List of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin

In a United States presidential election, the popular vote is the total number or percentage of votes cast for a candidate by voters in the 50 states and Washington, D.C.; the candidate who gets the most votes nationwide is said to have won the popular vote. However, the popular vote is not used to determine who is elected as the nation's president or vice president. Thus it is possible for the winner of the popular vote to end up losing the election, an outcome that has occurred on five occasions, most recently in the 2016 election. This is because presidential elections are indirect elections; the votes cast on Election Day are not cast directly for a candidate, but for members of the Electoral College. The Electoral College's electors then formally elect the president and vice president.[2][3] The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides the procedure by which the president and vice president are elected.

Comparison of the popular vote totals since 1900.[1]
  Republican
  Democrat
  All other candidates together

List

The table below is a list of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin. It is 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.

Election Winner & party Electoral College Popular vote Runner-up & party Turnout[4]
Votes % % Margin Votes Margin

Democratic-Republican   Democratic   Republican   Whig   Progressive   Liberal Republican   National Republican   Federalist   Independent  
      Winner did not receive a majority of the popular vote
      Winner did not receive a majority of the popular vote and lost the popular vote
      Winner chosen by the House of Representatives

1 1788-89 Washington,George Washington Ind. 69/69 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 43,782 43,782 ,No candidate None 11.6%
2 1792 Washington,George Washington Ind. 132/132 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 28,579 28,579 ,No candidate None 6.3%
3 1796 Adams,John Adams Fed. 71/138 51.45% 53.45% 6.90% 35,726 4,611 Jefferson,Thomas Jefferson D.-R. 20.1%
4 1800 Jefferson,Thomas Jefferson D.-R. 73/138 52.90% 61.43% 22.86% 41,330 15,378 Adams,John Adams Fed. 32.3%
5 1804 Jefferson,Thomas Jefferson D.-R. 162/176 92.05% 72.79% 45.58% 104,110 65,191 Pinckney,Charles C. Pinckney Fed. 23.8%
6 1808 Madison,James Madison D.-R. 122/175 69.72% 64.73% 32.33% 124,732 62,301 Pinckney,Charles C. Pinckney Fed. 36.8%
7 1812 Madison,James Madison D.-R. 128/217 58.99% 50.37% 2.74% 140,431 7,650 Clinton,DeWitt Clinton D.-R.[Note 1] 40.4%
8 1816 Monroe,James Monroe D.-R. 183/217 84.33% 68.16% 37.24% 76,592 41,852 King,Rufus King Fed. 23.5%
9 1820 Monroe,James Monroe D.-R. 231/232 99.57% 80.61% 64.69% 87,343 69,878 ,No candidate Fed. 10.1%
10 1824 Adams,John Quincy Adams D.-R. 84/261 32.18% 30.92% −10.44% 113,142 −38,221 Jackson,Andrew Jackson D.-R. 26.9%
23 1876 Hayes,Rutherford Hayes Rep. 185/369 50.14% 47.92% −3.00% 4,034,142 −252,666 Tilden,Samuel Tilden Dem. 82.6%
58 2016 Trump,Donald Trump Rep. 304/538 56.50% 46.09% −2.09% 62,984,828 −2,868,686 Clinton,Hillary Clinton Dem. 60.2%
26 1888 Harrison,Benjamin Harrison Rep. 233/401 58.10% 47.80% −0.83% 5,443,892 −90,596 Cleveland,Grover Cleveland Dem. 80.5%
54 2000 Bush,George W. Bush Rep. 271/538 50.37% 47.87% −0.51% 50,460,110 −543,816 Gore,Al Gore Dem. 54.2%
24 1880 Garfield,James Garfield Rep. 214/369 57.99% 48.31% 0.09% 4,453,337 1,898 Hancock,Winfield Scott Hancock Dem. 80.5%
44 1960 Kennedy,John Kennedy Dem. 303/537 56.42% 49.72% 0.17% 34,220,984 112,827 Nixon,Richard Nixon Rep. 63.8%
25 1884 Cleveland,Grover Cleveland Dem. 219/401 54.61% 48.85% 0.57% 4,914,482 57,579 Blaine,James Blaine Rep. 78.2%
46 1968 Nixon,Richard Nixon Rep. 301/538 55.95% 43.42% 0.70% 31,783,783 511,944 Humphrey,Hubert Humphrey Dem. 62.5%
15 1844 Polk,James Polk Dem. 170/275 61.82% 49.54% 1.45% 1,339,570 39,413 Clay,Henry Clay Whig 79.2%
48 1976 Carter,Jimmy Carter Dem. 297/538 55.20% 50.08% 2.06% 40,831,881 1,683,247 Ford,Gerald Ford Rep. 54.8%
55 2004 Bush,George W. Bush Rep. 286/538 53.16% 50.73% 2.46% 62,040,610 3,012,171 Kerry,John Kerry Dem. 60.1%
27 1892 Cleveland,Grover Cleveland Dem. 277/444 62.39% 46.02% 3.01% 5,553,898 363,099 Harrison,Benjamin Harrison Rep. 75.8%
33 1916 Wilson,Woodrow Wilson Dem. 277/531 52.17% 49.24% 3.12% 9,126,868 578,140 Hughes,Charles Evans Hughes Rep. 61.8%
57 2012 Obama,Barack Obama Dem. 332/538 61.71% 51.06% 3.86% 65,915,795 4,982,291 Romney,Mitt Romney Rep. 58.6%
28 1896 McKinley,William McKinley Rep. 271/447 60.63% 51.02% 4.31% 7,112,138 601,331 Bryan,William Jennings Bryan Dem. 79.6%
41 1948 Truman,Harry Truman Dem. 303/531 57.06% 49.55% 4.48% 24,179,347 2,188,055 Dewey,Thomas Dewey Rep. 52.2%
16 1848 Taylor,Zachary Taylor Whig 163/290 56.21% 47.28% 4.79% 1,360,235 137,882 Cass,Lewis Cass Dem. 72.8%
21 1868 Grant,Ulysses Grant Rep. 214/294 72.79% 52.66% 5.32% 3,013,790 304,810 Seymour,Horatio Seymour Dem. 80.9%
52 1992 Clinton,Bill Clinton Dem. 370/538 68.77% 43.01% 5.56% 44,909,806 5,805,256 Bush,George H. W. Bush Rep. 58.1%
14 1840 Harrison,William Henry Harrison Whig 234/294 79.59% 52.87% 6.05% 1,275,583 145,938 Van Buren,Martin Van Buren Dem. 80.3%
29 1900 McKinley,William McKinley Rep. 292/447 65.23% 51.64% 6.12% 7,228,864 857,932 Bryan,William Jennings Bryan Dem. 73.7%
17 1852 Pierce,Franklin Pierce Dem. 254/296 85.81% 50.83% 6.95% 1,605,943 219,525 Scott,Winfield Scott Whig 69.5%
56 2008 Obama,Barack Obama Dem. 365/538 67.84% 52.93% 7.27% 69,498,516 9,550,193 McCain,John McCain Rep. 61.6%
40 1944 Roosevelt,Franklin Roosevelt Dem. 432/531 81.36% 53.39% 7.50% 25,612,916 3,594,987 Dewey,Thomas Dewey Rep. 55.9%
51 1988 Bush,George H. W. Bush Rep. 426/538 79.18% 53.37% 7.72% 48,886,597 7,077,121 Dukakis,Michael Dukakis Dem. 52.8%
53 1996 Clinton,Bill Clinton Dem. 379/538 70.45% 49.23% 8.51% 47,400,125 8,201,370 Dole,Bob Dole Rep. 51.7%
31 1908 Taft,William Taft Rep. 321/483 66.46% 51.57% 8.53% 7,678,335 1,269,356 Bryan,William Jennings Bryan Dem. 65.7%
49 1980 Reagan,Ronald Reagan Rep. 489/538 90.89% 50.75% 9.74% 43,903,230 8,423,115 Carter,Jimmy Carter Dem. 54.2%
39 1940 Roosevelt,Franklin Roosevelt Dem. 449/531 84.56% 54.74% 9.96% 27,313,945 4,966,201 Willkie,Wendell Willkie Rep. 62.4%
20 1864 Lincoln,Abraham Lincoln Rep. 212/233 90.99% 55.03% 10.08% 2,211,317 405,090 McClellan,George McClellan Dem. 76.3%
19 1860 Lincoln,Abraham Lincoln Rep. 180/303 59.41% 39.65% 10.13% 1,855,993 474,049 Breckinridge,John Breckinridge Dem. 81.8%
42 1952 Eisenhower,Dwight Eisenhower Rep. 442/531 83.24% 55.18% 10.85% 34,075,529 6,700,439 Stevenson,Adlai Stevenson Dem. 62.3%
22 1872 Grant,Ulysses Grant Rep. 286/352 81.25% 55.58% 11.80% 3,597,439 763,729 Greeley,Horace Greeley L. R. 72.1%
18 1856 Buchanan,James Buchanan Dem. 174/296 58.78% 45.29% 12.20% 1,835,140 494,472 Frémont,John Frémont Rep. 79.4%
11 1828 Jackson,Andrew Jackson Dem. 178/261 68.20% 55.93% 12.25% 642,806 140,839 Adams,John Quincy Adams N. R. 57.3%
13 1836 Van Buren,Martin Van Buren Dem. 170/294 57.82% 50.79% 14.20% 763,291 213,384 Harrison,William Henry Harrison Whig 56.5%
32 1912 Wilson,Woodrow Wilson Dem. 435/531 81.92% 41.84% 14.44% 6,296,284 2,173,563 Roosevelt,Theodore Roosevelt Prog. 59.0%
43 1956 Eisenhower,Dwight Eisenhower Rep. 457/531 86.06% 57.37% 15.40% 35,579,180 9,551,152 Stevenson,Adlai Stevenson Dem. 60.2%
36 1928 Hoover,Herbert Hoover Rep. 444/531 83.62% 58.21% 17.41% 21,427,123 6,411,659 Smith,Al Smith Dem. 56.9%
37 1932 Roosevelt,Franklin Roosevelt Dem. 472/531 88.89% 57.41% 17.76% 22,821,277 7,060,023 Hoover,Herbert Hoover Rep. 56.9%
12 1832 Jackson,Andrew Jackson Dem. 219/286 76.57% 54.74% 17.81% 702,735 228,628 Clay,Henry Clay N. R. 57.0%
50 1984 Reagan,Ronald Reagan Rep. 525/538 97.58% 58.77% 18.21% 54,455,472 16,878,120 Mondale,Walter Mondale Dem. 55.2%
30 1904 Roosevelt,Theodore Roosevelt Rep. 336/476 70.59% 56.42% 18.83% 7,630,557 2,546,677 Parker,Alton Brooks Parker Dem. 65.5%
45 1964 Johnson,Lyndon Johnson Dem. 486/538 90.33% 61.05% 22.58% 43,127,041 15,951,287 Goldwater,Barry Goldwater Rep. 62.8%
47 1972 Nixon,Richard Nixon Rep. 520/538 96.65% 60.67% 23.15% 47,168,710 17,995,488 McGovern,George McGovern Dem. 56.2%
38 1936 Roosevelt,Franklin Roosevelt Dem. 523/531 98.49% 60.80% 24.26% 27,752,648 11,070,786 Landon,Alf Landon Rep. 61.0%
35 1924 Coolidge,Calvin Coolidge Rep. 382/531 71.94% 54.04% 25.22% 15,723,789 7,337,547 Davis,John Davis Dem. 48.9%
34 1920 Harding,Warren Harding Rep. 404/531 76.08% 60.32% 26.17% 16,144,093 7,004,432 Cox,James Cox Dem. 49.2%

    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. Until the 1864 election, some states chose their Presidential electors without a popular vote, so results from 1824 to 1860 are not truly nationwide values.

    Timeline
    Presidents of the U.S. listed in a timeline graph of elections with results of the popular vote color coded for political parties.
    A gray arrow points to the name of a person who became president without having been elected as president (9 total). The double arrow indicates becoming president without having been elected as vice president as well (Ford). 5 other former vice presidents are underlined (14 total). The top line indicates the Presidency number (e.g. Reagan: 40th) with Roman numerals indicating election (and term) number.

    See also

    Notes
    1. While commonly labeled as the Federalist candidate, Clinton technically ran as a Democratic-Republican and was not nominated by the Federalist party itself, the latter simply deciding not to field a candidate. This did not prevent endorsements from state Federalist parties (such as in Pennsylvania), but he received the endorsement from the New York state Democratic-Republicans as well

    References
    1. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
    2. "Clinton on pace to win popular vote despite losing election". CBS News. November 9, 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
    3. Bostedt, Shelbie Lynn (November 9, 2016). "How it happened: Clinton wins popular vote but loses Election". RedEye. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
    4. McDonald, Michael P. (11 June 2014). "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Elections Project. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
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