Which election had the most competitive states?

[Alben Barkley]

As in, which election had the most states that could have conceivably gone either way?

1960 is my first thought. Perhaps 1976?

[Pericles]

I'd say 1976 beats out 1960 because not only were there lots of close states but there were huge swings in the polls while the 1960 polls appeared pretty stable-so the close states in 1976 were more vulnerable. A lot of elections around that time had big polling swings-1980, 1988 and 1992 come to mind, but I doubt they beat out 1976.

[If my soul was made of stone]

1992 is another possibility, with Clinton's strong floor in the outer South (FL, NC, VA especially) and the very close three-way races in the Great Plains and Mountain West. Had he not temporarily suspended his campaign, Perot could've had a solid shot at carrying some states in his own right as well; even with that setback, he came within 4.6% of carrying ME-02.

[TDAS04]

1960.  Kennedy especially won so may states by under 3%.  Neither Kennedy nor Nixon reached 65% in any state, and in no state did a candidate sweep every county.