Year Candidates Issues Who Won

1788 Washington None. Uncontested Washington

1792 Washington (unopposed) None Washington

1796 Jefferson (Democratic Republican), Adams (Federalist)

The Bank, Federalists vs. Democratic Republicans, Washington’s Parting Advice

Adams

1800 Jefferson (D-R), John Adams (Federalist)

Tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr resolved by House of Representatives, “revolution of 1800”, Alien and Sedition Acts, 12th amendment passsed

Jefferson

1804 Jefferson (D-R), Charles Cotesworth Pickney, (Fed)

Jefferson

1808 James Madison (D-R), Pickney (Federalist)

Embargo Act of 1807, nominations made by congressional caucuses

Madison

1812 James Madison (D-R), Dewitt Clinton (Fed)

Impressment of soldiers, British arming of Indians

Madison

1816 (Era of Good Feelings) James Monroe Clay’s American system Monroe

1820 (Era of Good Feelings) James Monroe Missouri Compromise Monroe

1824 Jackson, Clay, John Quincy Adams First Corrupt Bargain, beginning of “common man politics”

John Quincy Adams

Election of 1828 Andrew Jackson (Democrat), John Quincy Adams

“Revolution of 1828”, common man politics, spoils system, the bank, smear campaign against Rachel Jackson, King Mob

Andrew Jackson

Election of 1832 Andrew Jackson (Democrat), Henry Clay

Anti Masonic party, rise of the Whigs, 2nd Bank of the United States, King Andrew

Andrew Jackson

Election of 1836 Martin van Buren (democrat, William Henry Harrison (Whig)

Panic of 1837, Van Buren

Election of 1840 Martin Van Buren, Harrison (Whig)

Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too. Log Cabin and Hard Cider, First Whig President, 2nd G-A

Harrison. Dies and Tyler is brought in (Democrat in Whig’s clothing)

Election of 1844 James K. Polk (Democrat), Henry Clay (Whig)

Manifest Destiny, 54, 40 or fight, issues with England, creation of the Liberty Party

Polk

Election of 1848 Zachary Taylor (Whig), Lewis Cass (Democrat), Martin van Buren (Free Soil)

War time president, issues of slavery in territories, “slave power”

Taylor dies, Millard Fillmore fills in

Election of 1852 Franklin Pierce (D), Winfield Scott (Whig)

Rise of Liberty Party, slavery, annexation of Cuba

Franklin Pierce

Election of 1856 James Buchanan (D), John C. Fremont (R), Millard Fillmore (K-N)

Creation and rise of the Republican party, states’ rights and slavery in territories , Know Nothing party, Bleeding Kansas

Buchanan

Election of 1860 Abraham Lincoln (R), John Breckenridge (D)

Slavery, Lincoln- Douglas debates, Free Soil, popular sovereignty

Lincoln, South Carolina secedes

Election of 1864 Lincoln (Union party), George McClellan (D)

War Democrats vs Peace Democrats, Copperheads, Radical Republicans, Reconstruction, black rights, Freedman’s Bureaus

Lincoln assassinated, Andrew Johnson is VP. Eventually, Johnson is impeached.

Election of 1868 Ulysses S. Grant (R), Horation Seymour (D)

Three confederate states had not been restored, 13th amendment, “waving the bloody shirt”

Grant

Election of 1872 Grant, Horace Greely (Liberal Republican)

Grant’s scandals, Force Act against Klan, 15th amendment

Grant

Election of 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes (R), Samuel J. Tilden (D)

2nd Corrupt Bargain, military reconstruction in South ends

Hayes

Election of 1880 James A. Garfield (R), Winfield Hancock (D)

Spoils system, waving the bloody shirt, Anti Masonic movement

Garfield assassinated, Arthur is president

Election of 1884 Grover Cleveland (D), James Blaine (R),

Tariff, Mugwumps, “rum, Romanism and rebellion”, Blaine and the Mulligan letters

Cleveland

Election of 1888 Benjamin Harrison (R), Cleveland (D)

Billion Dollar Congress Harrison

Election of 1892 Cleveland (D), Harrison (R) Billion Dollar Congress Cleveland

Election of 1896 McKinley (R), William Jennings Bryan (D)

Populism, Free Silver, Cross of Gold, Panic of 1893

McKinley

Election of 1900 McKinley (R), Bryan (D) Bryanism vs. Imperialism, Prohibiion, rise of the Socialist party, unions

McKinley

Election of 1904 Teddy Roosevelt (R), Alton Parker (D), Eugene Debs (Socialist)

Roosevelt Corollary, Philippines, trust busting, Square Deal

Roosevelt

Election of 1908 William Taft (R), Bryan (D) “Vote for Taft now, you can vote for Bryan any time”

Taft

Election of 1912 Roosevelt (Progressive), Wilson (D), Taft (R)

Roosevelt’s Bull Moose party splits the Republicans, New Nationalism vs, New Freedom, triple wall of privilege

Wilson

Election of 1916 Wilson (D), Charles Hughes (R)

Isolationism vs “war mongering”, “He kept us out of war”,

Wilson

Election of 1920 Warren Harding (R), James Cox (D)

“silent referendum” on League of Nations, return to normalcy

Harding (the Old Guard) dies, Calvin Coolidge is president

Election of 1924 Coolidge (R), La Follette (P), Davis (D)

First election in which Native Ameicans could vote, “Keep Cool with Coolidge”, Mellon and the Mellonites, Klan

Coolidge

Election of 1928 Herbert Hoover (R), Al Smith (D)

Smith was Catholic, anti Prohibition and connected to Tammany Hall

Hoover

Election of 1932 FDR (D), Hoover (R) Great Depression, “I promise the American people a New Deal”, Hoovervilles, Prohibtion (21st), Smoot Hawley

FDR

Election of 1936 FDR (D), Alf Landon (R) Most lopsided election in history, three R’s

FDR

Election of 1940 FDR (D), Wendell Wilkie (R) Court packing scheme, totalitarianism in Europe, Quarantine Speech, third term, America First (Lindbergh)

FDR

Election of 1944 FDR (D), Dewey (R) Last election where democrat carried the South, blacks begin voting Democratic, WWII success

FDR (dies), Truman

Election of 1948 Truman (D), Dewey (R), Thurmond (Dixiecrat)

Split in Democratic party on integration, Berlin Airlift, Cold War, Taft Hartley, Civil Rights, Fair Deal, “to err is Truman”

Truman (barely)

Election of 1952 Eisenhower (R), Adlai Stevenson (D)

“Korea, Communism Corruption”, Red Scare, “I like Ike”, Nixon’s Checkers Speech

Eisenhower

Election of 1956 Eisenhower, Stevenson Conservativism, 50s prosperity, Hungarian Revolt, Suez Crisis

Eisenhower

Election of 1960 Nixon (R), JFK (D) New Frotier, televised debates, Camelot, Civil Rights, women’s rights, Catholicism

Kennedy (dies in 63, LBJ comes in)

Election of 1964 LBJ (D), Barry Goldwater (R), Great Society, Social Welfar Programs, “In your guts, you know his nuts”, Civil Rights Act of 64, “all the way for LBJ”

LBJ

Election of 1968 Nixon (R), Hubert Humphrey (D), George Wallace (American Independent)

Vietnam!!!!, desegregation, race riots, “Southern strategy”

Nixon

Election of 1972 Nixon (R), George McGovern (D) Stagflation Nixon resigns (Watergate), Ford comes in

Election of 1976 Jimmy Carter (D), Gerald Ford (R) Washington outsider (Carter), 1973 Oil Crisis,

Carter

Election of 1980 Carter (D), Reagan (R) “It’s morning in America”, moral majority, Iran Hostage Crisis, Reagan Revolution, supply side economic (Reaganomics)

Reagan

Election of 1984 Reagan (R), Walter Mondale (D) Equal Rights Amendment (Phyllis Schafly), Reagan Democrats

Reagan

Election of 1988 George H.W. Bush (R), Michael Dukakis (D)

“Read my lips, no new taxes” Bush

Election of 1992 Bill Clinton (D), Bush (R), Ross Perot (Independent)

Persian Gulf War, centricism Clinton

Election of 1996 Clinton (D), Bob Dole (R) Tax cuts Clinton

Election of 2000 Bush (R), Al Gore (D) Florida, “Hanging chads”, Gore v. Bush,

Bush

Election of 2004 Bush (R), John Kerry (D) Iraq, 9/11, War on Terror , abortion

Bush