List of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin

In United States presidential elections, the national popular vote is the sum of all votes cast in every state and the District of Columbia.

The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the President and Vice President are elected, which is through the Electoral College.

Since the United States does not hold national elections, the national popular vote does not determine the outcome of the United States presidential election.

Graph of voter turnout percentage from 1824 to 2008.

List

The table below can be sorted to display elections 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.

#	Year	Electoral College	Party	Popular vote (%)		Popular vote		Electoral College	Party	Turnout
		Winner			Margin		Margin	Runner-up
Democratic-Republican   Democratic   Republican   Whig   Progressive   Liberal Republican   National Republican         Indicates winner lost popular vote
10	1824	Adams, John QuincyJohn Quincy Adams	D.-R.	30.92%	00.001−10.44%	113,142	00.004−38,221	Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson	D.-R.	26.90%
23	1876	Hayes, RutherfordRutherford Hayes	Rep.	47.92%	00.002−3.00%	4,034,142	00.002−252,666	Tilden, Samuel J.Samuel Tilden	Dem.	81.80%
26	1888	Harrison, BenjaminBenjamin Harrison	Rep.	47.80%	00.003−0.83%	5,443,633	00.003−94,530	Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland	Dem.	79.30%
54	2000	Bush, George W.George W. Bush	Rep.	47.87%	00.004−0.51%	50,460,110	00.001−543,816	Gore, AlAl Gore	Dem.	51.30%
24	1880	Garfield, JamesJames Garfield	Rep.	48.31%	00.09%0.09%	4,453,337	000090701,898	Hancock, Winfield ScottWinfield Scott Hancock	Dem.	79.40%
44	1960	Kennedy, JohnJohn Kennedy	Dem.	49.72%	00.17%0.17%	34,220,984	00112827112,827	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon	Rep.	62.77%
25	1884	Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland	Dem.	48.85%	00.57%0.57%	4,914,482	0005757957,579	Blaine, James G.James Blaine	Rep.	77.50%
46	1968	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon	Rep.	43.42%	00.70%0.70%	31,783,783	00511944511,944	Humphrey, HubertHubert Humphrey	Dem.	60.84%
15	1844	Polk, JamesJames Polk	Dem.	49.54%	01.45%1.45%	1,339,570	0003941339,413	Clay, HenryHenry Clay	Whig	78.90%
48	1976	Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter	Dem.	50.08%	02.06%2.06%	40,831,881	016832471,683,247	Ford, GeraldGerald Ford	Rep.	53.55%
55	2004	Bush, George W.George W. Bush	Rep.	50.73%	02.46%2.46%	62,040,610	030121713,012,171	Kerry, JohnJohn Kerry	Dem.	55.27%
27	1892	Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland	Dem.	46.02%	03.01%3.01%	5,553,898	00363099363,099	Harrison, BenjaminBenjamin Harrison	Rep.	74.70%
33	1916	Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson	Dem.	49.24%	03.12%3.12%	9,126,868	00548728578,140	Hughes, Charles EvansCharles Evans Hughes	Rep.	61.60%
57	2012	Obama, BarackBarack Obama	Dem.	51.06%	03.86%3.86%	65,915,796	049675984,982,296	Romney, MittMitt Romney	Rep.	54.87%
28	1896	McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley	Rep.	51.02%	04.31%4.31%	7,112,138	00601331601,331	Bryan, William JenningsWilliam Jennings Bryan	Dem.	79.30%
41	1948	Truman, HarryHarry Truman	Dem.	49.55%	04.48%4.48%	24,179,347	021880552,188,055	Dewey, Thomas E.Thomas Dewey	Rep.	53.00%
16	1848	Taylor, ZacharyZachary Taylor	Whig	47.28%	04.79%4.79%	1,360,235	00137882137,882	Cass, LewisLewis Cass	Dem.	72.70%
21	1868	Grant, UlyssesUlysses Grant	Rep.	52.66%	05.32%5.32%	3,013,790	00304810304,810	Seymour, HoratioHoratio Seymour	Dem.	78.10%
52	1992	Clinton, BillBill Clinton	Dem.	43.01%	05.56%5.56%	44,909,806	058052565,805,256	Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush	Rep.	55.23%
14	1840	Harrison, WilliamWilliam Henry Harrison	Whig	52.87%	06.05%6.05%	1,275,583	00145938145,938	Van Buren, MartinMartin Van Buren	Dem.	80.20%
29	1900	McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley	Rep.	51.64%	06.12%6.12%	7,228,864	00857932857,932	Bryan, William JenningsWilliam Jennings Bryan	Dem.	73.20%
17	1852	Pierce, FranklinFranklin Pierce	Dem.	50.83%	06.95%6.95%	1,605,943	00219525219,525	Scott, WinfieldWinfield Scott	Whig	69.60%
56	2008	Obama, BarackBarack Obama	Dem.	52.93%	07.27%7.27%	69,498,516	095491059,550,193	McCain, JohnJohn McCain	Rep.	58.23%
40	1944	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin Roosevelt	Dem.	53.39%	07.50%7.50%	25,612,916	035949873,594,987	Dewey, Thomas E.Thomas Dewey	Rep.	55.90%
51	1988	Bush, George H. W.George H. W. Bush	Rep.	53.37%	07.72%7.72%	48,886,597	070771217,077,121	Dukakis, MichaelMichael Dukakis	Dem.	50.15%
53	1996	Clinton, BillBill Clinton	Dem.	49.23%	08.51%8.51%	47,400,125	082013708,201,370	Dole, BobBob Dole	Rep.	49.08%
31	1908	Taft, WilliamWilliam Taft	Rep.	51.57%	08.53%8.53%	7,678,335	012693561,269,356	Bryan, William JenningsWilliam Jennings Bryan	Dem.	65.40%
49	1980	Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan	Rep.	50.75%	09.74%9.74%	43,903,230	084231158,423,115	Carter, JimmyJimmy Carter	Dem.	52.56%
39	1940	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin Roosevelt	Dem.	54.74%	09.96%9.96%	27,313,945	049662014,966,201	Willkie, WendellWendell Willkie	Rep.	62.50%
20	1864	Lincoln, AbrahamAbraham Lincoln	Rep.	55.03%	10.08%	2,211,317	00405090405,090	McClellan, George B.George McClellan	Dem.	73.80%
19	1860	Lincoln, AbrahamAbraham Lincoln	Rep.	39.65%	10.13%	1,855,993	00474049474,049	Breckinridge, John C.John Breckinridge	Dem.	81.20%
42	1952	Eisenhower, DwightDwight Eisenhower	Rep.	55.18%	10.85%	34,075,529	067004396,700,439	Stevenson, AdlaiAdlai Stevenson	Dem.	63.30%
22	1872	Grant, UlyssesUlysses Grant	Rep.	55.58%	11.80%	3,597,439	00763729763,729	Greeley, HoraceHorace Greeley	L. R.	71.30%
18	1856	Buchanan, JamesJames Buchanan	Dem.	45.29%	12.20%	1,835,140	00494472494,472	Frémont, John C.John Frémont	Rep.	78.90%
11	1828	Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson	Dem.	55.93%	12.25%	642,806	00140839140,839	Adams, John QuincyJohn Quincy Adams	N. R.	57.60%
13	1836	Van Buren, MartinMartin Van Buren	Dem.	50.79%	14.20%	763,291	00213384213,384	Harrison, WilliamWilliam Henry Harrison	Whig	57.80%
32	1912	Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson	Dem.	41.84%	14.44%	6,296,284	021735632,173,563	Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt	Prog.	58.80%
43	1956	Eisenhower, DwightDwight Eisenhower	Rep.	57.37%	15.40%	35,579,180	095511529,551,152	Stevenson, AdlaiAdlai Stevenson	Dem.	60.60%
36	1928	Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover	Rep.	58.21%	17.41%	21,427,123	064116596,411,659	Smith, AlAl Smith	Dem.	56.90%
37	1932	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin Roosevelt	Dem.	57.41%	17.76%	22,821,277	070600237,060,023	Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover	Rep.	56.90%
12	1832	Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson	Dem.	54.74%	17.81%	702,735	00228628228,628	Clay, HenryHenry Clay	N.R.	55.40%
50	1984	Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan	Rep.	58.77%	18.21%	54,455,472	1687812016,878,120	Mondale, WalterWalter Mondale	Dem.	53.11%
30	1904	Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt	Rep.	56.42%	18.83%	7,630,557	025466772,546,677	Parker, Alton BrooksAlton Brooks Parker	Dem.	65.20%
45	1964	Johnson, LyndonLyndon Johnson	Dem.	61.05%	22.58%	43,127,041	1595128715,951,287	Goldwater, BarryBarry Goldwater	Rep.	61.92%
47	1972	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon	Rep.	60.67%	23.15%	47,168,710	1799548817,995,488	McGovern, GeorgeGeorge McGovern	Dem.	55.21%
38	1936	Roosevelt, FranklinFranklin Roosevelt	Dem.	60.80%	24.26%	27,752,648	1107078611,070,786	Landon, AlfAlf Landon	Rep.	61.00%
35	1924	Coolidge, CalvinCalvin Coolidge	Rep.	54.04%	25.22%	15,723,789	073375477,337,547	Davis, John W.John Davis	Dem.	48.90%
34	1920	Harding, WarrenWarren Harding	Rep.	60.32%	26.17%	16,144,093	070044327,004,432	Cox, James M.James Cox	Dem.	49.20%

Note: The popular vote was not recorded prior to the 1824 election, so the first nine US presidential elections are not included in this table.

Timeline

See also

• List of United States presidential elections by Electoral College margin

References

• Leip, David. Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
• Peters, Gerhard. Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections.

External links

• How close were U.S. Presidential Elections? - Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology