The Closest US Presidential Elections In History
As Americans turn out every four years to elect the President of the United States, it seems that, increasingly, every election is close in terms of popular vote and electoral college results. This article will take a look at some of the closest US presidential elections in history, examining how close these contests actually were, and what made them unique.
The 2000 Election
Arguably the most contentious and subject to recounts, the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush marked a turning point in US electoral history. This election was so close that its official conclusion came down to a Supreme Court ruling. Ultimately, it was Bush that was declared the victor but the razor-thin margin of victory is widely considered a statistical tie.
Bush carried 30 states and had 271 electoral votes to Gore’s 266. The margin of victory was so close that it was determined by just a few thousand ballots in Florida, which had previously been counted twice and then recounted multiple times. With the conclusion of this election, the practice of “hanging chads” became part of the national vocabulary and many theories about how the Florida recount could have been corrupted were hard to shake.
1968 Election
Another noteworthy election was the 1968 election between Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. The two were separated by less than a full percentage point in the popular vote with Nixon taking the election with less than two tenths of a percentage point. Furthermore, the fact that polls had been predicting a victory for Humphrey made Nixon’s win even more remarkable.
The difference in the electoral college was even narrower than the popular vote. Nixon won by 23 seats with Humphrey trailing behind in the electoral college by only 19. The race was so tight that it was the first to be determined on the basis of the Senate, as neither of the candidates had a majority of electoral votes.
1960 Election
The 1960 election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy is probably the race most widely remembered due to its particularly slim margin. The popular vote was settled by just a few fractions of a percent, with Kennedy just barely edging out Nixon in the end. Additionally, the states of Hawaii, Alaska, and Mississippi were all still in the process of being established and the electoral college outcome rested on those three states’ tallies.
Kennedy’s victory was the closest US Presidential election in two decades and many historians point to Kennedy’s greater successes in television campaigning as one of the reasons for his win. Only two hundred thousand votes in twelve states were the difference maker in this election.
1876 Election
The election of 1876 was an even slimmer affair. This election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden ultimately came down to just one single vote in the electoral college. This race was also one of the last time there was any controversy regarding who would become the victor in a US Presidential election.
Amidst recounting of the votes, bribery and the controversy of the contested 20 electoral votes, the electoral votes were evenly split between Hayes and Tilden. If the electoral college votes had gone 19-20 in favor of Tilden, then the House of Representatives would have had to settle the race.
1824 Election
The election of 1824 was not only the closest election in US history, but was also the only time that the House of Representatives had to break a tie between the top four electoral votes. John Quincy Adams was declared the winner of the election over Andrew Jackson, despite Jackson holding a clear lead in the popular vote.
The House of Representatives had to make the final decision as the electoral college results were an even tie between the four top candidates. One of the candidates, William Crawford, was unable to receive the necessary 13 states to win a majority of the electoral college, and the election was settled in the House of Representatives who, at the time, had the power to make the final call. This election marked the only time a US president was elected by the House of Representatives instead of the popular vote or the electoral college.
The history of the US presidential elections is rich and varied. These five are just a few of the tightest US presidential elections on record, but there are many more examples of close races with tight margins. While every presidential election is certainly close, these five demonstrate the unique elements that come along with such tight contests and the potential for significant changes in the tenure of a US president.
