Since the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, there have been 52 unsuccessful major party candidates for President of the United States. Additionally, since 1796, eight third party or independent candidates have won at least ten percent of the popular or electoral vote, but all failed to win the presidency.
Since the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment prior to the 1804 presidential election, the winner of any given presidential election is the candidate that receives the majority of the electoral vote. Under the rules established by the Twelfth Amendment, if no individual wins a majority of the electoral vote, then the United States House of Representatives holds a contingent election to determine the election winner; contingent elections have decided the winners of two presidential elections. Since 1824, the national popular vote has been recorded, but the national popular vote does not determine the winner of the presidential election. There have been five presidential elections in which the winner did not win a majority or a plurality of the popular vote.
The United States has had a two-party system for much of its history, and the major parties of the two-party system have dominated presidential elections for most of U.S. history. The two current major parties are the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. At various points prior to the American Civil War, the Federalist Party, the Democratic-Republican Party, the National Republican Party, and the Whig Party were major parties. These six parties have nominated candidates in the vast majority of presidential elections, but six presidential elections deviate from the normal pattern of two major party candidates. There were no major party candidates for president in the presidential election of 1789 and the presidential election of 1792, both of which were won by George Washington. In the 1812 presidential election, DeWitt Clinton served as the de facto Federalist nominee even though he was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party; Clinton was defeated by Democratic-Republican President James Madison. In the presidential election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe of the Democratic-Republican Party effectively ran unopposed. In the 1824 presidential election, four Democratic-Republicans competed in multiple states in the general election as the party was unable to agree on a single nominee. Similarly, in the presidential election of 1836, the Whig Party did not unify around a single candidate and two different Whig candidates competed in multiple states in the general election.
Several former, incumbent, or future presidents have unsuccessfully sought the presidency. Several individuals have unsuccessfully sought the presidency as the candidate of a major party multiple times; only Henry Clay and William Jennings Bryan have done so thrice. Seven different third parties have nominated a candidate who won at least ten percent of the electoral vote or at least ten percent of the popular vote in a single election, and who was not nominated by a major party in that election. Two of those candidates, Theodore Roosevelt and John C. Breckinridge, finished with the second-highest share of the electoral vote. Since 1796, just one independent candidate, Ross Perot, has accrued more than ten percent of the popular or electoral vote. One third-party candidate, Horace Greeley of the Liberal Republican Party, was nominated by a major party only after being nominated by a third party.
List of unsuccessful candidates Major parties
* indicates that the candidate served as the president of the United States at some other point in their career † indicates that the candidate won a majority or plurality of the popular vote ‡ indicates that the candidate won a plurality of the electoral vote PV% indicates the share of the popular vote won by that candidate EV% indicates the share of the electoral vote won by that candidate
Election Candidate Vote Running mate Defeated by Candidate(Birth–death) Party Office at timeof election Homestate 1 1796 Thomas Jefferson*(1743–1826) Democratic-Republican Fmr. Secretary of State Aaron Burr John Adams2 1800 John Adams*(1735–1826) Federalist President Charles C. Pinckney Thomas Jefferson3 1804 Charles C. Pinckney(1746–1825) Federalist Fmr. Ambassador Rufus King 1808 James Madison4 1812 DeWitt Clinton(1769–1828) Democratic-Republicanand Federalist Lieutenant Governorand Mayor Jared Ingersoll5 1816 Rufus King(1755–1827) Federalist Senator John E. Howard James Monroe6 1824 Andrew Jackson*(1767–1845) Democratic-Republican Senator 41.4%† ‡ John C. Calhoun John Quincy Adams William H. Crawford(1772–1834) Secretary of the Treasury 11.2% Nathaniel Macon Henry Clay(1777–1852) Speaker of the House 13.0% Nathan Sanford7 1828 John Quincy Adams*(1767–1848) National Republican President 43.7% Richard Rush Andrew Jackson8 1832 Henry Clay(1777–1852) National Republican Senator 36.7% John Sergeant9 1836 William Henry Harrison*(1773–1841) Whig Fmr. Senator 36.6% Francis Granger Martin Van Buren Hugh Lawson White(1773–1840) Senator 9.7% John Tyler10 1840 Martin Van Buren*(1782–1862) Democratic President 46.9% Richard M. Johnson William Henry Harrison11 1844 Henry Clay(1777–1852) Whig Fmr. Senator 48.1% Theodore Frelinghuysen James K. Polk12 1848 Lewis Cass(1782–1866) Democratic Fmr. Senator 42.5% William O. Butler Zachary Taylor13 1852 Winfield Scott(1786–1866) Whig Major General 43.9% William A. Graham Franklin Pierce14 1856 John C. Frémont(1813–1890) Republican Fmr. Senator 33.1% William L. Dayton James Buchanan15 1860 Stephen A. Douglas(1813–1861) Democratic Senator 29.5% Herschel V. Johnson Abraham Lincoln16 1864 George B. McClellan(1826–1885) Democratic Major General 45.0% George H. Pendleton17 1868 Horatio Seymour(1810–1886) Democratic Fmr. Governor 47.3% Francis Preston Blair Jr. Ulysses S. Grant18 1872 Horace Greeley(1811–1872) Liberal Republicanand Democratic Fmr. Representative 43.8% Benjamin Gratz Brown19 1876 Samuel J. Tilden(1814–1886) Democratic Governor 50.9%† Thomas A. Hendricks Rutherford B. Hayes20 1880 Winfield Scott Hancock(1824–1886) Democratic Major General 48.2% William H. English James A. Garfield21 1884 James G. Blaine(1830–1893) Republican Fmr. Secretary of State 48.3% John A. Logan Grover Cleveland22 1888 Grover Cleveland*(1837–1908) Democratic President 48.7%† Allen G. Thurman Benjamin Harrison23 1892 Benjamin Harrison*(1833–1901) Republican President 43.0% Whitelaw Reid Grover Cleveland24 1896 William Jennings Bryan(1860–1925) Democratic Fmr. Representative 46.7% Arthur Sewall William McKinley 1900 45.5% Adlai Stevenson I25 1904 Alton B. Parker(1852–1926) Democratic Fmr. state judge 37.6% Henry G. Davis Theodore Roosevelt26 1908 William Jennings Bryan(1860–1925) Democratic Fmr. Representative 43.0% John W. Kern William Howard Taft27 1912 William Howard Taft*(1857–1930) Republican President 23.2% James S. Sherman Woodrow Wilson28 1916 Charles Evans Hughes(1862–1948) Republican Fmr. Associate Justice 46.1% Charles W. Fairbanks29 1920 James M. Cox(1870–1957) Democratic Governor 34.1% Franklin D. Roosevelt Warren G. Harding30 1924 John W. Davis(1873–1955) Democratic Fmr. Ambassador 28.8% Charles W. Bryan Calvin Coolidge31 1928 Al Smith(1873–1944) Democratic Governor 40.8% Joseph T. Robinson Herbert Hoover32 1932 Herbert Hoover*(1874–1964) Republican President 39.7% Charles Curtis Franklin D. Roosevelt33 1936 Alf Landon(1887–1987) Republican Governor 36.5% Frank Knox34 1940 Wendell Willkie(1892–1944) Republican None 44.8% Charles L. McNary35 1944 Thomas E. Dewey(1902–1971) Republican Governor 45.9% John W. Bricker 1948 45.1% Earl Warren Harry S. Truman36 1952 Adlai Stevenson II(1900–1965) Democratic Governor 44.3% John Sparkman Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956Fmr. Governor 42.0% Estes Kefauver37 1960 Richard Nixon*(1913–1994) Republican Vice President 49.6% Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. John F. Kennedy38 1964 Barry Goldwater(1909–1998) Republican Senator 38.5% William E. Miller Lyndon B. Johnson39 1968 Hubert Humphrey(1911–1978) Democratic Vice President 42.7% Edmund Muskie Richard Nixon40 1972 George McGovern(1922–2012) Democratic Senator 37.5% Sargent Shriver41 1976 Gerald Ford*(1913–2006) Republican President 48.0% Bob Dole Jimmy Carter42 1980 Jimmy Carter*(1924–2024) Democratic President 41.0% Walter Mondale Ronald Reagan43 1984 Walter Mondale(1928–2021) Democratic Fmr. Vice President 40.6% Geraldine Ferraro 44 1988 Michael Dukakis(born 1933) Democratic Governor 45.7% Lloyd Bentsen George H. W. Bush45 1992 George H. W. Bush*(1924–2018) Republican President 37.5% Dan Quayle Bill Clinton46 1996 Bob Dole(1923–2021) Republican Fmr. Senator 40.7% Jack Kemp47 2000 Al Gore(born 1948) Democratic Vice President 48.4%† Joe Lieberman George W. Bush48 2004 John Kerry(born 1943) Democratic Senator 48.3% John Edwards49 2008 John McCain(1936–2018) Republican Senator 45.7% Sarah Palin Barack Obama50 2012 Mitt Romney(born 1947) Republican Fmr. Governor 47.2% Paul Ryan51 2016 Hillary Clinton(born 1947) Democratic Fmr. Secretary of State 48.2%† Tim Kaine Donald Trump52 2020 Donald Trump*(born 1946) Republican President 46.8% Mike Pence Joe Biden53 2024 Kamala Harris(born 1964) Democratic Vice President 48.3% Tim Walz Donald Trump
Major third parties and independents
These third-party and independent candidates won at least ten percent of the electoral vote or at least ten percent of the popular vote.Rosenstone et al. (2018), Appendix A
* indicates that the candidate served as the president of the United States at some point in their career † indicates that the candidate finished with the second highest share of the popular vote ‡ indicates that the candidate finished with the second highest share of the electoral vote PV% indicates the share of the popular vote won by that candidate EV% indicates the share of the electoral vote won by that candidate
Election Candidate Vote Running mate Candidate(Birth–death) Party Office at timeof election Homestate 1848 Martin Van Buren*(1782–1862) Free Soil Fmr. President 10.1% Charles F. Adams Sr. 1856 Millard Fillmore*(1800–1874) American Fmr. President 21.5% Andrew J. Donelson 1860 John C. Breckinridge(1821–1875) Southern Democratic Vice President 18.2% ‡ Joseph Lane 1860 John Bell(1796–1869) Constitutional Union Fmr. Senator 12.6% Edward Everett 1912 Theodore Roosevelt*(1858–1919) Progressive Fmr. President 27.4%† ‡ Hiram Johnson 1924 Robert La Follette(1855–1925) Progressive Senator 16.6% Burton K. Wheeler 1968 George Wallace(1919–1998) American Independent Fmr. Governor 13.5% Curtis LeMay 1992 Ross Perot(1930–2019) Independent None 18.9% James Stockdale
See also List of presidents of the United States List of United States presidential candidates List of unsuccessful major party candidates for Vice President of the United States List of people who received an electoral vote in the United States Electoral College List of United States Electoral College results Lists of fictional presidents of the United States Alternate Presidents
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