Ten U.S. Presidential Elections Decided by Razor-Thin Margins, from 1800 to 2000
In 2000, George W. Bush's victory in Florida by a mere 537 votes resulted in a 271 to 266 Electoral College outcome, even though Al Gore had a significant national popular vote advantage of 540,000. This controversy culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore on December 12, 2000. Following this, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which allocated funds for replacing punch-card voting systems. The 1800 electoral deadlock between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr necessitated 36 ballots in the House before Jefferson emerged victorious in February 1801, prompting the creation of the 12th Amendment. Other notable elections include John Quincy Adams's 1824 win over Andrew Jackson despite losing the popular vote, and Grover Cleveland's 1888 defeat despite leading in popular votes.
Key facts
- Florida's 2000 certification margin was 537 votes out of roughly six million cast, less than one-hundredth of a percentage point
- The 1800 election ended in a 73-73 electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, broken on the House's 36th ballot
- The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, required separate electoral ballots for president and vice president
- Andrew Jackson won 99 electoral votes in 1824 but the House selected John Quincy Adams with 13 of 24 state delegations
- The 1876 Electoral Commission gave Rutherford B. Hayes all 20 disputed electors, producing a 185 to 184 victory over Samuel Tilden
- James Garfield's 1880 popular vote margin of about 1,898 ballots is the smallest in U.S. presidential election history
- Grover Cleveland won New York by roughly 1,200 votes in 1884 and lost the state, and the presidency, to Benjamin Harrison in 1888
- Woodrow Wilson carried California by about 3,773 votes in 1916, securing 13 electors and a 277 to 254 win
Entities
Artists
- Thomas Jefferson
- Aaron Burr
- Alexander Hamilton
- John Adams
- Andrew Jackson
- John Quincy Adams
- William Crawford
- Henry Clay
- Rutherford B. Hayes
- Samuel Tilden
- David Davis
- Joseph Bradley
- James Garfield
- Winfield Scott Hancock
- Ulysses S. Grant
- James Blaine
- John Sherman
- Charles Guiteau
- Grover Cleveland
- Samuel Burchard
- John St. John
- James Buchanan
- Benjamin Harrison
- Woodrow Wilson
- Charles Evans Hughes
- Hiram Johnson
- Theodore Roosevelt
- John F. Kennedy
- Richard Nixon
- Lyndon Johnson
- Harry Byrd
- Hubert Humphrey
- George Wallace
- Martin Luther King Jr.
- Robert F. Kennedy
- George W. Bush
- Al Gore
- Pat Buchanan
- Ralph Nader
Institutions
- House of Representatives
- Electoral College
- Democratic-Republican Party
- Federalist Party
- Democratic Party
- National Republican Party
- Republican Party
- Electoral Commission
- Supreme Court of the United States
- Prohibition Party
- American Independent Party
- Green Party
- Help America Vote Act
- Election Assistance Commission
- Quartz
Locations
- United States
- Florida
- New York
- Ohio
- Louisiana
- South Carolina
- Oregon
- Illinois
- Texas
- California
- Hawaii
- Alabama
- Mississippi
- Georgia
- Arkansas
- North Carolina
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- Pennsylvania
- Indiana
- Maine
- Kansas
- Chicago
- Cook County
- Palm Beach County
- Salt Lake City
- Washington
- Germany
Sources
- Quartz —