List of unsuccessful major party candidates for President of the United States
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Since the ratification of the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
in 1788, there have been 52 unsuccessful major party candidates for President of the United States. Additionally, since 1796, eight
third party Third party may refer to: Business * Third-party source, a supplier company not owned by the buyer or seller * Third-party beneficiary, a person who could sue on a contract, despite not being an active party * Third-party insurance, such as a Veh ...
or
independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...
candidates have won at least ten percent of the popular or electoral vote, but all failed to win the presidency. Since the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment prior to the 1804 presidential election, the winner of any given presidential election is the candidate that receives the majority of the electoral vote. Under the rules established by the Twelfth Amendment, if no individual wins a majority of the electoral vote, then the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
holds a
contingent election In the United States, a contingent election is used to elect the president or vice president if no candidate receives a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed. A presidential contingent election is decided by a special vote of th ...
to determine the election winner; contingent elections have decided the winners of two presidential elections. Since 1824, the national popular vote has been recorded, but the national popular vote does not determine the winner of the presidential election. There have been five presidential elections in which the winner did not win a majority or a plurality of the popular vote. The United States has had a
two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...
for much of its history, and the
major parties A major party is a political party that holds substantial influence in a country's politics, standing in contrast to a minor party. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Major parties hold a significant percentage of the vote in electi ...
of the two-party system have dominated
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for most of U.S. history. The two current major parties are the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...
and the Republican Party. At various points prior to the
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, the
Federalist Party The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801. De ...
, the
Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
, the
National Republican Party The National Republican Party, also known as the Anti-Jacksonian Party or simply Republicans, was a political party in the United States that evolved from a conservative-leaning faction of the Democratic-Republican Party that supported John Qu ...
, and the Whig Party were major parties. These six parties have nominated candidates in the vast majority of presidential elections, but six presidential elections deviate from the normal pattern of two major party candidates. There were no major party candidates for president in the presidential election of 1789 and the presidential election of 1792, both of which were won by
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
. In the 1812 presidential election,
DeWitt Clinton DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769February 11, 1828) was an American politician and naturalist. He served as a United States senator, as the mayor of New York City, and as the seventh governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was largely res ...
served as the de facto Federalist nominee even though he was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party; Clinton was defeated by Democratic-Republican President
James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
. In the presidential election of 1820, incumbent President
James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...
of the Democratic-Republican Party effectively ran unopposed. In the 1824 presidential election, four Democratic-Republicans competed in multiple states in the general election as the party was unable to agree on a single nominee. Similarly, in the presidential election of 1836, the Whig Party did not unify around a single candidate and two different Whig candidates competed in multiple states in the general election. Several former, incumbent, or future presidents have unsuccessfully sought the presidency. Several individuals have unsuccessfully sought the presidency as the candidate of a major party multiple times; only
Henry Clay Henry Clay Sr. (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He was the seventh House speaker as well as the ninth secretary of state, al ...
and
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...
have done so thrice. Seven different third parties have nominated a candidate who won at least ten percent of the electoral vote or at least ten percent of the popular vote in a single election, and who was not nominated by a major party in that election. Two of those candidates,
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
and
John C. Breckinridge John Cabell Breckinridge (January 16, 1821 – May 17, 1875) was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving ...
, finished with the second-highest share of the electoral vote. Since 1796, just one independent candidate,
Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an inde ...
, has accrued more than ten percent of the popular or electoral vote. One third party candidate,
Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and newspaper editor, editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressm ...
of the Liberal Republican Party, was nominated by a major party only after being nominated by a third party.


List of unsuccessful major party candidates

* * indicates that the candidate served as the president of the United States at some point in their career * † indicates that the candidate won a majority or plurality of the popular vote * ‡ indicates that the candidate won a plurality of the electoral vote * PV% indicates the share of the popular vote won by that candidate * EV% indicates the share of the electoral vote won by that candidate


List of unsuccessful major third-party and independent candidates

These third-party and independent candidates won at least ten percent of the electoral vote or at least ten percent of the popular vote.Rosenstone et al. (2018), Appendix A * * indicates that the candidate served as the president of the United States at some point in their career * † indicates that the candidate finished with the second highest share of the popular vote * ‡ indicates that the candidate finished with the second highest share of the electoral vote * PV% indicates the share of the popular vote won by that candidate * EV% indicates the share of the electoral vote won by that candidate


See also

*
List of presidents of the United States The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year Term of office, term via the United States Electoral College, Electoral College. The officeholder leads the ...
*
List of United States presidential candidates This article is a list of United States presidential candidates. The first U.S. presidential election was held in 1788–1789, followed by the second in 1792. Presidential elections have been held every four years thereafter. Presidential candida ...
* List of unsuccessful major party candidates for Vice President of the United States *
List of people who received an electoral vote in the United States Electoral College A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* List of United States Electoral College results *
Lists of fictional presidents of the United States Lists of fictional presidents of the United States are alphabetical lists of people who have been portrayed in fiction as the president of the United States. Media include novels and short stories, comics, plays, movies and television shows. The r ...
* ''
Alternate Presidents ''Alternate Presidents'' is an alternate history anthology edited by Mike Resnick, published in the United States by Tor Books. There are 28 stories in the anthology, including Resnick's own "The Bull Moose at Bay". The other remaining stories a ...
''


Notes


References


Works cited

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Further reading

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External links

* * {{Lists of US Presidents and Vice Presidents Political history of the United States Lists of candidates for President of the United States Presidential elections in the United States United States presidential history