The presidential elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 produced an Electoral College winner who didn’t receive the most votes in the general election. In 14 other presidential elections the winner received a plurality but not a majority of the total popular votes cast. Samuel J. Tilden of New York remains the only candidate who lost a presidential election despite receiving the first majority of a popular vote.
About United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote in brief
There have been five U.S. presidential elections in which the successful presidential candidate did not receive a plurality of the popular vote. In these cases the successful candidate secured less of the national popular vote than another candidate who received more votes. The presidential elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 produced an Electoral College winner who didn’t receive the most votes in the general election. In 14 other presidential elections the winner received a plurality but not a majority of the total popular votes cast. The 1876 presidential election was one of the most contentious and controversial in American history. Samuel J. Tilden of New York remains the only candidate who lost a presidential election despite receiving the first majority of a popular vote, with Rutherford B. Hayes winning 4,034,311 and 4,288,546 votes, respectively, in 1876. The election was held on February 9, 1825, with each state having one vote, as determined by the wishes of the majority of each state’s congressional representatives. It was the first U. S. presidential election where the popularVote was recorded, as 18 states chose presidential electors by popular vote in the 1824 presidential election. If no candidate received an absolute majority of electoral votes in 1824, the election was decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution. As the 12th Amendment states the top three candidates are candidates in the contingent election, this meant Henry Clay, who finished fourth, was eliminated.
As Speaker of the House, however, Clay was still the most important player in determining the outcome of the election, and Adams narrowly emerged as the winner, with majorities of the Representatives from 13 out of 24 states voting in his favor. This result became a source of great bitterness for Clay and his supporters, and was inspired to create the Democratic Party. The true national popularVote total was also uncertain in the 1960 election, with the plurality winner depends on how votes for Alabama electors are allocated. It is important to note that the U. S. Constitution does not require states to even hold a popularVote. The legislature of a state could assign electors without regard to the popularvote or if no popular vote was conducted. In 1824 there were six states in which electors were legislatively appointed rather than popularly elected, leaving the actual national popularvote uncertain. The 1824 election was all held after all states had instituted the popular selection of electors, and in which a single candidate won an outright majority of electoral votes, thus becoming president without a contingent election in the House. Andrew Jackson polled 152,901 popular votes to John Quincy Adams’s 114,023; Henry Clay won 47,217, and William H. Crawford won 46,979. Adams won 84 electoral votes followed by 41 for Crawford, and 37 for Clay when the Electoral College met on December 1, 1824.
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