United States presidential election, 1804

United States presidential election, 1804

1800 ← November 2 – December 5, 1804 → 1808

Nominee Thomas Jefferson Charles C. 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 104,110 38,919 Percentage 72.8% 27.2%

Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson, orange denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.

President before election Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican Elected President Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican

The United States presidential election of 1804 was the 5th quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 2 to Wednesday, December 5, 1804. It pitted incumbent Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson against Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Jefferson easily defeated Pinckney in the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Under the rules of the Twelfth Amendment, presidential electors were required to specify in their votes their choice for president and vice president; previously, electors voted only for president, with the person who came in second becoming the vice-president. George Clinton was elected vice-president and went on to serve under both Jefferson and his successor, James Madison.

Jefferson's 45.6 percentage point victory margin remains the highest victory margin in a presidential election in which there were multiple major party candidates.

Background

Although the 1800 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

Democratic-Republican Party nomination

Jefferson was renominated by the Democratic Republicans to run for a second term. Governor George Clinton of New York was chosen to be Jefferson's running mate, the first time in which such a position had existed.

Presidential candidates

• Thomas Jefferson (Virginia), President of the United States

• 

  Thomas Jefferson
  (Virginia)

Vice-Presidential candidates

• John Breckinridge (Kentucky, U.S. Senator
• George Clinton (New York), Governor
• Gideon Granger (Connecticut), Postmaster General
• John Langdon (New Hampshire), former U.S. Senator
• Levi Lincoln (Massachusetts), U.S. Attorney General
• William Maclay (Pennsylvania), former U.S. Senator

• 

  John Breckinridge
  (Kentucky)

• 

  George Clinton
  (New York)

• 

  Gideon Granger
  (Connecticut)

• 

  John Langdon
  (New Hampshire)

• 

  Levi Lincoln
  (Massachusetts)

• 

  William Maclay
  (Pennsylvania)

Balloting

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

The Federalists chose Pinckney and former United States Senator Rufus King of New York to run against Jefferson and Clinton.

Presidential candidates

• Charles C. Pinckney (South Carolina), former U.S. Minister to France

• 

  Charles C. Pinckney
  (South Carolina)

Vice-Presidential candidates

• Rufus King (New York), former U.S. Senator

• 

  Rufus King
  (New York)

General election

Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage of the winning candidate in each county. Shades of blue are for Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) and shades of yellow are for Pinckney (Federalist).

Attacks on Jefferson's policies proved fruitless; Jefferson's victory was overwhelming. He even won most of the states in the Federalist stronghold of New England.

Results

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote(a), (b)		Electoral vote	Running mate
			Count	Pct		Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Elect. vote
Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	104,110	72.8%	162	George Clinton	New York	162
Charles C. Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	38,919	27.2%	14	Rufus King	New York	14
Total			143,029	100%	176			176
Needed to win					89			89

Source (Popular Vote): U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 10, 2006).
Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (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.

Electoral college selection

Method of choosing Electors	State(s)
Each Elector appointed by state legislature	Connecticut Delaware Georgia New York South Carolina Vermont
Each Elector chosen by voters statewide	New Hampshire New Jersey Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia
State is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district	Kentucky Maryland North Carolina Tennessee
Two Electors chosen by voters statewide One Elector chosen per Congressional district in a statewide vote	Massachusetts

See also

• History of the United States (1789–1849)
• United States House of Representatives elections, 1804

References

• "A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 20, 2005. 
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825