Barack Obama's Election: Presidential Winners, 1900-2008



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Barack Obama's Election:
Most Popular President-elects?




Not Really:
Obama Ranks in Bottom Half of Last 28 Election Winners
In Both Popular Vote Percentage, Electoral College


The CNN story "Belief that country heading in right direction is at all-time low", prompted a response by Amanda Terkel, who said that the "Least popular president meets one of the most popular president-elect."

Terkel refers to a Gallup poll taken after the November 4 election showing that Barack Obama has a 70% favorability rating.

Of course, the most reliable poll is the one voters participated in two days before the Gallup Poll--which was one of the most unreliable prior to Election Day--when they cast votes for their choice. By that most reliable of polls, Obama's favorability is nothing special, history-wise.

In the 28 U.S. elections held since 1900, Obama finishes in the bottom half in both popular vote percentage and electoral vote totals.

Obama's 65+ million votes is the most in terms of absolute votes cast. But, by that standard of popularity, George Washington is the least popular president ever. It's likely that the number of votes the winning candidate receives will continue to go up with each election, as the U.S. population increases.

Several presidential winners who ranked below Obama were involved in three-way races, which lowered their totals. Among the winners of these multi-candidate races were: Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996; Ronald Reagan in 1980; and Richard Nixon in 1968.




Popular Vote Percentage
U.S. Presidential Elections, 1900-2008


  1. 61.1% - Lyndon Johnson 1964
  2. 60.8% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936
  3. 60.7% - Richard M. Nixon 1972
  4. 58.8% - Ronald Reagan 1984
  5. 60.3% - Warren G. Harding 1920
  6. 58.2% - Herbert Hoover 1928
  7. 57.4% - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956
  8. 57.4% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932
  9. 56.4% - Theodore Roosevelt 1904
  10. 55.2% - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952
  11. 54.7% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1940
  12. 54.0% - Calvin Coolidge 1924
  13. 53.4% - George H. Bush 1988
  14. 53.4% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1944
  15. 52.6% - Barack Obama 2008
  16. 51.6% - William H. Taft 1908
  17. 51.6% - William B. McKinley 1900
  18. 50.7% - Ronald Reagan 1980
  19. 50.7% - George H.W. Bush 2004
  20. 50.1% - Jimmy Carter 1976
  21. 49.7% - John F. Kennedy 1960
  22. 49.6% - Harry Truman 1948
  23. 49.24%- Bill Clinton 1996
  24. 49.2% - Woodrow Wilson 1916
  25. 47.9% - George H.W. Bush 2000
  26. 43.4% - Richard M. Nixon 1968
  27. 43.0% - Bill Clinton 1992
  28. 41.8% - Woodrow Wilson 1912




Electoral Vote Total,
U.S. Presidential Elections 1900-2008


  1. 525 - Ronald Reagan 1984
  2. 523 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936
  3. 520 - Richard Nixon 1972
  4. 489 - Ronald Reagan 1980
  5. 486 - Lyndon Johnson 1964
  6. 472 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932
  7. 457 - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956
  8. 449 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1940
  9. 444 - Herbert Hoover 1928
  10. 442 - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952
  11. 435 - Woodrow Wilson 1912
  12. 432 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1944
  13. 426 - George H. Bush 1988
  14. 404 - Warren G. Harding 1920
  15. 382 - Calvin Coolidge 1924
  16. 379 - Bill Clinton 1992
  17. 370 - Bill Clinton 1992
  18. 364 - Barack Obama 2008
  19. 336 - Theodore Roosevelt 1904
  20. 321 - William H. Taft 1908
  21. 303 - Harry Truman 1948
  22. 303 - John F. Kennedy 1960
  23. 301 - Richard Nixon 1968
  24. 297 - Jimmy Carter 1976
  25. 292 - William McKinley 1900
  26. 286 - George H.W. Bush 2004
  27. 277 - Woodrow Wilson 1916
  28. 271 - George H.W. Bush 2000






There was one yardstick by which Barack Obama could be called "the most popular president-elect"--number of times he's appeared on the cover of TIME before he was elected. [Obama’s Constant Time Cover Status: TIME Hearts Obama] Obama appeared on 10 TIME covers in the 42 weeks before the 2008 election.

Obama still has quite a way to go to pass the man with the most TIME covers, Richard Nixon. Nixon appeared on TIME's cover 55 times over 4 decades.

Obama has passed the women featured on TIME's cover: Princess Diana and The Virgin Mary, each with eight.

We'll leave the Messiah jokes for the comments.

by Mondo Frazier
images: dbkp file
Sources:
* Presidential Elections, 1789–2008
* Wikipedia
* Guiness World Records




 
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