List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote

The president of the United States is determined by votes cast by electors of the Electoral College. The presidential elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 produced an Electoral College winner who did not 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 was the only candidate who lost a presidential election despite receiving the most popular vote.

About List of United States presidential elections in which the winner lost the popular vote in brief

In the U.S. presidential election system, the president of the United States is determined by votes cast by electors of the Electoral College. The presidential elections of 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 produced an Electoral College winner who did not 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. Of the five winners who lost the popular vote, three ran for reelection four years later and lost the election as well. The 1876 presidential election was one of the most contentious and controversial presidential elections in American history. Samuel J. Tilden was the only candidate who lost a presidential election despite receiving the most popular vote. After the election, New York’s Republican Rutherford B. Hayes outpolled Ohio’s Democrat Samuel J.-J. Tilden, with Hayes winning 4,288,546 and 4,034,311 votes, respectively. 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. The result of the election remains the most disputed among the presidential elections ever, although there is no question that Samuel J-J. Hayes won in 1876. The popular vote was recorded for the first time in the 1824 presidential election, which was the first U. S. election in which the national popular vote mattered, as 18 states chose presidential electors by popular vote.

When the final votes were tallied in those 18 states, 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. When no candidate received an absolute majority of electoral votes in 1824, the election was decided by the House of Representatives. This result became a source of great bitterness for Adams and his supporters, who proclaimed a ‘corrupt bargain’ for the election of Jackson and his Democratic-Republican Party. In the 2000 election, the true nationalpopular vote total was also uncertain in the 1960 election, and the plurality winner depends on how votes for Alabama electors are allocated. As the 12th Amendment states the top three candidates in the electoral vote are candidates in a 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 1825 election. Adams narrowly emerged as the winner, with majorities of the Representatives from 13 out of 24 states voting in his favor. After his inauguration as President, Adams appointed Henry Clay as his secretary of state. He proclaimed a ‘corrupt Bargain,’ which led to the creation of the Democratic Party and the ‘Corrupt bargain’ The election of Adams as President was the most controversial presidential election ever, and remains the first to be contested.