The president of the United States is elected every four years by way of the electoral college, a system devised by the creators of the Constitution that today requires a candidate to secure at least 270 electoral votes from the states to win. That means the history of presidential elections is one best told through maps.
Election of 1789
On February 4, 1789, George Washington was unanimously chosen to be the first president of the United States.
Election of 1792
In December 1792, electors from 15 states voted George Washington to his second term as president.
Election of 1796
John Adams narrowly defeated Thomas Jefferson in 1796.
Election of 1800
Incumbent John Adams once again ran against Thomas Jefferson in 1800. Electoral voters tied, which meant that the House of Representatives would decide the election; it chose Jefferson.
Election of 1804
In 1804 Thomas Jefferson, the incumbent, won decisively over Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
Election of 1808
After Thomas Jefferson chose not to run for a third term, his fellow Democratic-Republican James Madison defeated Charles Cotesworth Pinckney in 1808.
Election of 1812
In the midst of war James Madison was reelected in 1812, defeating DeWitt Clinton.
Election of 1816
James Monroe was elected by a wide margin over Rufus King in 1816.
Election of 1820
James Monroe had no opponents in 1820; he was thus elected to a second term.
Election of 1824
Although Andrew Jackson received the most electoral votes in 1824, John Quincy Adams was chosen president by the House of Representatives.
Election of 1828
In 1828 Andrew Jackson defeated the incumbent, John Quincy Adams.
Election of 1832
Andrew Jackson easily won reelection over Henry Clay in 1832.
Election of 1836
In 1836 Martin Van Buren defeated several Whig candidates.
Election of 1840
In 1840 William Henry Harrison prevented Martin Van Buren from winning a second term.
Election of 1844
James K. Polk defeated Henry Clay in 1844.
Election of 1848
As the United States continued to expand westward, Zachary Taylor defeated Lewis Cass in 1848.
Election of 1852
In 1852 Franklin Pierce defeated Winfield Scott, the last Whig Party nominee to run for president.
Election of 1856
In 1856 James Buchanan defeated John C. Frémont and, by a much wider margin, former president Millard Fillmore.
Election of 1860
Abraham Lincoln defeated three other candidates in 1860; seven Southern states seceded between his election and his inauguration, in January 1861.
Election of 1864
Abraham Lincoln won reelection over George B. McClellan in 1864 as the Civil War continued; only the states that had remained in the Union voted.
Election of 1868
In 1868 Ulysses S. Grant defeated Horatio Seymour.
Election of 1872
In 1872 Ulysses S. Grant won reelection; he defeated Horace Greeley.
Election of 1876
In one of the most disputed presidential elections in American history, Rutherford B. Hayes won by one electoral vote in 1876; Samuel J. Tilden lost.
Election of 1880
In 1880 James A. Garfield defeated Winfield Scott Hancock.
Election of 1884
In 1884 Grover Cleveland defeated James G. Blaine.
Election of 1888
In 1888 Benjamin Harrison defeated the incumbent, Grover Cleveland.
Election of 1892
In 1892 Grover Cleveland defeated the incumbent, Benjamin Harrison, thereby becoming the first president to serve discontinuous terms.
Election of 1896
William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan in 1896; it would be the first of Bryan’s three losses in presidential elections.
Election of 1900
In 1900 the incumbent, William McKinley, defeated William Jennings Bryan.
Election of 1904
Theodore Roosevelt, who had become president in 1901 after William McKinley’s death, defeated Alton B. Parker in 1904.
Election of 1908
In 1908 William Howard Taft defeated William Jennings Bryan.
Election of 1912
Woodrow Wilson defeated two major candidates in 1912: Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, the incumbent.
Election of 1916
Woodrow Wilson won reelection by defeating Charles Evans Hughes in 1916.
Election of 1920
In 1920 Warren G. Harding defeated James M. Cox.
Election of 1924
In 1924 Calvin Coolidge defeated John W. Davis and Robert M. La Follette.
Election of 1928
Herbert Hoover defeated Al Smith by a substantial margin in 1928.
Election of 1932
In 1932, during the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt defeated Herbert Hoover, the incumbent.
Election of 1936
In 1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt was reelected by a large margin, defeating Alf Landon.
Election of 1940
Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to an unprecedented third term in 1940, defeating Wendell Willkie.
Election of 1944
Franklin D. Roosevelt secured his fourth term in 1944, during World War II, when he defeated Thomas E. Dewey.
Election of 1948
In 1948 Harry S. Truman, who had become president after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, defeated Thomas E. Dewey.
Election of 1952
In 1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Adlai E. Stevenson.
Election of 1956
As he had done in 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower defeated Adlai E. Stevenson in 1956.
Election of 1960
In 1960 John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon.
Election of 1964
Lyndon B. Johnson, who had become president after John F. Kennedy died in 1963, decisively defeated Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Election of 1968
In 1968 Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace.
Election of 1972
In 1972 Richard Nixon, the incumbent, won a massive victory over George McGovern.
Election of 1976
In 1976 Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford, who had become president after Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
Election of 1980
In 1980 Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent president Jimmy Carter.
Election of 1984
In 1984 Ronald Reagan defeated Walter Mondale by a vast margin.
Election of 1988
George H.W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in 1988.
Election of 1992
In 1992 Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush, the incumbent.
Election of 1996
Bill Clinton won reelection by defeating Bob Dole in 1996.
Election of 2000
In 2000 George W. Bush defeated Al Gore in a closely contested election.
Election of 2004
In 2004 George W. Bush won a second term by defeating John Kerry.
Election of 2008
In 2008 Barack Obama defeated John McCain; he became the first Black president.
Election of 2012
In 2012 Barack Obama was elected to a second term, defeating Mitt Romney.
Election of 2016
Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Election of 2020
In 2020 Joe Biden defeated the incumbent, Donald Trump.