Year President Party Important Election Facts Important Events

1789 George None The most important election in • Served in French-Indian

Washington American history was the first War
election, not because it was closely • American Revolution
contested, or even contested at all, • Set two-term precedent
but because of the man chosen to • Established major policies
be the first President, and the for future presidents and
precedents he chose to set. Yes, he congress
stood for election, even though • Unanimous electoral vote
unanimous, not coronation. To
• First US census
appreciate the difference, we only
need to look south at Simon • DC est. 1791
Bolivar, a man who filled a similar
role in leading opposition to his
colonial rulers, but who took a
very different approach to
government after liberation.
George Washington’s election as
our first President made the next
53 (including 2000) possible.
1792 George None • Whiskey Rebellion
Washington • Jay’s Treaty
• Pickney’s Treaty
• Farewell Address
1796 John Adams Federalist 1789 and 1792 were easy. George • XYZ Affair
Washington was unopposed, and • Alien-Sedition Act
could have held office for as long • KY and VA resolutions
as he wanted. But in September of • Navy and Marine Corps
1796, Washington publicized his • Capital moved
farewell address. Just how would
• Library of Congress
the new Constitution work in a
contested election? Would the
loser accept the result? John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson
showed that it could work, and
also set the tone for elections for
over 100 years when they did not
actively solicit votes for the
Presidency.
1800 Thomas Dem-Rep “Revolution of 1800” • Midnight appointments
Jefferson
When Thomas Jefferson defeated
John Adams, after a nasty
campaign fought by surrogates,
Adams had to voluntarily
relinquish power to his opponent.
Though this was the fourth
Presidential election, it was the
first time the incumbent President
had been voted out. Adams left
peacefully, assuring that the
American experiment in
democracy would succeed. As a
footnote, after the 1800 election,
the Electoral College rules had to
be changed to acknowledge
political parties (because of the tie
in the 1800 Electoral College
between Jefferson and his running
mate, Aaron Burr).
1804 Thomas Dem-Rep • Tripolitan War (1801-1805)
Jefferson • US Military Academy
established (1802)
• Louisiana Purchase (1803)
• Lewis and Clark Expedition
(1804-1806)
• Abolition of Slave Trade
(1807)
• Chesapeake Affair (1807)
• Embargo (1807-1809)
1808 James Dem-Rep • Non-Intercourse Act (1809-
Madison 1810)
1812 James Dem-Rep • War of 1812 (1812)
Madison • Star Spangled Banner
written by Francis Scott
Key (1814)
• Treaty of Ghent (1814)
• Battle of New Orleans
(1814)
• Hartford Convention (1814-
1815)
• Second Bank of the United
States Chartered (1816)
1816 James Dem-Rep • First Seminole War (1817-
Monroe 1818)
• Convention of 1818 (1818)
• Florida purchased from
Spain - Adams-Onís
Treaty(1819)

1820 James Dem-Rep • Missouri Compromise

Monroe (1820)
• Cumberland Road Bill
(1822)
• Monroe Doctrine (1823)
1824 John Quincy Dem-Rep This was the first and only time • Erie Canal Opens (1825)
Adams Nat’l-Rep the Electoral College had to defer • Tariff of Abominations
to the House of Representatives to (1828)
make the final choice for
President. (Not including 1800,
before the rules were changed to
allow electors to specify votes for
President and Vice President.) A
private deal between Henry Clay
and eventual winner in the House,
John Quincy Adams, was
suspected, but Andrew Jackson
waited for the 1828 election to
avenge his 1824 defeat.
1828 Andrew Dem “Revolution of 1828” • Peggy Eaton Affair (1828-
Jackson 1831)
Andrew Jackson bounced back • Veto of Maysville Road Bill
from the crazy 1824 election that (1830)
featured four Democratic- • Indian Removal Act of 1830
Republicans splitting the electoral (1830)
votes. He won the 1828 election in
a two-man race with incumbent
President John Quincy Adams.
Jackson ran as a Democrat, and his
party can trace its lineage all the
way forward to Bill Clinton.
Adams ran as a “National
Republican”—his party
disappeared from the Presidential
stage by 1836.
1832 Andrew Dem • Ordinance of Nullification
Jackson (1832)
• Veto of Recharter of Second
Bank of the United States
(1832)
• Black Hawk War (1832)
• Assassination Attempt
(1835)
• Texas Revolution (1836)

1836 Martin Van Dem • Panic of 1837 (1837)

Buren • Caroline Affair (1837)

1840 William Whig Died of pneumonia 31 days into Harrison:

Henry office (1841) (VP John Tyler-
Harrison Whig then no-party)
Image building? A carefully
crafted campaign slogan
(“Tippecanoe and Tyler too”)?
These ideas might have been
normal for 1940. For 1840, at a
time when most Presidential
candidates felt it was undignified
to campaign, to lower themselves
by asking for votes, this election
was a brief, fleeting glimpse into
the future.
1844 James K. Dem “Manifest Destiny Election”
Polk
• None
Tyler:
• Set precedent for
Presidential succession
(1841)
• Entire Cabinet except for
Daniel Webster resigned in
protest (1841)
• Webster-Ashburton Treaty
(1842)
• Treaty of Wanghia (1844)
• Annexation of Texas (1845)
• Oregon Treaty (1846)
• Mexican War (1846-1848)

1848 Zachary Whig Died in 1850 (VP Millard Taylor:

Taylor Fillmore- Whig) • Clayton-Bulwer Treaty
(1850)

Fillmore:
• Established White House
Library (1850-53)
• Compromise of 1850 (1850)
• Commodore Perry's Mission
to Japan (1852-54)
1852 Franklin Dem • Gadsden Purchase (1853)
Pierce • Kansas-Nebraska Act
(1854)
• Ostend Manifesto (1854)

1856 James Dem John C. Fremont was the first • Pony Express (1860)
Buchanan candidate offered from the modern • Southern States begin
Republican Party. The newly secession (1860)
formed Democrats had taken five • Confederate States of
of seven elections from Whigs and America created (1861)
National Republicans. With the
formation of the Republican Party,
the modern two-party system was
born, and these two parties have
been going at each other ever
since. In 37 elections since then,
it’s the Republicans 22, Democrats
15.
1860 Abraham Rep The Democrats offered two • Civil War (1861-1865)
Lincoln candidates, John Breckinridge • Emancipation Proclamation
from the south and Stephen (1863)
Douglas from the north, to face
Abraham Lincoln. A fourth
candidate, John Bell, ran as a
“Constitutional Union” candidate.
This split the anti-Republican vote
three ways, putting Lincoln in
office. The growing and inevitable
conflict between north and south
finally erupted as secession and
Civil War followed.
1864 Abraham Rep Shot 1865 by John Wilkes Booth Johnson:
Lincoln (VP Andrew Johnson- Dem Nat’l • Reconstruction
Union, Nat’l Union, no party) • Thirteenth Amendment
Ratified (1865)
This election, more than any other, • Alaska Purchased (1867)
demonstrated how strong • Impeachment Proceedings
democratic principles had become (1868)
ingrained into the American • Fourteenth Amendment
political culture. There is no Ratified (1868)
parallel to this election in all of
recorded history. In the middle of
a bloody civil war, Abraham
Lincoln stood for election. Voters
could have replaced him with a
fired Union general, and some
voted to do just that. But a fair
election took place, Lincoln
prevailed, and the United States
remained undivided and loyal to
the Constitution.
1868 Ulysses S. Rep • Reconstruction
Grant • Transcontinental Railroad
Completed (1869)
• Black Friday Scandal
involving James Fisk and
Jay Gould (1869)
• Fifteenth Amendment
Ratified (1870)

1872 Ulysses S. Rep • Credit Mobilier Scandal

Grant (1872)
• Panic of 1873
• Whiskey Ring Scandal
(1875)
• Belknap Bribery Scandal
(1876)
• Battle of Little Bighorn
(1876)
1876 Rutherford Rep Samuel Tilden won the election, • Compromise of 1877 (End
B. Hayes both with popular and electoral of Reconstruction)
votes, until the Republicans chose • Bland-Allison Act (1878)
to protest electoral vote slates in • Pronounced the necessity of
four states, involving exactly creating an American
enough votes to give Republican controlled canal in Panama
Rutherford B. Hayes an Electoral (1880)
College victory by one vote. A
back-room deal between
Republicans and southern
Democrats made the theft possible.
1880 James Rep Shot 4 months into office (Chester Arthur:
Garfield Arthur VP- Rep) • Chinese Exclusion Act
(1882)
• Pendleton Act (1883)

1884 S. Grover Dem • Presidential Succession Act

Cleveland (1886)
• Dedication of Statue of
Liberty (1886)
• Interstate Commerce Act
(1887)
• Dawes Severalty Act (1887)

1888 Benjamin Rep (Cleveland wins popular vote but • Sherman Anti-Trust Act
Harrison not electoral) (1890)
• Sherman Silver Purchase
Act (1890)
• Electricity Installed in
White House (1891)
1892 S. Grover Dem • Panic of 1893
Cleveland • Chicago World's Fair (1893)
• Pullman's Strike (1894)
1896 William Rep “Free Silver Election” • Spanish-American War
McKinley (1898)
The presidential election of 1896 • Annexation of Hawaii
demonstrated a sharp division in (1898)
society between urban and rural • Open Door Policy/Boxer
interests. William Jennings Bryan Rebellion (1899-1900)
(Democrat) was able to form a • Gold Standard Act (1900)
coalition that answered the call of
progressive groups and rural
interests including the indebted
farmers and those arguing against
the gold standard. William
McKinley's victory was significant
because it highlights the shift from
America as an agrarian nation to
one of urban interests.
Significance: The election
highlights the changes that were
occurring in American society at
the turn of the 19th century.
1898 William Rep Shot in 1901 (VP Theodore
McKinley Roosevelt- Rep)