United States presidential election, 1804

United States presidential election, 1804
United States
November 2 – December 5, 1804
All 176 electoral votes of the Electoral College
89 electoral votes needed to win
 
Nominee Thomas Jefferson Charles C. Pinckney
Party Democratic-Republican Federalist
Home state Virginia South Carolina
Running mate George Clinton Rufus King
Electoral vote 162 14
States carried 15 2
Popular vote 104,110 38,919
Percentage 72.8% 27.2%

Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson, burnt orange denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
President before election

Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican

 Elected President

Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican

The United States presidential election of 1804 was the fifth quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 2, to Wednesday, December 5, 1804. It pitted incumbent Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson against Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, a hero of the American Revolutionary War and former Ambassador to France. Jefferson easily defeated Pinckney and George Clinton was elected vice president. Clinton went on to serve under both Jefferson and his successor, James Madison.

The presidential election of 1804 was the first one conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents. Under the rules of the Twelfth Amendment, presidential electors were required to specify their choice for president and vice president on their ballots; previously, electors voted only for president, with the person who came in second becoming the vice president.

Jefferson's 45.6 percentage point victory margin in the popular vote remains the highest victory margin in a presidential election in which there were multiple major party candidates. With this election, Jefferson became the first former vice president in American history to be elected and reelected, a feat that has since been repeated only once, by Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972.

Background

Although the presidential election of 1800 was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe, and the Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.

Nominations

Democratic-Republican Party nomination

The caucus of Republicans in Congress selected the ticket. Jefferson's re-nomination was never in any real doubt, with the real issue being seen as who would they would nominate to replace disgraced Vice President Aaron Burr. Burr would likely have been dropped from the ticket anyway since his relationship with Jefferson had soured, but the Burr–Hamilton duel definitively ended any hope of Burr's re-nomination. Governor George Clinton of New York was chosen to be Jefferson's running mate instead.

Presidential candidates

Vice-presidential candidates

Balloting

Presidential ballot Total Vice-presidential ballot Total
Thomas Jefferson 108 George Clinton 67
John Breckinridge 20
Levi Lincoln 9
John Langdon 7
Gideon Granger 4
William Maclay 1

Federalist Party nomination

The Federalists chose Pinckney and former United States Senator Rufus King of New York to run against Jefferson and Clinton.

Presidential candidates

Vice-presidential candidates

General election

Attacks on Jefferson's policies proved fruitless; Jefferson's victory was overwhelming. He even won most of the states in the Federalist stronghold of New England. Pinckney won only two states- Connecticut and Delaware.

Results

Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage of the winning candidate in each county. Shades of blue are for Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) and shades of yellow are for Pinckney (Federalist).
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote(a), (b) Electoral
vote		 Running mate
Count Pct Vice-presidential candidate Home state Elect. vote
Thomas Jefferson (Incumbent) Democratic-Republican Virginia 104,110 72.8% 162 George Clinton New York 162
Charles C. Pinckney Federalist South Carolina 38,919 27.2% 14 Rufus King New York 14
Total 143,029 100% 176 176
Needed to win 89 89

Source (popular vote): U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 10, 2006).
Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825[1]
 Source (electoral vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 30, 2005. 

(a) Only 11 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote.
(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.

Electoral college selection

Method of choosing electors State(s)
Each elector appointed by state legislature Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
New York
South Carolina
Vermont
Each elector chosen by voters statewide New Hampshire
New Jersey
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Virginia
State is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district Kentucky
Maryland
North Carolina
Tennessee
  • Two electors chosen by voters statewide
  • One elector chosen per Congressional district in a statewide vote
 Massachusetts

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog?commit=Limit&f%5Belection_type_sim%5D%5B%5D=General&f%5Boffice_id_ssim%5D%5B%5D=ON056&page=2&q=1820&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bbegin%5D=1820&range%5Bdate_sim%5D%5Bend%5D=1820&search_field=all_fields&utf8=%E2%9C%93

External links

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