[BillyBoy]

1788
George Washington Virginia No Party

1792
George Washington Virginia Federalist

1796 Presidential Election
John Adams Massachusetts Federalist
Thomas Jefferson Virginia Democratic-Republican

1800 Presidential Election
Thomas Jefferson Virginia Dem.-Rep.
Aaron Burr New York Dem.-Rep.

1804 Presidential Election
Thomas Jefferson VA George Clinton NY Democratic-Republican
Charles Pinckney SC Rufus King NY Federalist

1808 Presidential Election
James Madison VA George Clinton NY Dem.-Rep.
Charles Pinckney SC Rufus King NY Federalist

1812 Presidential Election
James Madison VA Elbridge Gerry MA Dem.-Rep.
DeWitt Clinton NY Jared Ingersoll Federalist

1816 Presidential Election
James Monroe VA Daniel Tompkins NY Dem.-Rep.
Rufus King NY John Howard MD Federalist

1820 Presidential Election
James Monroe VA Daniel Tompkins NY Dem.-Rep.
John Q. Adams MA Richard Rush PA Dem.-Rep

1824 Presidential Election
John Q. Adams John Calhoun* Democrat-Republican
Andrew Jackson John Calhoun* Democrat-Republican
William Crawford Nathaniel Macon* Democrat-Republican
Henry Clay Nathon Sanford* Democrat-Republican

1828 Presidential Election Results
Andrew Jackson John Calhoun* Democrat
John Q. Adams Richard Rush National Republican

1832 Presidential Election Results
Andrew Jackson/ Martin Van Buren* Democrat
Henry Clay / John Sergeant Nattional Republican
William Wirt / Amos Ellmaker Anti-Masonic

1836 Presidential Election
Martin Van Buren / Richard Johnson* Democrat
William Harrison / Francis Granger Whig
Hugh White / John Tyler Whig
Daniel Webster / Francis Granger Whig

1840 Presidential Election
William Harrison John Tyler Whig
Martin Van Buren Richard Johnson* Democrat

1844 Presidential Election
James Polk George Dallas Democrat
Henry Clay Theodore Frelinghuysen Whig
James Birney Thomas Morris Liberty

1848 Presidential Election
Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Whig
Lewis Cass William Butler Democrat
Martin Van Buren Charles Adams Free Soil

1852 Presidential Election
Franklin Pierce William King Democrat
Winfield Scott William Graham Whig
John Hale George Julian Free Soil

1856 Presidential Election
James Buchanan John Breckenridge Democrat
John Fremont William Dayton Republican
Millard Fillmore Andrew Donelson American (Know-Nothing)/Whig

1860 Presidential Election
Abraham Lincoln / Hannibal Hamlin Republican
John Breckenridge / Joseph Lane Democrat (Southern)
John Bell / Edward Everett Constituional Union
Stephen Douglas / Herschel Johnson Democrat (Northern)

1864 Presidential Election
Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson [Union]
George McClellan George Pendleton Democrat

1868 Presidential Election
Ulysses Grant Schuyler Colfax Republican
Horatio Seymour Francis Blair Jr. Democrat

1872 Presidential Election
Ulysses Grant Henry Wilson Republican
Horace Greeley B. Gratz Brown Democrat

1876 Presidential Election
Rutherford Hayes William Wheeler Republican
Samuel Tilden Thomas Hendricks Democrat

1880 Presidential Election
James Garfield Chester Arthur Republican
Winfield Hancock William English Democrat
James Weaver Benjamin Chambers Greenback

1884 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland Thomas Hendricks Democrat
James Blaine John Logan Republican
Benjamin Butler Absolom West Greenback
John St.John William Daniel Prohibition

1888 Presidential Election
Benjamin Harrison Levi Morton Republican
Grover Cleveland Allen Thurman Democrat
Clinton Fisk John Brooks Prohibition
Alson Streeter Charles Cunningham Union-Labor

1892 Presidential Election
Grover Cleveland Adlai Stevenson Democrat
Benjamin Harrison Whitelaw Reid Republican
James Weaver James Field Populist
John Bidwell James Cranfill Prohibition

1896 Presidential Election
William McKinley Garret Hobart Republican
William Bryan Arthur Sewall* Democrat

1900 Presidential Election
William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt Republican
William Bryan Adlai Stevenson Democrat
John Woolley Henry Metcalf Prohibition

1904 Presidential Election
Theodore Roosevelt Charles Fairbanks Republican
Alton Parker Henry Davis Democrat
Eugene Debs Benjamin Hanford Socialist
Silas Swallow George Carroll Prohibition

1908 Presidential Election
William Taft James Sherman Republican
William Bryan John Kern Democrat
Eugene Debs Benjamin Hanford Socialist
Eugene Chafin Aaron Watkins Prohibition

1912 Presidential Election
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Marshall Democrat
Theodore Roosevelt Hiram Johnson Progressive (Bull-Moose)
William Taft Nicholas Butler Republican
Eugene Debs Emil Seidel Socialist
Eugene Chafin Aaron Watkins Prohibition

1916 Presidential Election
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Marshall Democrat
Charles Hughes Charles Fairbanks Republican
Allan Benson George Kirkpatrick Socialist
James Hanly Ira Landrith Prohibition

1920 Presidential Election
Warren Harding Calvin Coolidge Republican
James Cox Franklin Roosevelt Democrat
Eugene Debs Seymour Stedman Socialist

1924 Presidential Election
Calvin Coolidge Charles Dawes Republican
John Davis Charles Bryan Democrat
Robert LaFollette Burton Wheeler Progressive

1928 Presidential Election
Herbert Hoover Charles Curtis Republican
Alfred Smith Joseph Robinson Democrat

1932 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt John Garner Democrat
Herbert Hoover Charles Curtis Republican
Norman Thomas James Maurer Socialist

1936 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt John Garner Democrat
Alfred Landon Frank Knox Republican
William Lemke Thomas O'Brien Union

1940 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt Henry Wallace Democrat
Wendell Willkie Charles McNary Republican

1944 Presidential Election Results
Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Democrat
Thomas Dewey John Bricker Republican

1948 Presidential Election Results
Harry Truman Alben Barkley Democrat
Thomas Dewey Earl Warren Republican
J. Strom Thurmond Fielding Wright State's Rights
Henry Wallace Glen Taylor Progressive

1952 Presidential Election Results
Dwight Eisenhower Richard Nixon Republican
Adlai Stevenson John Sparkman Democrat

1956 Presidential Election Results
Dwight Eisenhower Richard Nixon Republican
Adlai Stevenson Estes Kefauver Democrat

1960 Presidential Election
John Kennedy Lyndon Johnson Democrat
Richard Nixon Henry Lodge Republican

1964 President Election
Lyndon Johnson Hubert Humphrey Democrat
Barry Goldwater William Miller Republican

1968 Presidential Election
Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew Republican
Hubert Humphrey Edmund Muskie Democrat
George Wallace Curtis LeMay American Independant

1972 Presidential Election
Richard Nixon Spiro Agnew Republican
George McGovern R. Sargent Shriver Democrat
John Schmitz Thomas Anderson American Independant

1976 Presidential Election Results
Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Democrat
Gerald Ford Robert Dole Republican

1980 Presidential Election Results
Ronald Reagan George Bush Republican
Jimmy Carter Walter Mondale Democrat
John Anderson Patrick Lucey Independant
Ed Clark David Koch Libertarian

1984 Presidential Election Results
Ronald Reagan George Bush Republican
Walter Mondale Geraldine Ferraro Democrat

1988 Presidential Election Results
George Bush J. Danforth Quayle Republican
Michael Dukakis Lloyd Bentsen Democrat

1992 Presidential Election Results
William Clinton Albert Gore Democrat
George Bush J. Danforth Quayle Republican
H. Ross Perot James Stockdale UWSA

1996 Presidential Election Results
William Clinton Albert Gore Democrat
Robert Dole Jack Kemp Republican
H. Ross Perot Pat Choate Reform

[BillyBoy]

Sorry for the lousy formating, but for some reason, my browser has made posting this looooong thread a pain in the butt. It keep reseting everytime I'd add some extra HTML commands.

I've been awake all night, so I'll gonna be napping now. Hope to see some thought-provoking responces when I get back in a few hours (and there better be-- considering how hard it was to post this vanity!)

[Vigilanteman]

Mostly good choices, but I'll take exception for 1872. It was apparent by then that despite U.S. Grant's personal likability, he had surrounded himself with corruption and scandal. Horace Greeley was both well-qualified and well-prepared to lead. Were it not for the union occupation of the south and widespread disenfranchisement of former Confederates, Grant might have been sent packing.

As it was, Grant's corrupt administration very nearly cost the well-qualified and decent Rutherford B. Hayes the election four years later.

[ouroboros]

I don't think I can go back much farther than 1964 with any certainty. Although, I imagine I would have voted for Jefferson, against Lincoln, for Silent Cal and against FDR. Here it goes:

1964 Goldwater/Miller
1968 Wallace/LeMay (AIP)
1972 Schmitz/Anderson (AIP)
1976 Would've stayed home and banged my face against the wall
1980 Reagan/Bush
1984 Reagan/Bush
1988 Paul/Marrou (Libertarian)
1992 Perot/Stockdale (UWSA)
1996 Browne/Jorgensen (Libertarian)
2000 Buchanan/Foster (Reform)

[B Knotts]

It's just amazing when you look that far back in history and see Strom Thurmond in 1948, still presiding over the U.S. Senate! He has been around a heck of a long time.

[Rodney King]

Gotta go with Thurmond in '48, and Wallace in '68.

[x]

It's pretty clear where your party allegiances lie.

The mixture of Whigs and Democrats in the 40s and 50s is intriguing though. By today's standards those candidates all look alike, but party passions ran high in those days as well. Still, the Whigs deserve better than most historians give them credit for.

The great question mark is Lincoln. He was a very admirable president in my book, but would the country have been better off with one of the compromise candidates? The argument against Lincoln is the war and its dead. The argument in favor is that conflict had been put off for years and would come in any case, so why not have someone able at the helm? A question that won't ever be resolved.

Hancock and Tilden in the 70s and 80s, were pretty decent for Democrats -- and Hancock, so far as I know was an upstanding citizen with no dirt in his personal past. The GOP of those days could have used some shaking up, but the Dems also had some unsavory associations themselves. A long ruling party needs some shaking up to keep them honest, but the results of a defeat can be devasting.

The other thing is the men who never got to run. Robert Taft comes to mind.

[x]

I didn't catch that Webster was a relative! That helps to explain some things. Though I still think the Whigs get a bum rap.

Popular novelist Irving Stone wrote a book called "They Also Ran" with portraits of all losing Presidential candidates from Fremont to Dewey or Stevenson. Basically, his picks were the opposite of yours -- he disliked all Republicans except Lincoln and TR.

My personal favorite losing presidential candidate was Alton B. Parker, Chief Judge of New York's Court of Appeals. The Democrats nominated the conservative Parker as a sacrificial lamb to run against Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Parker had no luck. Even Wall Street prefered the "insurgent candidate of the party of reaction to the reactionary candidate of the party of insurgency," as one liberal journalist put it. Parker's quest for the Presidency would have a certain quixotic appeal -- except that it wasn't any sort of quest.

The greatest tragedies were 1856, 1912 and 1964. Not that Fillmore or Taft or Goldwater were great picks, but the alternatives were pretty bad. Sentimental favorite -- Al Smith. Regardless of politics it was good to have someone who came as far he did on the ballot. Losing candidate who deserved most to become President -- Charles Evans Hughes. How good a president he would have been is up in the air, but Wilson had already done a lot of harm and was to do more in his second term. If nothing else, Hughes had seriousness and devotion to the public good.

[TKEman]

Ah. I think Henry Clay was far and away the better man in 1836 and for the other years he ran for President. Webster? The man had no chance whatsoever outside of New England.