Presidents Who Won with Less Than 50% of the Vote, by Rena Silverman
May 6th, 2008 § Leave a Comment
Presidents Who Won with Less Than 50% of the Vote
| Year |
Candidates |
Popular Vote |
Percent of Popular Vote |
| 1824 | John Qunicy Adams | 108,740 | 30.5 |
| Andrew Jackson | 153,544 | 43.1 | |
| Henry Clay | 47,136 | 13.0 | |
| William H. Crawford | 46,979 | 12.9 | |
| 1844 | James K. Polk | 1,338,464 | 49.6 |
| Henry Clay | 1,300,097 | 48.1 | |
| James G. Birney | 62,300 | 3.3 | |
| 1848 | Zachary Taylor | 1,360,967 | 47.4 |
| Lewis Cass | 1,222,342 | 42.5 | |
| Martin Van Buren | 291,263 | 2.3 | |
| 1856 | James Buchanan | 1,832,955 | 45.3 |
| John C. Fremont | 1,339,932 | 33.1 | |
| Millard Fillmore | 871,731 | 26.1 | |
| 1860 |
Abraham Lincoln |
1,865,593 |
39.8 |
| Stephen A. Douglas | 1,382,713 | 29.5 | |
| John C. Breckenridge | 848,356 | 18.1 | |
| John Bell | 592,906 | 12.6 | |
| 1876 |
Rutherford B. Hayes |
4,036,572 |
48.0 |
| Samuel Tilden | 4,284,020 | 51.0 | |
| 1880 |
James A. Garfield |
4,453,295 |
48.5 |
| Winfield Hancock | 4,414,082 | 48.1 | |
| James B. Weaver | 308,578 | 3.4 | |
| 1884 |
Grover Cleveland |
4,879507 |
48.5 |
| James G. Blaine | 4,850,293 | 48.2 |
| Benjamin F. Butler | 175,370 | 1.8 | |
| John P. St. John | 150,369 | 1.5 | |
| 1888 |
Benjamin Harrison |
5,447,129 |
47.9 |
| Grover Cleveland | 5,537,857 | 48.6 | |
| Clinton B. Fisk | 249,506 | 2.2 | |
| Anson J. Streeter | 146,935 | 1.3 | |
| 1892 |
Grover Cleveland |
5,555,426 |
46.1 |
| Benjamin Harrison | 5,182,690 | 43.0 | |
| James B. Weaver | 1,029,846 | 8.5 | |
| John Bidwell | 264,133 | 2.2 | |
| 1912 |
Woodrow Wilson |
6,296547 |
41.9 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 4,118,571 | 27.4 | |
| William Howard Taft | 3,486,720 | 23.2 | |
| Eugene V. Debs | 900,672 | 6.0 | |
| Eugene W. Chafin | 206,275 | 1.4 | |
| 1916 |
Woodrow Wilson |
9,127,695 |
49.4 |
| Charles Evans Hughes | 8,533,507 | 46.2 | |
| A. L. Benson | 585,113 | 3.2 | |
| J. Frank Hanly | 220,506 | 1.2 | |
| 1948 |
Harry S. Truman |
24,105,812 |
49.5 |
| Thomas E. Dewey | 21,970,065 | 45.1 | |
| J. Strom Thurmond | 1,169,063 | 2.4 | |
| Henry Wallace | 1,157,172 | 2.4 | |
| 1960 |
John F. Kennedy |
34,227,096 |
49.9 |
| Richard M. Nixon | 34,108,546 | 49.6 | |
| Harry F. Byrd | 440,298 | 0.6 | |
| 1968 | Richard M. Nixon | 31,785,480 | 43.4 |
| Hubert Humphrey | 31,275,165 | 42.7 | |
| George Wallace | 9,906,473 | 13.5 | |
| 1992 |
William J. Clinton |
44,909,889 |
42.9 |
| George H. Bush | 39,104,545 | 37.4 | |
| H. Ross Perot | 19,742,267 | 18.9 | |
| 1996 | William J. Clinton |
47,402,357 |
49.2 |
| Robert Dole | 39,198,755 | 40.7 | |
| H. Ross Perot | 8,085,402 | 8.4 | |
| 2000 |
George W. Bush |
50,456,002 |
47.8 |
| Albert Gore | 50,999,897 | 48.4 | |
| Ralph Nader | 2,882,995 | 2.7 | |
Note: In 1896 William McKinley won with 50.2 percent of the popular vote; in 1976, Jimmy Carter won with 50.1; in 1980, Ronald Reagan won with 50.8 percent; finally, in 2004, George W. Bush Won with 50.6 percent.
Compiled by Rena Silverman, All Rights Reserved
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