How would you have voted?: United States Presidential Elections

[RINO Tom]

Enthusiastic votes in bold with a few comments sprinkled in there ... hopefully my colors are agreeable.

1789 - George Washington (NP) (or whatever the correct terminology is...)
1792 - George Washington (NP)
1796 - John Adams (F)
1800 - John Adams (F)
1804 - Charles C. Pinckney (F)
1808 - James Madison (DR)
1812 - James Madison (DR)
1816 - James Monroe (DR)
1820 - James Monroe (DR)
1824 - Henry Clay (DR)
1828 - John Quincy Adams (NR)
1832 - Henry Clay (NR)
1836 - William Henry Harrison (W)
1840 - William Henry Harrison (W)
1844 - Henry Clay (W)
1848 - Zachary Taylor (W)
1852 - Winfield Scott (W)
1856 - John C. Fremont (R) (Finally!)
1860 - Abraham Lincoln (R) (Very enthusiastic vote)
1864 - Abraham Lincoln (R) (Very, very enthusiastic vote)
1868 - Ulysses S. Grant (R)
1872 - Ulysses S. Grant (R)
1876 - Rutherford B. Hayes (R)
1880 - James A. Garfield (R)
1884 - Grover Cleveland (D)
1888 - Benjamin Harrison (R)
1892 - Benjamin Harrison (R)
1896 - William McKinley (R)
1900 - William McKinley (R)
1904 - Teddy Roosevelt (R)
1908 - William Howard Taft (R)
1912 - Teddy Roosevelt (P)
1916 - Charles E. Hughes (R)
1920 - Warren G. Harding (R)
1924 - Calvin Coolidge (R)
1928 - Herbert Hoover (R)
1932 - Herbert Hoover (R)
1936 - Alf Landon (R)
1940 - Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) (Patriotic vote, thinking we'd enter the war)
1944 - Thomas Dewey (R)
1948 - Thomas Dewey (R)
1952 - Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
1956 - Dwight D. Eisenhower (R)
1960 - Richard Nixon (R)
1964 - Lyndon Johnson (D) (Protest vote against Goldwater's CRA vote)
1968 - Richard Nixon (R)
1972 - Richard Nixon (R)
1976 - Gerald Ford (R)
1980 - Ronald Reagan (R)
1984 - Ronald Reagan (R)
1988 - George Bush (R)
1992 - George Bush (R)
1996 - Bill Clinton (D)
2000 - George W. Bush (R)
2004 - George W. Bush (R)
2008 - John McCain (R) (Just missed this one ... I was 16, almost 17)
2012 - Mitt Romney (R) (Actually voted)

[RINO Tom]

I'll add the rest later, but here's since WWI:

1920 - Harding (R), enthusiastically
1924 - Coolidge (R), enthusiastically
1928 - Hoover (R)
1932 - Hoover (R)
1936 - Landon (R)
1940 - Willikie (R)
1944 - Roosevelt (D), wartime vote
1948 - Dewey (R), enthusiastically
1952 - Eisenhower (R), enthusiastically
1956 - Eisenhower (R), enthusiastically
1960 - Nixon (R)
1964 - Abstain, Rockefeller in the primaries
1968 - Nixon (R)
1972 - Nixon (R), enthusiastically
1976 - Ford (R)
1980 - Reagan (R)
1984 - Reagan (R), enthusiastically
1988 - Bush (R)
1992 - Bush (R)
1996 - Perot (I)
2000 - Bush (R), McCain in the primaries
2004 - Bush (R)
2008 - McCain (R), Giuliani in the primaries
2012 - Romney (R)

In 2016, I'll likely vote for the Republican nominee, with a few exceptions.  I would support Hillary over Cruz, Jindal, Santorum, Trump or Huckabee.  I'd very unenthusiastically vote for Carson, Fiorina or Perry.  I'd be "meh" voting for Rubio or Walker.  I'd be content with voting for  Paul or Christie.  I'd very enthusiastically vote for Kasich or Pataki.  I likely wouldn't vote for any of the other Democrats, even if I very much like Sanders.

[RINO Tom]

1789: George Washington
1792: George Washington
1796: John Adams (F)
1800: John Adams (F)
1804: Thomas Jefferson (DR)
1808: James Madison (DR)
1812: James Madison (DR)
1816: James Monroe (DR)
1820: James Monroe (DR)
1824: Andrew Jackson (DR)
1828: Andrew Jackson
1832: Andrew Jackson
1836: Martin van Buren
1840: Martin van Buren
1844: James Polk
1848: Lewis Cass
1852: Franklin Pierce
1856: James Buchanan
1860: Stephen Douglas
1864: George McClellan
1868: Horatio Seymour
1872: Horace Greeley (Liberal Republican)
1876: Samuel Tilden
1880: Winfield S. Hancock
1884: Grover Cleveland
1888: Grover Cleveland
1892: Grover Cleveland
1896: William J. Bryan
1900: William J. Bryan
1904: Alton Parker
1908: William J. Bryan
1912: Woodrow Wilson
1916: Woodrow Wilson
1920: James Cox
1924: John Davis
1928: Al Smith
1932: Franklin Roosevelt
1936: Franklin Roosevelt
1940: Franklin Roosevelt
1944: Franklin Roosevelt
1948: Harry Truman
1952: Dwight Eisenhower
1956: Dwight Eisenhower
1960: John F. Kennedy
1964: Barry Goldwater
1968: Richard Nixon
1972: Richard Nixon
1976: Jimmy Carter
1980: Ronald Reagan
1984: Ronald Reagan
1988: George H. W. Bush
1992: George H. W. Bush
1996: Bill Clinton
2000: George W. Bush
2004: George W. Bush
2008: John McCain
2012: Mitt Romney
2016: Donald Trump

You got a lot more conservative in the mid-20th Century, what happend?

[RINO Tom]

1900: William McKinley
1904: Theodore Roosevelt
1908: William Taft
1912: William Taft
1916: Charles Hughes
1920: Warren G. Harding
1924: CALVIN COOLIDGE
1928: Herbert Hoover
1932: FDR
1936: FDR
1940: FDR
1944: FDR
1948: Harry Truman
1952: Dwight Eisenhower
1956: Dwight Eisenhower
1960: JFK
1964: Barry Goldwater
1968: Nixon... (Wanted Robert Kennedy)
1972: Richard Nixon...
1976: Gerald Ford
1980: RONALD REAGAN
1984: RONALD REAGAN
1988: George H.W Bush
1992: George HW Bush
1996: Bob Dole
2000: George W Bush
2004: George W Bush
2012: Mitt Romney
2016: Donald Trump

The Republican candidates from 1932-1944 were really bad and really liberal.

You didn't like how "liberal" the GOP nominees were so you voted for the more liberal Democratic ones?

[RINO Tom]

^ I'm assuming your Romney vote was due to some yet-to-occur evolution in your views?  Mitt seems like the perfect caricature of what you'd hate.

[RINO Tom]

Primaries and general, going back to 1960.  Trying to vote as if I did not have the benefit of hindsight.

1960:  Johnson, Kennedy
1964:  Johnson, Johnson
1968:  Johnson, Nixon
1972:  Wallace, Nixon
1976:  Wallace, Carter
1980:  Carter, Carter
1984:  Reagan, Reagan
1988:  Bush, Bush
1992:  Bush, Bush
1996:  Alexander, Clinton
2000:  Bush, Bush
2004:  Bush, Bush
2008:  Romney, Obama
2012:  Romney, Romney
2016:  Bush, Clinton

Interesting to see a Romney-Clinton voter vote for Wallace twice, even without hindsight.

[RINO Tom]

I think I have said this before, but it actually still surprises me how many Democrats would have voted for Eisenhower.  I mean, taking away the fact that Ike was actually a pretty standard mainstream conservative for the time, Stevenson was a decidedly "liberal" Democrat.  I know Ike has gained a (well-deserved!) great reputation over the years, but this isn't exactly like picking Coolidge over Davis.  Perhaps it's because of Stevenson's VP pick to placate the South, but no one usually has a real problem with FDR or Truman throwing the Southern Democrats' bones.  I'd have to imagine it's just Eisenhower's personal popularity, but I think a lot of Democrats would like him a lot less during the time period, as party loyalty on that side of the aisle was likely at an all-time high.

[RINO Tom]

I think I have said this before, but it actually still surprises me how many Democrats would have voted for Eisenhower.  I mean, taking away the fact that Ike was actually a pretty standard mainstream conservative for the time, Stevenson was a decidedly "liberal" Democrat.  I know Ike has gained a (well-deserved!) great reputation over the years, but this isn't exactly like picking Coolidge over Davis.  Perhaps it's because of Stevenson's VP pick to placate the South, but no one usually has a real problem with FDR or Truman throwing the Southern Democrats' bones.  I'd have to imagine it's just Eisenhower's personal popularity, but I think a lot of Democrats would like him a lot less during the time period, as party loyalty on that side of the aisle was likely at an all-time high.

"Standard mainstream conservative" in those times was a bajillion times more liberal in many ways than today by default.

And yeah, it's hard to argue against the one billed as the second coming of George Washington himself.

But given the heavy civil rights and peacenik slants here, and between the Veep pick, and Truman committing 'Nam before 'Nam; along with allowing the CIA to form; and along with starting up the Cold War ...is it really a surprise then that someone planning to get out of Korea and not so blatantly playing The South would get the benefit of the doubt?

Eh, I would disagree with the first assertion.  As for the last part, I have read quite a bit about how Eisenhower was eager and excited to court the South.  I mean, his campaign spent a lot more time courting Southern Whites than they did Black voters, for example.  Eisenhower was also apparently quite better than Black voters gave a majority to Stevenson both times, considering both Stevenson's VP pick and Eisenhower's endorsement of (admittedly timid) civil rights legislation.

I think Eisenhower has gone down in history as much less conservative than he was.  I remember reading in the book The Presidents Club that Truman and he had a permanent falling out when Truman figured out just how partisanly Republican and conservative he was.