Here Are 8 of the Closest Presidential Elections Ever

Every four years, the United States is engulfed in election fever. For the entire year, we watch closest presidential elections candidates from both major parties get narrowed down to just two choices.

 

Then those two campaigns duke it out for the big prize — The White House.

 

Election year starts with a buzz that gradually grows into a crescendo on election night. Sometimes these closest presidential race can get very nasty and downright entertaining.

 

 

1880: James Garfield (R) vs Winfield Hancock (D)

President Garfield won by 59 electoral votes

The election of 1880 was a fight over tariffs — as was typical during those times. Republicans believed in strong tariffs to protect American businesses from the competition in the world market. Conversely, Democrats preferred more relaxed tariffs.

Since President Hayes refused to seek a second term, this was an open race. Garfield tallied the most electoral votes and won 214 to 155.

 

1888: Benjamin Harrison (D) vs Grover Cleveland (R)

President Harrison won by 37 electoral votes

The election of 1888 was a straight forward hard-fought race. Harrison made no political bargains with anyone, yet he managed to receive countless pledges from supporters.

One interesting aspect of this election was that Cleveland switched political parties. While Cleveland won the popular vote by less than 100,000 votes, Harrison won the battle of electoral votes 233 to 168.

 

 

1884: Grover Cleveland (D) vs James Blaine (R)

President Cleveland won by 37 electoral votes

While the major issue for Americans during the 1884 election was tariffs, that topic quickly took a back seat to bitterness and mudslinging. These two candidates got very hostile toward one another.

It was discovered that some 10 years earlier, Cleveland had fathered a child out of wedlock with his mistress. The Republicans were relentless in their attacks on the morals of Cleveland. In the end, it came down to one last state — New York.

 

1848: Zachary Taylor (Whig) vs Lewis Cass (D)

President Taylor won by 36 electoral votes

The Election of 1848 was an open race as President Polk chose not to run for re-election because of illness. Taylor was quite popular with his promise of no future wars. The big issue of the day was whether or not to allow slavery in the newest territories in the western United States.

 

The Democrats had a solid record of prosperity and peace in those territories, so they would be very hard to beat. Popular opinion was that only if the Whig Party nominated Taylor could the Democrats be defeated. And that was exactly what happened.

 

 

2004: George W. Bush (R) vs John Kerry (D)

President Bush won by 35 electoral votes

For the most part, the election of 2004 was quite non-eventful. Although it wasn’t officially decided until later in the night, it pretty much followed what the polls had already forecasted.

Unlike Bush’s first election, he won the popular vote for his re-election bid and amassed a total of 286 electoral votes.

 

1916: Woodrow Wilson (D) vs Charles Hughes (R)

President Wilson won by 23 electoral votes

The 1916 Presidential Election was a nail-biter that went down to the wire. America had to wait for several days on the western states to report their tallies.

 

When it was all said and done, Wilson won the 277 electoral votes to Hughes’ 254, and he also won 30 of the 48 states. During those times, only 266 electoral votes were needed for victory, If Hughes had won California and its 13 electoral votes (at that time), he would have been President.

 

 

2000: George W. Bush (R) vs Al Gore (D)

President Bush won by 5 electoral votes

On Election Day, Al Gore won the popular vote. Bush won most states in the rural Midwest, the South, and the Rocky Mountain region, while Gore carried most of the states on the Pacific Coast, the Northeast, and the upper Midwest.

 

Gore led in electoral votes as well by 255 to 246, but neither candidate had gotten the required 270 electoral votes needed for victory. There were still a few states that were too tight to call — such as New Mexico and Oregon — but it was Florida that would determine the winner with its 25 electoral votes.

 

 

1876: Rutherford B. Hayes (R) vs Samuel Tilden (D)

President Hayes won by 1 electoral vote

This election between Democrat Samuel Tilden of New York and Rutherford B. Hayes was perhaps the most controversial and hostile in US history. Tilden not only led in electoral votes, but he also won the popular vote.

 

However, 19 electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina (all Republican states) were in dispute. There was also an alleged discrepancy with Oregon’s vote count as well.

Accusations of rampant voter fraud induced Congress to establish a special electoral commission to name the winner. This committee was made up of Supreme Court justices and fifteen congressmen. Please Click here and visit our website for more details. Thank You