. Kennedy. His final appearances on the ballot were as the Republican Party nominee for the 1968 and 1972 elections which he won.

4. In 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt won the largest ever share of the Electoral College vote in a contested election

When incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for a second term in the 1936 Presidential election, he was extremely popular and won in a massive landslide against Republican nominee Alf Landon. Roosevelt carried 46 of the 48 states at the time and received 523 electoral college votes to Landon’s 8. With 98.49% of the electoral vote, this is the largest share received in a Presidential election that was contested. Only George Washington, who ran unopposed in his two elections, and James Monroe, who had no major opposition in 1820, have received a larger share of the electoral vote.

3. In 1872, a major presidential candidate died during the election process

Incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant won a second term in the 1872 Presidential election, defeating the Democratic-endorsed Liberal Republican candidate Horace Greeley. Voting took place on November 5th, 1872 with Grant carrying 31 of the 37 states at the time. On the 29th of November, less than 1 month after the vote, Horace Greeley died. This was before the Electoral College cast the votes and resulted in the 63 Greeley Electoral College votes being cast for different Democratic candidates. 42 voted for Governor-Elect of Indiana Thomas A. Hendricks, 18 went to Benjamin Gratz Brown who was Greeley’s running mate, 3 were still cast for Horace Greeley but these were deemed invalid, 2 were given to former Georgia Governor Charles J. Jenkins, and 1 was cast for Supreme Court Justice David Davis.

2. 4 US Presidents have lost in their home state but won the Presidential election overall

A “home state” in US politics is the state in which the politician officially resides when they run in an election. The candidates for President of the United States are often expected to have an advantage and win in their home state as this is often where they first gained popularity or where they had their first successes in politics. This presumption has only been wrong on 4 occasions in US Presidential election history:

1844: James K. Polk lost in his home state of Tennessee

1916: Woodrow Wilson lost in his home state of New Jersey

1968: Richard Nixon lost in his home state of New York

2016: Donald Trump lost in his home state of New York

1. The youngest-ever Presidential nominee for a major political party was 36-year-old William Jennings Bryan

One of the few things the Constitution lists as a requirement to become President is that you must be at least 35 years old. William Jennings Bryan is the youngest person to run for President of the United States as a nominee for a major party. He was 36 years old when he was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the 1896 Presidential election. The Republican nominee William McKinley defeated Bryan with 271 Electoral College votes to 176. He was the Democratic Party nominee at two more Presidential elections, 1900 and 1908, failing to defeat the Republican candidates in both. The youngest person to ever become President is 42-year-old Theodore Roosevelt who took office following the assassination of William McKinley. The youngest person to be elected President is John F. Kennedy who was 43 years old at the time of the election.

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