United States Politics and Election Data

2012 - Barack Obama wins the presidential election with 5,000,000 more popular votes and 126 more electoral votes than the runner-up, Mitt Romney. This marks the second highest total number of votes in the history of the United States, with Obama holding the first as well.

2008 - Taking the presidency, along with the highest number of popular votes in history, Barack Obama becomes the first African American to be elected. The former junior Senator from Illinois received more than twice the number of electoral votes and 10,000,000 more popular votes.

2004 - George W. Bush takes the presidency with the highest number of popular votes in history, up to that year. With the main theme revolving around foreign affairs like the War on Terrorism and the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Bush gathered 3,000,000 more votes than John Kerry.

2000 - The 54th quadrennial presidential election is also remembered as one of controversy over Florida's 25 electoral votes. This election is also the fourth in history to have the winner come out with fewer popular votes than the runner-up. George W. Bush receives just 5 electoral votes more than Al Gore.

1996 - Bill Clinton was in good standing as the economy had begun to recover from an earlier recession. By focusing the campaign on this fact, over 70% of the total electoral votes were received along with the beginning of a 2nd term for "The Comeback Kid".

1992 - With the loss of supporters due to the breaking of a 1988 pledge on taxes and an economy in recession, Bush was considered to be at a disadvantage. This allowed Bill Clinton to receive more than twice the number of electoral votes and over 5,000,000 more in popular votes, becoming the first president of the baby boomer generation.

1988 - Michael Dukakis is nominated by the Democratic party while George H. W. Bush is nominated by the Republican party. With the results coming in at 426 to 111 electoral votes, it was considered a one sided election. It was believed these results came from Dukakis' inability to defend Bush's aggressive campaigns.

1984 - Winning 49 out of the 50 states, Ronald Reagan goes on to his 2nd term as President. With his humor and speeches about the "American Dream", Reagan took 525 electoral votes - the highest total a presidential candidate has ever received. Reagan clearly demonstrated why he had been dubbed "The Great Communicator" in this election.

1980 - Ronald Reagan becomes the first to receive the highest number of electoral votes as a non-incumbent presidential candidate. With almost 10 times more electoral votes than Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan ushered in the beginning of what would be known as the "Reagan Revolution".

1976 - Jimmy Carter, a former state senator and governor of Georgia, becomes the first president elected from the Deep South in over 100 years. It is believed that due to his lack of recognition, Carter delivered over 200 speeches in 37 states before the presidential candidates were even announced. These actions may have paved the way to reaching 1,500,000 more votes than Gerald Ford.

1972 - Slick Rick, also known as Richard Nixon, overtakes George McGovern with 80 times more electoral votes in this election. Although McGovern manages to receive 38% of the popular vote, just 3% of the electoral votes were won - the District of Columbia and Massachusetts.

1968 - With an almost 50/50 split of the popular vote, Nixon receives 110 more electoral votes than Humphrey. This election goes down in history as the closest in terms of the total votes casted with a difference of only about 510,000 votes.

1964 - Lyndon B. Johnson wins over 61% of the total popular vote with more than 8 times as many electoral votes as Barry M. Goldwater. This marks the last time in which a presidential candidate will receive such an overwhelming majority of the popular vote.