1804 United States presidential election

Presidential elections were held in the United States from November 2 to December 5, 1804. Incumbent Democratic-Republican president Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.

1804 United States presidential election

← 1800 November 2 – December 5, 1804 1808 →

176 members of the Electoral College
89 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout23.8%[1] Decrease 8.5 pp
 
Nominee Thomas Jefferson Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Party Democratic-Republican Federalist
Home state Virginia South Carolina
Running mate George Clinton Rufus King
Electoral vote 162 14
States carried 15 2
Popular vote 105,524 38,519
Percentage 73.2% 26.7%

1804 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1804 United States presidential election in New Hampshire1804 United States presidential election in Massachusetts1804 United States presidential election in Rhode Island1804 United States presidential election in Connecticut1804 United States presidential election in New York1804 United States presidential election in Vermont1804 United States presidential election in New Jersey1804 United States presidential election in Pennsylvania1804 United States presidential election in Delaware1804 United States presidential election in Maryland1804 United States presidential election in Virginia1804 United States presidential election in Ohio1804 United States presidential election in Kentucky1804 United States presidential election in Tennessee1804 United States presidential election in North Carolina1804 United States presidential election in South Carolina1804 United States presidential election in Georgia
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson and Light Orange denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.

President before election

Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican

Elected President

Thomas Jefferson
Democratic-Republican

Jefferson was renominated by his party's congressional nominating caucus without opposition, and the party nominated Governor George Clinton of New York to replace Aaron Burr as Jefferson's running mate. With former president John Adams in retirement, the Federalists turned to Pinckney, a former ambassador and Revolutionary War hero who had been Adams's running mate in the 1800 election.

Though Jefferson had only narrowly defeated Adams in 1800, he was widely popular due to the Louisiana Purchase and a strong economy. He carried almost every state, including most states in the Federalist stronghold of New England.

Background

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Although the 1800 presidential election was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe, and the Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.

Nominations

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Democratic-Republican Party nomination

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Democratic-Republican Party
Democratic-Republican Party Ticket, 1804
Thomas Jefferson George Clinton
for President for Vice President
 
 
3rd
President of the United States
(1801–1809)
1st
Governor of New York
(1777–1795, 1801–1804)

The congressional nominating caucus of the Democratic-Republican Party was held in February 1804, with 108 members of the United States Congress in attendance and Senator Stephen R. Bradley as its chair. Jefferson was renominated by acclamation while Vice President Aaron Burr was not considered for renomination. The caucus selected to give the vice-presidential nomination to Governor George Clinton whose main opponent was Senator John Breckinridge. A thirteen-member committee was selected to manage Jefferson's presidential campaign.[2][3]

Vice-presidential candidates

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Balloting

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Presidential ballot Total Vice-presidential ballot Total
Thomas Jefferson 108 George Clinton 67
John Breckinridge 20
Levi Lincoln 9
John Langdon 7
Gideon Granger 4
William Maclay 1

Federalist Party nomination

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Federalist Party
Federalist Party Ticket, 1804
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney Rufus King
for President for Vice President
 
 
6th

U.S. Minister to France
(1796–1797)

3rd

U.S. Minister to Great Britain
(1796–1803)

The Federalists did not hold a nominating caucus, but Federalist congressional leaders informally agreed to nominate a ticket consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former Senator Rufus King of New York.[2] Pinckney's public service during and after the American Revolutionary War had won him national stature, and Federalists hoped that Pinckney would win some Southern votes away from Jefferson, who had dominated the Southern vote in the previous election.[4]

General election

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Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton's death in July 1804 following the Burr–Hamilton duel destroyed whatever hope the Federalists had of defeating the popular Jefferson. Leaderless and disorganized, the Federalists failed to attract much support outside of New England. The Federalists attacked the Louisiana Purchase as unconstitutional, criticized Jefferson's gunboat navy, and alleged that Jefferson had fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings, but the party failed to galvanize opposition to Jefferson. Jefferson's policies of expansionism and reduced government spending were widely popular. Jefferson was aided by an effective Democratic-Republican party organization, which had continued to develop since 1800, especially in the Federalist stronghold of New England.[2]

Jefferson's victory was overwhelming, and he even won four of the five New England states. Pinckney won only two states, Connecticut and Delaware. This was the first election where the Democratic-Republicans won in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

As of 2024, Jefferson was the first of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Jefferson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, and Trump were also their respective party's nominees for three consecutive elections.

Results

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Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote(a), (b) Electoral
vote
Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Thomas Jefferson (incumbent) Democratic-Republican Virginia 105,524 73.2% 162 George Clinton New York 162
Charles C. Pinckney Federalist South Carolina 38,519 26.7% 14 Rufus King New York 14
Unpledged electors None N/A 95 0.1% 0 N/A N/A 0
Total 144,138 100% 176 176
Needed to win 89 89

Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825[5]
Source (electoral vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 30, 2005.

(a) Only 11 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote.
(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.

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The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of North Carolina and Tennessee appear to be incomplete.

State Thomas Jefferson

Democratic-Republican

Charles C. Pinckney

Federalist

Other Margin Citation
# % # % # % # %
Kentucky 5,080 100.00% No ballots No ballots 5,080 100.00% [6]
Maryland 7,304 75.92% 2,306 23.97% 11 0.11% 4,987 51.84% [7]
Massachusetts 29,599 53.58% 25,644 46.42% 2 <0.01% 3,953 7.16% [8]
New Hampshire 9,088 52.01% 8,386 47.99% 0[a] 0.00% 702 4.02% [9]
New Jersey 13,119 99.79% 19 0.14% 8 0.06% 13,092 99.59% [10]
North Carolina 1,644[b][c] 486[b][c] No ballots [11]
Ohio 2,593 87.69% 364 12.31% No ballots 2,229 75.38% [12]
Pennsylvania 22,081 94.69% 1,239 5.31% No ballots 20,842 89.38% [13]
Rhode Island 1,312 100.00% No ballots No ballots 1,312 100.00% [14]
Tennessee 778[d] 100.00% No ballots No ballots [15]
Virginia 12,926 98.86% 75 0.57% 74 0.57% 12777 97.72% [16]
Popular vote
Jefferson
73.2%
Pinckney
26.7%
Unpledged electors
0.1%
Electoral vote
Jefferson
92.0%
Pinckney
8.0%


States that flipped from Federalist to Democratic-Republican

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Close states

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States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

  1. New Hampshire, 4.02% (702 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

  1. Massachusetts, 7.16% (3,953 votes)

Maps

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Electoral College selection

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Method of choosing electors State(s)
Each elector appointed by state legislature
Each elector chosen by voters statewide
State is divided into electoral districts, with one elector chosen per district by the voters of that district

State is divided into two electoral districts and half the electors are chosen from each district.

Kentucky
  • Two electors chosen by voters statewide
  • One elector chosen per congressional district in a statewide vote
Massachusetts

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Unpledged elector John Bradley is reported with 1 vote in the town of Concord but is shown with no votes in the final official count. Similarly, the town of Portsmouth is reported with 27 votes under "scattering"
  2. ^ a b Only complete returns for the 8th and 10th electoral districts exist. Incomplete returns from the 3rd and 14th electoral districts also exist.
  3. ^ a b The Sheriffs of Currituck, Franklin, Martin, and Montgomery Counties failed to attend and compare the polls at the time and place appointed. This led to votes of these counties being rejected. Of the known rejected votes there were (best performing electors only) 258 Jefferson and 669 Pinckney votes. The rejection of these votes caused the 8th and 10th electoral districts to switch the winner from a Pinckney elector to a Jefferson elector. Also, the best performing Jefferson elector in the 8th electoral district switched from being Isaac Lanier to Robert Cochran
  4. ^ Returns only exist for the 5th electoral district

References

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  1. ^ "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Election Project. CQ Press.
  2. ^ a b c Deskins, Donald Richard; Walton, Hanes; Puckett, Sherman (2010). Presidential Elections, 1789-2008: County, State, and National Mapping of Election Data. University of Michigan Press. pp. 41–42.
  3. ^ National Party Conventions, 1831-1976. Congressional Quarterly. 1979.
  4. ^ Zahniser, Marvin (1967). Charles Cotesworth Pinckney: Founding Father. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 243–246.
  5. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu.
  6. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  8. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  9. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  10. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  11. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  12. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  13. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  14. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  15. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
  16. ^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
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