List of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin

The table below is a list of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin. The table can be sorted to display United States Presidents by their presidential term, year of election, name, margin by percentage in popular vote, popular vote, margin in popular vote by number, and the runner up in the electoral college.

The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are elected. It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, which provided the original procedure by which the Electoral College functioned. Problems with this procedure were demonstrated in the elections of 1796 and 1800. The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the Congress on December 9, 1803 and was ratified by the requisite number of state legislatures on June 15, 1804.

Since the United States does not hold national elections, the national popular vote is not significant in determining the outcome of the United States presidential election. United States Presidents are elected through the Electoral College. All votes are cast in 50 state-wide elections (as well as the election in the District of Columbia) for that state's delegates to vote in the electoral college for one party's candidate.

The national popular vote is the sum of all votes cast in every state election (and DC). So it is not one single election, but rather the added results of 51 separate state-wide elections.

[edit] Table of election results

      Democratic-Republican       National Republican Party       Democratic       Whig       Republican       Progressive

Term	Year	Electoral College winner	Pct. of pop. vote	Margin	Pop. vote	Margin	Electoral College runner-up
10	1824	Adams, John QuincyJohn Quincy Adams	30.9%	00.001-10.4%	113,122	00.004-38,149	Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson
11	1828	Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson	56.0%	12.4%	642,553	00141656141,656	Adams, John QuincyJohn Quincy Adams
12	1832	Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson	54.2%	16.8%	701,780	00217575217,575	Clay, HenryHenry Clay
13	1836	Van Buren, MartinMartin Van Buren	50.8%	14.2%	764,176	00213360213,360	Harrison, WilliamWilliam Henry Harrison
14	1840	Harrison, WilliamWilliam Henry Harrison	52.9%	06.1%6.1%	1,275,390	00146536146,536	Van Buren, MartinMartin Van Buren
15	1844	Polk, JamesJames K. Polk	49.5%	01.4%1.4%	1,339,494	0003949039,490	Clay, HenryHenry Clay
16	1848	Taylor, ZacharyZachary Taylor	47.3%	04.8%4.8%	1,361,393	00137933137,933	Cass, LewisLewis Cass
17	1852	Pierce, FranklinFranklin Pierce	50.8%	06.9%6.9%	1,607,510	00220568220,568	Scott, WinfieldWinfield Scott
18	1856	Buchanan, JamesJames Buchanan	45.3%	12.2%	1,836,072	00493727493,727	Frémont, John C.John C. Frémont
19	1860	Lincoln, AbrahamAbraham Lincoln	39.8%	10.3%	1,865,908	00485706485,706	Breckinridge, John C.John C. Breckinridge
20	1864	Lincoln, AbrahamAbraham Lincoln	55.0%	10.0%	2,218,388	00405581405,581	McClellan, George B.George B. McClellan
21	1868	Grant, UlyssesUlysses S. Grant	52.7%	05.4%5.4%	3,013,650	00304906304,906	Seymour, HoratioHoratio Seymour
22	1872	Grant, UlyssesUlysses S. Grant	55.6%	11.8%	3,598,235	00763474763,474	Greeley, HoraceHorace Greeley
23	1876	Hayes, RutherfordRutherford B. Hayes	47.9%	00.002-3.1%	4,034,311	00.002-254,235	Tilden, Samuel J.Samuel J. Tilden
24	1880	Garfield, JamesJames A. Garfield	48.3%	00.02%0.02%	4,446,158	000018981,898	Hancock, Winfield ScottWinfield Scott Hancock
25	1884	Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland	48.5%	00.3%0.3%	4,874,621	0002568525,685	Blaine, James G.James G. Blaine
26	1888	Harrison, BenjaminBenjamin Harrison	47.8%	00.003-0.8%	5,443,892	00.003-90,596	Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland
27	1892	Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland	46.0%	03.0%3.0%	5,553,898	00363079363,079	Harrison, BenjaminBenjamin Harrison
28	1896	McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley	51.0%	04.3%4.3%	7,112,138	00603966603,966	Bryan, William JenningsWilliam Jennings Bryan
29	1900	McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley	51.6%	06.1%6.1%	7,228,864	00857932857,932	Bryan, William JenningsWilliam Jennings Bryan
30	1904	Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt	56.4%	18.8%	7,630,457	025465772,546,577	Parker, Alton BrooksAlton Brooks Parker
31	1908	Taft, WilliamWilliam H. Taft	51.6%	08.6%8.6%	7,678,395	012694111,269,411	Bryan, William JenningsWilliam Jennings Bryan
32	1912	Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson	41.8%	14.4%	6,296,284	021735632,173,563	Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt
33	1916	Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson	49.2%	03.1%3.1%	9,126,868	00578140578,140	Hughes, Charles EvansCharles Evans Hughes
34	1920	Harding, WarrenWarren G. Harding	60.3%	26.2%	16,144,093	070044327,004,432	Cox, James M.James M. Cox
35	1924	Coolidge, CalvinCalvin Coolidge	54.0%	25.2%	15,723,789	073375477,337,547	Davis, John W.John W. Davis
36	1928	Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover	58.2%	17.4%	21,427,123	064116596,411,659	Smith, AlAl Smith
37	1932	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin D. Roosevelt	57.4%	17.7%	22,821,277	070600237,060,023	Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover
38	1936	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin D. Roosevelt	60.8%	24.3%	27,752,648	1107078611,070,786	Landon, AlfAlf Landon
39	1940	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin D. Roosevelt	54.7%	09.9%9.9%	27,313,945	049662014,966,201	Willkie, WendellWendell Willkie
40	1944	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin D. Roosevelt	53.4%	07.5%7.5%	25,612,916	035969873,594,987	Dewey, Thomas E.Thomas E. Dewey
41	1948	Truman, HarryHarry S. Truman	49.6%	04.5%4.5%	24,179,347	021880552,188,055	Dewey, Thomas E.Thomas E. Dewey
42	1952	Eisenhower, DwightDwight D. Eisenhower	55.2%	10.9%	34,075,529	067004396,700,439	Stevenson, AdlaiAdlai Stevenson
43	1956	Eisenhower, DwightDwight D. Eisenhower	57.4%	15.4%	35,579,180	095511529,551,152	Stevenson, AdlaiAdlai Stevenson
44	1960	Kennedy, JohnJohn F. Kennedy	49.7%	00.2%0.2%	34,220,984	00112827112,827	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon
45	1964	Johnson, LyndonLyndon B. Johnson	61.1%	22.6%	43,127,041	1795128717,951,287	Goldwater, BarryBarry Goldwater
46	1968	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon	43.4%	00.7%0.7%	31,783,783	00511944511,944	Humphrey, HubertHubert Humphrey
47	1972	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon	60.7%	23.2%	47,168,710	1799548817,995,488	McGovern, GeorgeGeorge McGovern
48	1976	Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter	50.1%	02.1%2.1%	40,831,881	016832471,683,247	Ford, GeraldGerald Ford
49	1980	Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan	50.7%	09.7%9.7%	43,903,230	084231158,423,115	Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter
50	1984	Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan	58.8%	18.2%	54,455,472	1687812016,878,120	Mondale, WalterWalter Mondale
51	1988	Bush, George H.W.George H.W. Bush	53.4%	07.8%7.8%	48,886,597	070771217,077,121	Dukakis, MichaelMichael Dukakis
52	1992	Clinton, BillBill Clinton	43.0%	05.6%5.6%	44,909,806	058052565,805,256	Bush, George H.W.George H.W. Bush
53	1996	Clinton, BillBill Clinton	49.2%	08.5%8.5%	47,400,125	082013718,201,370	Dole, BobBob Dole
54	2000	Bush, George W.George W. Bush	47.9%	00.004-0.5%	50,460,110	00.001-543,816	Gore, AlAl Gore
55	2004	Bush, George W.George W. Bush	50.7%	02.4%2.4%	62,040,610	030124993,012,499	Kerry, JohnJohn Kerry
56	2008	Obama, BarackBarack Obama	52.9%	07.3%7.3%	69,460,098	095299189,529,918	McCain, JohnJohn McCain

Note: No popular votes tabulated prior to 1824 election. Thus the first nine elections are excluded from this table.

[edit] See also

• How close were Presidential Elections? - Michael Sheppard, Michigan State University

[edit] Sources

• Leip, David. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
• For 2008 results - CNN.com's Election Center 2008 Presidential election results. Updated 2008-11-05, 12:52 PM EST.

v • d • e United States presidential elections 1789 · 1792 · 1796 · 1800 · 1804 · 1808 · 1812 · 1816 · 1820 · 1824 · 1828 · 1832 · 1836 · 1840 · 1844 · 1848 · 1852 · 1856 · 1860 · 1864 · 1868 · 1872 · 1876 · 1880 · 1884 · 1888 · 1892 · 1896 · 1900 · 1904 · 1908 · 1912 · 1916 · 1920 · 1924 · 1928 · 1932 · 1936 · 1940 · 1944 · 1948 · 1952 · 1956 · 1960 · 1964 · 1968 · 1972 · 1976 · 1980 · 1984 · 1988 · 1992 · 1996 · 2000 · 2004 · 2008 · 2012 Electoral College · Electoral vote changes · Electoral votes by state · Results by Electoral College margin · Results by popular vote margin · Results by state · Voter turnout · Presidential primaries · Presidential nominating conventions See also: House elections · Senate elections · Gubernatorial elections

v • d • e Lists relating to Presidents of the United States and Vice Presidents of the United States Presidential lists by order Service · Age · Birth · Death · Historical rankings · Military rank · Number living · Oldest · Time in office · Timeline Professional careers Political affiliation · Other offices held · Elected office · Executive experience · Inaugurations · Doctrines · International trips · Judicial appointments · Pardons · Vetoes · Control of Congress · Assassination attempts and plots · Currency appearances · Libraries · Campaign slogans Personal life Nicknames · Names · Genealogical relationship · Education · Military service · Pets · Place of birth · Place of primary affiliation · Previous occupation · Religious affiliation · Residences · Summer White Houses · Languages · Handedness · Deaths in office Vice presidential lists Order of service · Time in office · Age of ascension · Other offices held · Birth · Tie-breaking votes · Death and longevity · Vacancies · Place of primary affiliation · Religious affiliation · Education Succession Line of succession · Designated survivor Elections Electoral College margin · Popular vote margin · See also: U.S. presidential elections Candidates 1789–1852 · 1856–present · Democratic tickets · Republican tickets · Height · African American · Female · Lost their home state · Former presidents who ran again · All candidates with at least one electoral vote In fiction Presidents · Vice Presidents · Candidates · Succession Families First Family · First ladies (List · Longevity · Number living) · Second ladies · Children