I Could Have Been Somebody (Part 1) Quiz

Answer: 1800

In a quirky, fiery election, the then-incumbent President (John Adams) and then-incumbent Vice President (Thomas Jefferson) ran against each other in a rematch of 1796. Adams (1735-1826) of Massachusetts, in addition to serving as President and Vice President, also served as US Ambassador to England and the Netherlands earlier in his career. The vote in the electoral college was fairly close, if sectional, with Jefferson's nine states and 73 votes beating Adams's seven states and 65 votes. About 67,000 voters cast ballots with Jefferson having a larger margin of victory by this count: 61.4% to 38.6% for Adams.

Under the original guidelines of the Constitution, each elector voted for two candidates with the winner of the largest number becoming President and the second-largest number Vice President. Aaron Burr (1756-1836), who the leadership of the Democratic-Republican party had put forth as someone for Democrat-Republican voters to choose for Vice President, also received 73 electoral votes. The run-off election in the House of Representatives took a week and 36 ballots to choose Jefferson as the President. While Burr did not promote himself as a Presidential candidate during this time, he did not step aside either. This ambivalence may have helped lead to a very limited than usual role for Burr in the new administration.

Answer: 1828

With the Democratic-Republican party splitting, the Election of 1828 was a rematch of sorts between Andrew Jackson for the Democratic Party and John Quincy Adams for the National Republican Party. This election season had begun in 1825 with a constant stream of criticism from each party towards the other. Before serving as President, John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) of Massachusetts had been a US Senator and Ambassador to Great Britain and Russia.

The number of popular votes from the last election to this one exploded with over 1.4 million cast. Jackson won 56% to 43.6% for Adams.

In the Electoral College, Jackson won 15 states and 178 votes to nine states and 83 votes for Adams. This election marked the beginning of the Second Party System in US national politics with the National Republicans and later Whigs providing opposition to the Democrats.

Answer: 1832

If Andrew Jackson (Democrat) enjoyed defeating John Quincy Adams in 1828, he probably also enjoyed defeating Henry Clay (National Republican) in 1832. The battle between Jackson and the Second Bank of the United States (1816-1836) was a highlight of this campaign.

Henry Clay (1777-1852) of Kentucky was a long-time member of both the House of Representatives and Senate at different stages in his career. Jackson handily defeated Clay in the Electoral College 16 states and 219 votes to 6 states and 49 votes.

He also defeated him in the popular vote (1.3 million votes) by 54.2% to 37.4%. Two additional candidates are worth mentioning. Governor John Floyd (1783-1837) of Virginia was awarded South Carolina's 11 electoral votes by that state's legislature. Former US Attorney General William Wirt (1772-1834) of Maryland won Vermont's seven Electoral votes and 7.8% of the popular vote as a candidate for the Anti-Masonic Party.

The 1831 Nominating Convention of the Anti-Masonic Party was the first for any party in US history.

Answer: 1812

With war with Great Britain breaking out, the Democratic-Republicans faced their greatest challenge of the nineteenth century from the Federalists. Against incumbent President James Madison, several state Federalist organizations endorsed DeWitt Clinton (1769-1828) of New York, who described himself as a Democratic-Republican.

He had served several terms as Mayor of New York City and would later serve as governor of New York State. Madison won 11 states (although he only won six of eleven electoral votes from Maryland) and 122 electoral votes to Clinton's seven states (largely in the Northeast) and 89 votes.

The popular vote (273,000) was close with Madison (50.4%) edging out Clinton (47.6%).

Answer: 1836

By 1836, the National Republican Party had been replaced by the Whig Party. In the Election of 1836, against the Democratic Party nominee (Vice President Martin Van Buren), the Whig Party nominated several regional candidates. The hope was that this action would deny Van Buren a majority of Electoral votes.

The run-off election would occur in the House of Representatives where the Whigs could unify around one candidate. The plan didn't work. Van Buren won 15 states and 170 votes in the Electoral College.

The most successful of the Whig Candidates, William Henry Harrison of Ohio (known for the 1813 Battle of Tippecanoe) won seven states and 73 votes. Of the other candidates, Senator Hugh White of Tennessee (1773-1840) won the 26 votes of Tennessee and Georgia, Senator Daniel Webster (1782-1852) of Massachusetts won the 14 votes of his state, and Senator Willie Magnum (1792-1861) of North Carolina won the 11 votes from South Carolina.

In the popular vote (1.5 million), Van Buren won a small majority (50.8%) to 36.6% for Harrison, 9.7% for White, and 2.7% for Webster. Compared to some other Presidential Elections, this one was not particularly sectional with Van Buren and the Whig candidates each winning states in several parts of the country.

Answer: 1824

With the Federalist party largely gone from national politics, four significant candidates would run in 1824 as Democratic-Republicans. Former General and US Senator Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) of Tennessee would lead the voting in the Electoral College with 11 states and 99 votes. John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State under James Monroe, was second with seven states (New York and New England) and 84 votes. The Secretary of the Treasury William Crawford (1772-1834) of Georgia won 3 states (Georgia, Virginia, and Delaware) and 41 votes. Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky won three states (Ohio, Kentucky, and Missouri) and 37 votes. The popular votes (352,000) were divided as follows: Jackson had 41.4% to 30.9% for Adams, 13.0% for Clay, and 11.2% for Crawford.

If you have paid attention, you may have noticed that Jackson had the highest total of both popular votes and election votes. You may be wondering, why is he considered the loser in this quiz? Though Jackson had the largest totals in both counts (a plurality) he did not have a majority of votes in either the popular vote or (more importantly) the electoral vote. A run-off election would be held with the top three winners in the Electoral College. Eliminated from the running, Clay told his supporters in the House of Representatives to vote for Adams, which helped Adams to win the election. President Adams then appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Was this a case of Adams appointing (as his supporters said) the best man to the job or was this a case (as Jackson's supporters said) evidence of a "corrupt bargain" between the two men?

Answer: 1796

This was the first Presidential election where there was real uncertainty who would win the election. The Federalist party selected incumbent Vice President John Adams. The Democratic-Republican party selected Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) of Virginia. Prior to this election, Jefferson had served as Governor of Virginia (1779-1781) and Secretary of State (1790-1793) under George Washington.

This was a close election that was decided upon sectional lines. Adams received 71 electoral votes from 9 states (none farther south than Maryland save for single electoral votes from Virginia and North Carolina) to Jefferson's 68 electoral votes from 7 states (none farther north than Pennsylvania). With several states still having the state legislatures cast electoral votes and other states having various restrictions on who could vote, fewer than 70,000 voters cast ballots. Jefferson was also fairly close to Adams in terms of popular vote (46.6% to 53.4%).

Answer: 1816

With the end of the War of 1812 and the disastrous Hartford Convention (where delegates from several New England states met to consider several ideas including possible secession), the Federalist Party was in shambles. The Democratic-Republicans nominated Secretary of State James Monroe (1758-1831) while the remnants of the Federalist Party supported Rufus King (1755-1827) of New York, who had previously served as a US Senator from that state. Ushering in the Era of Good Feelings, Monroe won 68.2% of the popular vote (111,000) to 30.9$ for King. The results in the Electoral College were even more lopsided: Monroe won 16 states and 183 votes to 3 states (Delaware, Connecticut, and Massachusetts) and 34 stats for King.


While occasional individuals would win local and state elections as Federalists into the 1820s, this was the last Presidential ticket from that party.

Answer: 1804

This election was a rout for the Democratic-Republicans over the Federalists. Due to Jefferson's successes in his first term, the Federalists and candidate Charles Pinckney did not run an overly active campaign. Jefferson won 15 states in the Electoral College and 162 votes to 2 states (Delaware and Connecticut) and 14 votes for Pinckney.

The popular vote (out of 141,000 voters) was similarly lopsided with Pinckney only winning 27.2% of the vote to 72.8% for Jefferson. Charles Pinckney (1746-1825) of South Carolina had served as a US officer during the Revolutionary War and a state delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Pinckney was the first Presidential candidate not to win his home state.

Answer: 1808

In 1808, the Federalists ran Charles Pinckney for a second time, this time against the Democratic-Republican nominee of James Madison (1751-1836), the current Secretary of State under Thomas Jefferson. As four years previously, Pinckney lost, but not quite as badly due to public concerns over unpopular policies under Thomas Jefferson such as the 1807 Embargo Act. Pinckney won 47 electoral votes in five states (Delaware, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire plus two votes in North Carolina) to 122 votes in 12 states for Madison. New York awarded six of its electoral votes for current Vice-President George Clinton (1739-1812) who would serve as Madison's Vice President.

The 187,000 popular votes were likewise unevenly divided with Madison (64.7%) leading Pinckney (35.4%).