US Presidential Elections
Every United States presidential election from 1788 to 2024: the candidates, the popular and electoral votes, the turnout, the Congresses each contest produced, and the story of each — from Washington's unanimous elections to the polarized present.
Presidential elections
60
1788–89–2024
Latest
2024
Donald Trump · Republican
Electoral votes today
538
270 to win
Turnout in 2024
64.3%
155m ballots
The chronology
All sixty presidential elections, newest first, grouped into ten eras. Click any election for the full ticket table, the electoral count and the story.
The Polarized Era · 2012–2024
Two coalitions of nearly equal size now meet in a handful of swing states: every election since 2012 has been decided by narrow margins in the same short list of battlegrounds. 2016 produced the fifth popular-vote/electoral-college split, 2020 the highest turnout since 1900, and 2024 the first Republican popular-vote win in twenty years.
The Post-Cold-War Era · 1992–2008
Perot's 19% in 1992 was the strongest third-party vote since 1912, and no winner between 1992 and 2004 managed a popular majority above 51%. The era delivered the 2000 photo finish, decided by 537 votes in Florida and the Supreme Court.
The Long Realignment · 1968–1988
Wallace's 46 electoral votes in 1968 signalled the New Deal coalition's fracture. Nixon and then Reagan converted the South and the white working class, producing three 49-state-scale landslides in five elections, while turnout drifted steadily downward.
Cold War Consensus · 1952–1964
Eisenhower's landslides bracketed the closest election of the century in 1960, the first fought on television. The era closed with Johnson's record 61% and the Civil Rights Act, which began prying the South loose from the Democratic coalition.
The New Deal Order · 1932–1948
The Depression destroyed Republican hegemony in a single election. Roosevelt's coalition of the South, cities, labor and immigrants won four consecutive terms, redefined the federal government, and survived his death when Truman's 1948 upset confounded every poll.
Progressive Era to Normalcy · 1900–1928
Republican dominance was interrupted only when Roosevelt's 1912 third-party run split the party and let Wilson in. Women won the vote nationwide in 1920, doubling the electorate at a stroke, and the twenties produced three Republican landslides on prosperity.
The Gilded Age · 1880–1896
Two evenly matched machines fought razor-thin national elections: three of five winners in this era lost or tied the popular vote margin within a point. The Populist revolt and the realigning 1896 contest between McKinley and Bryan broke the deadlock in the Republicans' favor.
Civil War & Reconstruction · 1856–1876
The Whigs collapsed, the anti-slavery Republicans rose in a single decade, and Lincoln's 1860 victory on 39.8% of the vote triggered secession. Reconstruction elections brought Black male suffrage and ended with 1876, the most disputed election in American history.
Jacksonian Democracy · 1824–1852
Property qualifications fell, turnout among white men soared toward 80%, and the modern mass party was invented. Jackson's Democrats faced the Whigs in a stable two-party contest fought over banks, tariffs and executive power, while slavery pressed ever harder against the system's seams.
The Founding Era · 1788–1820
Washington was elected unanimously twice, then the first party system emerged: Federalists against Democratic-Republicans, a contest the Virginia dynasty won so completely that by 1820 opposition had dissolved into the Era of Good Feelings. Electors, chosen mostly by state legislatures at first, each cast two votes until the 12th Amendment separated president from vice president.
The long arcs
Two hundred and thirty-six years in four charts. Hover any point for the exact figure.
Turnout, 1789–2024
Share of eligible voters. The tiny elite franchise of the founding era, the 80%+ peaks of mass party politics after 1828, the post-1900 slide, and the modern recovery to 66% in 2020.
The two-party grip since 1856
Democratic + Republican share of the popular vote, against the best single third-party or independent run. The duopoly bends — 1912, 1968, 1992 — but never breaks.
The Electoral College amplifier
The winner's share of electoral votes against their share of the popular vote since 1824. The gap between the lines is the College's exaggeration of victory — and when the lower line dips under 50% with the upper line still high, a president is being elected without a popular majority.
The House of Representatives since 1857
Seats by party at the start of each Congress. The New Deal supermajorities, the 40-year Democratic House of 1955–1995, and the narrow majorities of the polarized era.
Records & superlatives
Biggest Electoral College sweep
98.5%
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936: 523 of 531 electoral votes
Highest popular-vote share
61.0%
Lyndon B. Johnson, 1964
Highest turnout
82.6%
1876 election
Lowest turnout since 1824
26.9%
1824 election
Closest popular vote
1,898 votes
James A. Garfield over Winfield Scott Hancock, 1880
Popular-vote winner denied
5
1876, 1888, 2000, 2016 — plus 1824, settled in the House
Most votes ever won
81,283,501
Joe Biden, 2020
Congress
Presidents govern with or against Capitol Hill. Party divisions of every Congress since 1789. Counts are at the start of each Congress; intra-term switches noted in the source are not tracked.
Current: 119th Congress
Unified
2025–2027 · President Donald Trump
Senate
53–45
Republican majority (2 others)
House
219–215
Republican majority
| 119th | 2025–2027 | 45 – 53 | 215 – 219 | Donald Trump | Yes |
| 118th | 2023–2025 | 47 – 49 | 212 – 222 | Joe Biden | No |
| 117th | 2021–2023 | 46 – 51 | 222 – 213 | Joe Biden | Yes |
| 116th | 2019–2021 | 45 – 53 | 235 – 200 | Donald Trump | No |
| 115th | 2017–2019 | 46 – 50 | 194 – 241 | Donald Trump | Yes |
| 114th | 2015–2017 | 44 – 54 | 188 – 247 | Barack Obama | No |
| 113th | 2013–2015 | 53 – 45 | 201 – 234 | Barack Obama | No |
| 112th | 2011–2013 | 51 – 47 | 193 – 242 | Barack Obama | No |
| 111th | 2009–2011 | 56 – 40 | 257 – 178 | Barack Obama | Yes |
| 110th | 2007–2009 | 49 – 49 | 233 – 202 | George W. Bush | No |
| 109th | 2005–2007 | 44 – 55 | 202 – 232 | George W. Bush | Yes |
| 108th | 2003–2005 | 48 – 51 | 205 – 229 | George W. Bush | Yes |
| 107th | 2001–2003 | 50 – 50 | 212 – 221 | George W. Bush | Yes |
| 106th | 1999–2001 | 45 – 55 | 211 – 223 | Bill Clinton | No |
| 105th | 1997–1999 | 45 – 55 | 206 – 227 | Bill Clinton | No |
| 104th | 1995–1997 | 47 – 53 | 204 – 230 | Bill Clinton | No |
| 103th | 1993–1995 | 57 – 43 | 258 – 176 | Bill Clinton | Yes |
| 102th | 1991–1993 | 56 – 44 | 267 – 167 | George H. W. Bush | No |
| 101th | 1989–1991 | 55 – 45 | 260 – 175 | George H. W. Bush | No |
| 100th | 1987–1989 | 55 – 45 | 258 – 177 | Ronald Reagan | No |
Latest twenty Congresses shown; each election page links the Congress it seated. Dem–Rep columns read Democratic first.
The midterm penalty
Since 1858 the president's party has lost House seats in 38 of 42 midterms. Changes compare seats held at the start of each Congress with two years earlier, so they can differ by a seat or two from election-night nets.
| 2022 | Joe Biden (D) | -10 | +1 | House |
| 2018 | Donald Trump (R) | -41 | +3 | House |
| 2014 | Barack Obama (D) | -13 | -9 | Senate |
| 2010 | Barack Obama (D) | -64 | -5 | House |
| 2006 | George W. Bush (R) | -30 | -6 | House |
| 2002 | George W. Bush (R) | +8 | +1 | — |
| 1998 | Bill Clinton (D) | +5 | 0 | — |
| 1994 | Bill Clinton (D) | -54 | -10 | Both |
| 1990 | George H. W. Bush (R) | -8 | -1 | — |
| 1986 | Ronald Reagan (R) | -4 | -8 | Senate |
| 1982 | Ronald Reagan (R) | -27 | +1 | — |
| 1978 | Jimmy Carter (D) | -15 | -3 | — |
| 1974 | Gerald Ford (R) | -48 | -5 | — |
| 1970 | Richard Nixon (R) | -12 | +2 | — |
How presidential elections work
The Electoral College
Voters choose 538 electors, allocated to states by population; 270 elect the president. Every state but Maine and Nebraska awards its electors winner-take-all, which is why campaigns live in a handful of swing states.
Popular vote ≠ president
Five men have reached the White House while losing the popular count: Adams in 1824, Hayes, Harrison, Bush in 2000, and Trump in 2016. The College amplifies wins and occasionally reverses them.
If nobody gets 270
The House elects the president, one vote per state delegation. It has happened twice, in 1800 and 1824, and shaped constitutional politics both times.
The rhythm
Presidential elections every four years since 1788, the whole House and a third of the Senate every two. Midterms almost always punish the president's party, which is why trifectas rarely survive them.