![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
electoral vote chart
Here's a weird little bit of electoral neepery: a historical tally chart of the number of electoral votes (other than zero) won by incumbent presidents. Asterisk indicates they actually won the election:
525* - Reagan 1984
523* - Roosevelt 1936
520* - Nixon 1972
486* - Johnson 1964
457* - Eisenhower 1956
449* - Roosevelt 1940
432* - Roosevelt 1944
382* - Coolidge 1924
379* - Clinton 1996
336* - Roosevelt 1904
303* - Truman 1948
292* - McKinley 1900
286* - Bush 2004
286* - Grant 1872
277* - Wilson 1916
240 - Ford 1976
231* - Monroe 1820
219* - Jackson 1832
212* - Lincoln 1864
168 - Bush 1992
168 - Cleveland 1888
162* - Jefferson 1804
145 - Harrison 1892
132* - Washington 1792
128* - Madison 1812
83 - Adams 1828
65 - Adams 1800
60 - Van Buren 1840
59 - Hoover 1932
49 - Carter 1980
8 - Taft 1912
2 - Washington 1796
The greater numbers earned by winners in later times is due, of course, to the growth of the size of the electoral college until it topped out in 1912 (with only 7 added since then). Taft's unbelievably crappy 8 votes in 1912 is due his having been outvoted by the Republican dissidents in TR's Bull Moose Progressive Party. But the lowest number ever earned is not a marker of failure, but a tribute to the president's popularity. George Washington got 2 electoral votes for a third term even though he wasn't running.
525* - Reagan 1984
523* - Roosevelt 1936
520* - Nixon 1972
486* - Johnson 1964
457* - Eisenhower 1956
449* - Roosevelt 1940
432* - Roosevelt 1944
382* - Coolidge 1924
379* - Clinton 1996
336* - Roosevelt 1904
303* - Truman 1948
292* - McKinley 1900
286* - Bush 2004
286* - Grant 1872
277* - Wilson 1916
240 - Ford 1976
231* - Monroe 1820
219* - Jackson 1832
212* - Lincoln 1864
168 - Bush 1992
168 - Cleveland 1888
162* - Jefferson 1804
145 - Harrison 1892
132* - Washington 1792
128* - Madison 1812
83 - Adams 1828
65 - Adams 1800
60 - Van Buren 1840
59 - Hoover 1932
49 - Carter 1980
8 - Taft 1912
2 - Washington 1796
The greater numbers earned by winners in later times is due, of course, to the growth of the size of the electoral college until it topped out in 1912 (with only 7 added since then). Taft's unbelievably crappy 8 votes in 1912 is due his having been outvoted by the Republican dissidents in TR's Bull Moose Progressive Party. But the lowest number ever earned is not a marker of failure, but a tribute to the president's popularity. George Washington got 2 electoral votes for a third term even though he wasn't running.