Unusual Presidential Elections

Text Version

Slide 1: Unusual Presidential Elections
The White House.
Image: Front lawn of the White House

Slide 2: When voters go to the polls on presidential Election Days, their votes become part of what's called the popular vote. The candidate with the majority of popular votes in a state usually wins the state's electoral votes. To win the U.S. presidency, a candidate must have the majority of electoral votes across the country.
All but four presidents have won the electoral vote and the popular vote.
Electoral college results, 1876 presidential election.
Image: Map of the United States  that identifies electoral votes per state and winner of electoral college for each state. Tilden represented in blue, Hayes represented in red. Tilden won

Slide 3: 1824: A Corrupt Bargain?
In the 1824 election, Democratic candidate Andrew Jackson led his Republican opponent John Quincy Adams in popular votes and electoral votes. However, Jackson did not have enough electoral votes to win a majority.
Image: Color portrait of John Quincy Adams, seated in chair

Slide 4: According to the 12th Amendment, in this "no winner" situation, the House of Representatives chooses among the top candidates.
Adams negotiated with House members, including opposing candidate Henry Clay, and won enough votes to be declared the winner. Jackson bitterly accused Adams of corrupt bargaining. Adams served one term and Jackson was elected president in 1828.
Image: Color portrait of Andrew Jackson

Slide 5: 1876: A Contentious Division
Northern Democrats labeled President Rutherford Hayes "His Fraudulency" after the House Electoral Commission declared him the winner of the 1876 presidential election. Hayes' Democratic opponent Samuel Tilden led by more than 260,000 popular votes.
Image: Print shows Rutherford B. Hayes, facing right, and William A. Wheeler, facing left, bust portraits, with cameo portraits of U.S. presidents from George Washington to Ulysses S. Grant; includes text of the Republican platform, brief biographies of Hayes and Wheeler, and statistical data for past presidential elections.

Slide 6: Hayes was one vote short of winning enough electoral votes. Nineteen electoral votes were undecided. This prompted Congress to create an Electoral Commission. Through political maneuvering, Hayes' supporters convinced the commission to award Hayes the remaining electoral votes.
Image: Congressman speaking at podium addresses room of representatives.

Slide 7: 1888: Maybe Next Time Cleveland
Benjamin Harrison became president after losing the popular vote but winning the electoral vote (233-168) against the Democratic incumbent, President Grover Cleveland.
Image: Print shows bust portraits of presidential candidate Benjamin Harrison and vice presidential candidate Levi P. Morton; between them are two columns topped with bust portraits of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant; between the columns is the text of the Republican platform, above which is an eagle; atop the central motif is a bust portrait of George Washington. A garland flows around the main body of the print; on it are stars labeled with the initials of each state and the number of their electoral votes; it includes stars for ten territories and the District of Columbia.(Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)

Slide 8: Harrison lost to Cleveland four years later in the election of 1892. Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as president.
Image: Political poster shows bust portraits of candidates in laurel wreaths with campaign slogans, including "Tariff reform."

Slide 9: 2000: Recounts in Florida
Republican candidate George W. Bush won the presidency in 2000 with 271 electoral votes. The opposing candidate, former Vice President Al Gore, won the popular vote by over 500,000 votes.
The winner was not decided for more than a month due to a recount dispute in Florida.
Image: Side-by-side images of George W. Bush and Al Gore. On the left: Color portrait photograph of George W. Bush in front of an American flag. On the right: Color portrait of Al Gore. American flag and bookshelf in the background.

Slide 10: The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the recount order and George Bush was declared the winner of Florida, thus winning the necessary electoral votes to win the election.
Image: Supreme Court building

Slide 11: Although electoral votes and the Electoral College (the body of people who cast electoral votes) have sometimes been the source of controversy and criticism, the process has ensured the peaceful transition of power from one leader to another.
Image: Crowd waving American flags

Slide 12: This is a production of Maryland Public Television/Thinkport in collaboration with the Maryland State Department of Education.
Image: Thinkport and MSDE logos