Notes from Tuesday

The Weirdest Presidential Elections in US History

Things to know about Presidential Elections going in:

• The outcome is decided no by the popular vote, but by the Electoral College.
• Who gets to vote is determined state-by-state, with four exceptions in the Constitution.

1800 – JOHN ADAMS VS. THOMAS JEFFERSON

Pre-12th Amendment, President was the winner in the Electoral College and VP was the one who finished second. Jefferson and Aaron Burr end up tied (since each elector gets two votes. The election is then thrown to the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote. In 1800, there were 16 states.). As long as the Adams people in the House of Representatives could keep the election tied between Jefferson and Burr (8 states each), Adams stays President.

1824 – JOHN QUINCY ADAMS VS. ANDREW JACKSON VS. HENRY CLAY

Jackson won the popular vote and the Electoral College, but did not get a majority of electoral votes. So since the election was thrown into the House, the 2nd and 3rd place candidates pooled their support. 2nd place (Adams) is President, 3rd place (Clay) is Secretary of State with a promise of Presidential campaign support in eight years, and Jackson is just out. It works, but only for one term, as Jackson blows out Adams in 1828.

1860 – ABRAHAM LINCOLN VS. STEVEN DOUGLAS VS. JOHN BELL

A popular vote split three ways, but Lincoln got enough of a plurality in enough states to win the Electoral College.

1876 – RUTHERFORD B. HAYES VS. SAMUEL TILDEN

The Crown Prince of weird elections. Three states submitted two slates of electors -- one with black votes counted and one with only white votes. If the white votes are the only ones that count, Tilden wins easily. But if the black votes count, Hayes wins 185-184. The result is the Compromise of 1877. In return for letting black votes count, the South gets to have all of the Northern occupying troops removed, and Hayes doesn't run for re-election in 1880.

1912 – WOODROW WILSON VS. WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT VS. THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Taft runs for re-election, but his supporters are split between him and former two-term President Teddy Roosevelt.

1948 – HARRY S TRUMAN VS. THOMAS DEWEY

The first time computers try to predict a major national election. The computers vastly overstate the impact of Strom Thurmond, who gets a handful of electoral votes, but not nearly enough to allow Dewey to defeat Truman.

1960 – JOHN F. KENNEDY VS. RICHARD NIXON

Close election. Both sides agreed later that nobody cold ever know who would have won if both sides had played fair.

1968 – RICHARD NIXON VS. HUBERT HUMPHREY

Sitting President Lyndon Johnson chooses not to run for re-election. First time since Chester Arthur.

1992 – BILL CLINTON VS. GEORGE BUSH VS. ROSS PEROT

Another split-vote where Bush supporters defect to Perot, opening the door for Clinton.

2000 – GEORGE W. BUSH VS. AL GORE

The king of the weird elections. Several close states -- New Mexico, Oregon, Iowa, and Florida. Final tally 271-267, and that only after a month of legal wrangling about who really won Florida. Lots of fun to watch, unless you had an emotional investment in the outcome. Then it was pure torture.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
Is there a good way to settle a close election, especially when the outcome is statistically too close to call?
Did the Supreme Court get Bush v. Gore right?
Who lost a Presidential election he should have won?
Who was the most qualified Presidential candidate never to win an election?