Liberty's election rankings

[Schmitz in 1972]

I like rankings, they're fun and subjective.
I've seen lots of things ranked, the presidents have been ranked on several occasion, an organization called Morgan Quitno ranks the 50 states, ESPN ranked all 98 world series last year. Now Liberty is pleased to present his ranking of all 54 presidential elections!

Elections that were close, exciting, had memorable candidates, memorable moments, memorable slogans, and interesting nominations are ranked high

Elections that were blowouts, had boring candidates, had nothing unique or unusual about them, and had hints of scandal and corruption are ranked low

I will reveal my rankings three at a time so without further ado I present my rankings...

                                     WAIT!
         we still have the disclaimer to go over!

Disclaimer: Liberty knows absolutely nothing about this topic and the opinions expressed by him in this thread are not to be trusted, in short these rankings are not to be taken seriously.          Glad that's out of the way

So now without further ado I present my rankings...

In 54th Place: 1804
The first election to feature separate electoral votes for Pres and VP turned out to be perhaps the most uninteresting contest ever. Jefferson blew away Pinckney 162 to 14 in a race which almost no people could actually vote in as it was before popular vote became common

In 53rd Place: 1820
What almost became the third unanimous election was stopped only by an elector from New Hampshire. The one vote for John Quincy Adams is memorable but otherwise the election was completly a bore and little more than an annoying formality that had to happen.

In 52nd Place: 1868
It was only a landslide, not a complete and total blowout, so why is it ranked this low? Because I can't think of ONE SINGLE THING that distinguishes this election from the 53 others. 1820 may have been really boring but at least there was the John Quincy Adams vote at the end. 1868 had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

More coming soon!

[Schmitz in 1972]

And now for the next three...

In 51st Place: 1816
After the memorable tie of 1800 the first quarter of the 19th century was marked by a stretch of the most boring elections ever where every time the Virginian blew away the Federalist. This one was no exception but it was the last in which the Federalists ran a candidate, ensuring that America would neve be put through such a stretch of boring elections again

In 50th Place: 1908
This is almost a carbon copy of 52nd place 1868. Absolutely nothing at all interesting seemed to have happened in the election and it was a landslide if not a complete blowout. What puts it two places ahead of 1868 is William Jennings Bryan, although he was getting older, he was still that great speaker and candidate

In 49th Place: 1936
When the citizens of Landon's hometown in Kansas were informed he was the Republicans candidate some of them said "who's he?". We all know how the election turned out: "As Maine goes so goes Vermont". Although the election involved the large personality of FDR, it stays at 49 for being such a massive, uncompetitive blowout.

One more group coming later tonight!

[Schmitz in 1972]

Thank you Akno, and now on with the rankings

In 48th Place: 1812
America's first wartime election turned out to be an indicator for wartime elections to come: The incumbent usually wins in a landslide. The Federalist Party didn't even nominate a candidate but merely endorsed DeWitt Clinton. The biggest irony was that Clinton did better than any of the other candidates nominated by the Federalists in that time period. Poor Federalists

In 47th Place: 1956
Most rematches (such as 1800, 1828, 1892) end up with the previous loser winning. The 1956 election was a rare case of the opposite. Eisenhower easily rolled over Stevenson in a race in which basically the only thing of note was that it was the only time since 1900 that Missouri voted for the loser.

In 46th Place: 1972
Between the Eagleton mess and the electoral vote for Hospers/Nathan this was a pretty good election considering it was a blowout, it might be more than a couple spaces higher on the list if it wasn't for Watergate. It has always baffled me why the Republicans did that considering they were on the way to a 49 state blowout.

That's all for today, more coming tomorrow

In recap:
54: 1804
53: 1820
52: 1868
51: 1816
50: 1908
49: 1936
48: 1812
47: 1956
46: 1972
45-1: ?

[Schmitz in 1972]

How good are my rankings so far? We now continue...

In 45th Place: 1944
Would there ever be another election without FDR? Perhaps so, as he was getting older and his luster was wearing off; it was the closest election of the four (which means not close at all). The yawn of an election can be summed up with the old phrase "don't swap horses in the middle of the stream"

In 44th Place: 1900
A preview of 1956? Possibly, since it was another rematch where the previous winner won (if not by such an overwhelming margin as in 1956). Bryan wasn't as young and attractive as in 1896 but on the plus side the Republican ticket did feature a new powerful personality, Teddy Roosevelt. "A full dinner pail" easily got Mckinley re-elected in a ho-hum contest

In 43rd Place: 1864
Lincoln was so worried about re-election that he admitted the state of Nevada just to get 3 extra electoral votes (the irony being one elector died so he only got two). The match (overshadowed by the war) against former union general McClellan suddenly became a landslide with the news that the end of the war was at hand.

Any comments or criticism of the rankings so far are welcome!

[Schmitz in 1972]

Before you ask why 1792 isn't  mentioned in the following group is because the contest for vice-president between Adams and Clinton was competitive, but I promise it will be in the next three.

In 42nd Place: 1808
A minor schism in the party (Clinton and Monroe becoming candidates as well as Madison) gave the federalists (with Pinckney as their candidate) hope. But just as in the previous election (and the next two), the feds did poorly. What could have been an interesting battle between the 3 Dem-Rep candidates evaporated when Clinton got only 6 votes with none for Monroe.

In 41st Place: 1996
Very dull in comparison to other recent elections. Dole really was getting old by the time of this election and may not have been up to the job (but what do I know, Ronald Reagan did great). Yes, Perot was there again, but he didn't do nearly as well as in 1992 where he got 1 out of every 5 votes. Perhaps it doesn't deserve to be this low but I persaonally found it unimpressive.

In 40th Place: 1904
Had Roosevelt himself campaigned this might have been a somewhat cool election because of his electrifying personality. But because he didn't it will be remembered merely as the no-contest re-election where he rolled over the compromise Alton Parker. It was the first of a slew of Republican landslides that followed a stretch of Republican squeakers

One more tonight, with 1792 I promise

[Schmitz in 1972]

Now we're in the 30's!

In 39th Place: 1792
Unique for being one of two unanimous elections (along with 1789). It also featured the first political race for an executive office: Adams versus Clinton for the office of VP (Adams won 77-50). It didn't have the newness of 1789, but it was still exciting any time the country got a chance to elect 'Father of our Country' Washington president.

In 38th Place: 1852
Some of the most exciting party conventions of the era took place during this election. On the Democratic side Pierce won the nomination on the *49th* ballot! On the Whig side it took 35 ballots to choose Scott, a candidate so dislikable that many Whigs voted for Pierce. The General election was a bunch of mudslinging with little substance: both candidates avoided the slavery issue.

In 37th Place: 1828
Jackson was determined to get revenge on Adams and Clay after 1824 and he got his wish in this election, humiliating Adams by receiving 56% of the vote. It was the first election in which all states had popular vote (save SC), but it gets ranked this low because it was one of the dirtiest elections ever fought with charges ranging from corruption to adultery.

In recap:
54: 1804
53: 1820
52: 1868
51: 1816
50: 1908
49: 1936
48: 1812
47: 1956
46: 1972
45: 1944
44: 1900
43: 1864
42: 1808
41: 1996
40: 1904
39: 1792
38: 1852
37: 1828
36-1: ?

One third down, two thirds to go, and now we're out of the really bad and boring ones, it's great elections from here on out!

[Schmitz in 1972]

The attacks on Jackson's wife during that election were so cruel and vicious that some say it lead to her death a month after the election ended, 1828 stays at 37.

In 36th Place: 1920
The first election women could vote in was marked by charges that Harding was part black and by legend of the 'smoke-filled room' and the invention by Harding of the word 'Normalcy'. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the election was the VP of Democratic candidate Cox. He was a young distant cousin of a former president, his name Franklin D Roosevelt. Harding won 60 percent of the vote though in a fairly boring contest of nonentities.

In 35th Place: 1980
A good election that had the misfortune of following an ultra close general election in '76 and proceeding an ultra close primary in '84. Although remembered as a landslide Reagan only got 50.7 percent of the vote. On the positive side it finally gave us the man who was able to break the infamous 'zero election' curse. Also there was Anderson, the lone major third party candidate between Wallace and Perot

In 34th Place: 1988
One of the more nasty elections in recent times had a Democratic field so weak it was called 'the seven dwarfs'. It was a sad thing that even with the collosal speaking blunders of Dan Quayle that Dukakis could only manage 111 votes (should have been 112, but some silly WV elector inverted the ticket to get attention). Perhaps it was the infamous picture of Dukakis in a tank or perhaps it was just old Reagan's coattails.

That's all for now

[Schmitz in 1972]

It's quite obvious I made a mistake with 1988, ah well just read the disclaimer. I'm only doing one more group tonight instead of two out of laziness, sorry!

In 33rd Place: 1984
After a close primary between Mondale and Hart some genuine excitement was generated by the addition of Geraldine Ferraro to the ballot. By election day it was perfectly clear Reagan would continue as 40th president. Though by the end of the night some were rooting for a sweep Minnesota had to mess it up by just barely going for the favorite son. Complete Blowout

In 32nd Place: 1872
This election produced the most complicated electoral vote tallies ever because of Greeley's unexpected death. It didn't make any difference since he had been steamrolled by Grant but it did lead to thoughts about what would be done if this were to happen again, this time with the winner dying. Kudos to the 3 brave GA electors who stood firm and voted for Greeley, even if their votes were disqualifed in the blowout election.

In 31st Place: 1924
One of the lowest popular vote percentage for a Democrat ever and one of the lowest voter turnouts in history, why is it not lower than 31? For one thing because I love the slogan 'Keep Cool With Coolidge' , and for another thing it had one of the longest conventions ever. It took 103 ballots to settle on John Davis (One even quipped the candidate might be born during the convention). Unexciting general election

Ok ok, I admit my rankings pretty much stink, but hey, I DID give that disclaimer at the beggining

In recap:
54: 1804
53: 1820
52: 1868
51: 1816
50: 1908
49: 1936
48: 1812
47: 1956
46: 1972
45: 1944
44: 1900
43: 1864
42: 1808
41: 1996
40: 1904
39: 1792
38: 1852
37: 1828
36: 1920
35: 1980
34: 1988
33: 1984
32: 1872
31: 1928
30-1: ?

[Schmitz in 1972]

Moving along, I decided I'm only doing two groups a day from now on.

In 30th Place: 1928
Remembered chiefly for the irony of the Republican's slogan, the 1928 election also had two major breakthroughs. The first was the nomination of Charles Curtis, who was part Native-American, for Republican VP. The second was the nomination of a catholic, Smith, as the Democrat's candidate. The election was such a landslide that Hoover became the first Republican to break deeply into the South since Reconstruction.

In 29th Place: 1932
Roosevelt made history be becoming the first major candidate to accept his nomination in person during this election. Also making history were Hoover and Curtis, who were the first P/VP team to win and then lose re-election. Roosevelt offered a bright outlook to the future in a time of despair. Although technically not part of the election, it should be noted that Roosevelt narrowly escaped an assasins bullet in Miami the following January

In 28th Place: 1856
Notable for being the first election with the Republicans but not too much else. An interesting three-way race that had Buchanan in the White House without a popular majority while our nation raced toward succession. The Republicans under Fremont got 114 electoral votes, an amazing amount for the party's first bid for national power. Not such an election then, but it was a preview of what was to come of the nascent party.

If someone wants to offer alternate rankings I'd be very interested to see them!

[Schmitz in 1972]

Moving right along...

In 27th Place: 1940
Democrats were talking about who they might nominate when Roosevelt shocked the world by proclaiming he would run again. His opponent, the highly colorful former Hoosier Wendell Wilkie. Wilkie was able to make the election more interesting than the previous two but FDR's popularity was too great. By now though FDR's landslides were starting to get somewhat repetitive even though Wilkie did better than Hoover or Landon.

In 26th Place: 1832
Jackson got a blowout win in what would be the last Democratic landslide in the 19th century. One important developement during this election was the formation of America's first third party, the Anti-Masons. The Anti-Masons also hold the distinction of holding the first national nominating convention (The party was fated to die shortly after the election). Not as down and dirty as 1828 was, but still uncompetitive. The National Republicans fell apart as Jackson's term began.

In 25th Place: 1789
So what if it was unanimous and there was absolutely no question who was going to win? For the first time in the history of the world a civilized nation was going to have the people (indirectly) elect their leader. The election was a milestone to freedom, liberty, and self government, and who better to give a unanimous vote of confidence to than the man who was "First in war, first in peace, and first in the heart of his countrymen"?

All for tonight

[Schmitz in 1972]

Thanks for the correction jimrtex

In 24th Place: 1964
This election represented a monumental shift in electoral politics which cannot be ignored despite the landslide. Goldwater's brand of Conservatism has been called the forerunner of Ronald Reagan, plus you gotta love the clever AuH20 slogan. How big an electoral shift was this election? It was the first EVER where Vermont didn't vote for the Republican. It was the first since reconstruction where several southern states voted for Republican. Maybe a landslide, but also a collosal shift which would dictate future elections

In 23rd Place: 1952
After not winning an election in nearly 24 years, some Republicans were beginning to panic, but Eisenhower proved the perfect tool to getting the Republicans back in the White House in a time of disgust over the Korean War. Although it was a blowout, it produced one of the most memorable moments in the history of presidential elections: The famous Checkers speech. That speech alone carried this election most of the way to 23rd Place in these rankings.

In 22nd Place: 1892
If you're seeing double that may be because we've reached 1892, the election that made Cleveland both 22nd and 24th President. Although all elections involving Cleveland were somewhat close, this was least tight of the three. Harrison couldn't shake how he hadn't had a popular plurality in the previous contest. Oh, and way to go North Dakota, in your first ever election you demonstrate the true meaning of indecision with one vote for Cleveland, one for Harrison, and one for Weaver.

Starting to reach the closer elections now!

[Schmitz in 1972]

No platypeanArchcow, half of 54 is 27, 1892 is in the top half. Anyway, the rankings...

In 21st Place: 1848
For the sceond time in a row (after #20 1844 below) an anti-slavery third party made the difference in the election. This time it was Van Buren of the Free-Soil party in a race with Lewis Cass (described by one as a cucumber) and Zachary Taylor (with no political experience whatsoever. Sadly this mildly close election would continue the trend of the Whig military heroes dying once in office. More importantly though, it demonstrated the country's support for abolition.

In 20th Place: 1844
Manifest Destiny! 54'40" or Fight! Such was the cry of the Democrats. For the first time a darkhorse was fated to win the presidency, and also for the first time it was a third party which delivered the election to a candidate. Birney of the Liberty Party (First anti-slavery party, I kinda like their name ) swung New York to Polk. Poor Clay came his closest yet to the presidency but was instead banished to the lonely group of 3-time losers to be joined by Bryan 64 years later

In 19th Place: 1896
Notable for Bryan's fabulous "Cross of Gold" speech which earned him the nomination at age 36! Notable also for the endlesss charges that McKinley was merely a puppet of goldbug Mark Hanna. One thread has recently discussed the possibility that the classic The Wizard of Oz was loosely based on the '96 campaign. Although all of it speculation, there does seem to be some truth in it. In any event it was a colorful campaign that ended in a McKinley blowout.

All for tonight

[Schmitz in 1972]

Sorry I couldn't get to the rankings yesterday

In 18th Place: 1992
Although this was one of the best performances ever by a third party candidate, Perot would fail achieve what hadn't happened to a third party candidate since 1972, getting an electoral vote. Fairly interesting campaign with a cool Democratic primary. It was hardly a sweeping victory for Clinton though, DC and Arkansas were the only states to give him more than 50% in the most three sided election since 1912. Being placed at 18 does not mean it is a bad election, it merely means that all others are better quality

In 17th Place: 1836
In the Whig's first election they tried one of the oddest and most unique strategies ever by running three candidates in different regions in an attempt to throw the election into the house where they might have a good chance to unseat Van Buren (in fact, they actually did manage to throw the Vice-President election in the Senate because Johnson fell one vote short (He won)).  The strategy broke down but it is still one of the more interesting elections.

In 16th Place: 1880
The controversy between the Stalwarts and Half-Breeds led to the nomination of dark horse Garfield who had served on the electoral commision in 1876. He and his opponent Hancock battled in one of the closest elections (in popular vote) of all time. When Garfield came out on top it extended the Republicans winning streak to 6, the longest since the Virginia Dyanasty of the first quarter of the 19th century.  As this was the first post-reconstruction election, disenfranchisement of blacks was widespread.

Getting closer...

[Schmitz in 1972]

Just so everyone knows, I haven't already planned the rankings, even I don't know what No. 1 will be yet

In 15th Place: 1840
The Whigs created the jolliest and most idiotic campaign ever in 1840 with one of the most memorble slogans of all time, "Tippecanoe and Tyler too".  Harrison became a log cabin hard cider man, and Van Buren was turned into a rich uncaring aristocrat. Harrison was so concerned over people thinking he was a simple minded common due to the campaigning that he wrote a two hour inauguration speech to dispel that notion. We all know the rest of the story...

In 14th Place: 1884
If not for a misplaced comment from a noted Republican, the Democrats very well may have lost their seventh straight election, instead it was the Republicans turn to have the rugs pulled out from under them. Rev. Burchard's remark that the Democrats were the party of "rum, romanism, and rebellion" upset New York's catholic voters so much that it swung New York to Cleveland and gave him the presidency, ending a nasty, close election with the fiery James G Blaine.

In 13th Place: 1912
The closest thing we've had to a four way contest since 1860 turned out to be an electoral landslide but a rather interesting election nonetheless. It was the only election to feature the previous, current, and future president. Roosevelt and his bull moose party provided most of the interest, but the Democratic nomination needs mentioning too, as it took Wilson 46 ballots to beat opponent Champ Clark. You have to feel sorry for Taft, the guy runs again and as the incumbent gets a total of 8 votes.

Any other bets to the number 1?

[Schmitz in 1972]

I apologize for the numbering error in reply 42, it is fixed now. And now, the post where we break the top ten! This is where it really starts to get hard since all nine that are now left are all good

In 12th Place: 1860
Another thread on this board discusses what was the most impactful election. I don't know how it can not be this one, no other election has caused a civil war for crying out loud! It was a four way race technically, but in reality two two-way races: Lincoln vs. Douglas in the north and Breckinridge vs. Bell in the south. This election set a pattern for nearly every election until the FDR era: north for the Republicans and south for the Democrats. Unrelated note: I once did a report for school on this election

In 11th Place: 1796
The first change of presidential power and the first real race for president happened in this election. A really tight race between Jefferson and Adams this one was. When Adams won 71-68 Dem-Reps sneered "President by three votes" (four years later the Federalists would counter "President by no votes"). It also produced the only time the executive twosome were from different parties (with perhaps 1864 as an exception). I wish I could put this higher, but the remaining ten are too good!

In 10th Place: 1888
Notable as one of the four elections where the winner did not get a plurality of the popular votes, but let's face it, it was the least interesting of the four. The reason for this was Cleveland's margins in the southern states were huge. What dramatic irony is was that New York, which had proved decisive in the last election would again prove decisive here except this time in the opponents favor. To everyone's immense relief Harrison made it through the first month of his administration without suffering the fate of his grandfather.

Now all we have left are 1800, 1824, 1876, 1916, 1948, 1960, 1968, 1976, and 2000

[Schmitz in 1972]

This is so exciting

In 9th Place: 1800
Why is the election that was as close as can be electorally and that result in our current electoral system not higher? Because for a few days our country looked like we might have Aaron Burr as our president. Can you imagine the man who killed Hamilton and commited treason as president? In other news this ws the first election to test the electoral college. The grade of the test, it needed to change the process, and so for better or worse it did.

In 8th Place: 1916
If everything fell into place the Democrats might accomplish what they hadn't for over 80 years, re-electing (consecutively) their president. With the Republican party united though, hopes seemed dim. The "He kept us out of war" slogan kept the race close, but on election night it looked like the Democrats had lost another heartbraker: A 166-165 loss to Hughes. But as the results came in from the final precincts of California the election was swung to Wilson, What an election!

In 7th Place: 1960
I expect to get a lot of "how could you put this in 7th place" type comments about this selection. My argument, there was too much voter fraud and the electoral college wasn't as close. Very interesting campaign and election anyway. The TV debates were always memorable as the deciding factor for Kennedy. In Illinois Daley pulled out all the stops he could in order to get Kennedy the win there. There were many irregularities in Texas too, but all this aside it was one heckuva election.

Down to six, only six...

[Schmitz in 1972]

Doggone it's getting hard for me to decide, too many great elections. I know whatever elections I post here lots of people will contend the one of them should be number one, but that's how rankings go.

In 6th Place: 1824
Impactful yes, but we must remember that impact is only a part of the rankings. We must also look at how exciting the election was at the time. Prior to the electoral voting it was an above average. After the electoral votes were counted it became a classic. Henry Clay's "corrupt bargain" would set up the next election for Andrew Jackson. It pains me to put this only at six, if the other five only weren't so great...

In 5th Place: 1976
On the left a longshot southern governor emerges from a crowded field while on the right the incumbent barely survives a brutal challenge from Ronald Reagan. The two fascinating primaries set up one of the closest challenges of the 20th century. An entertaining seesawing general election it was, with the result hinging on super close states like Ohio. Great election in my opinion even though others think it ought not be ranked this high

gotta go now more later, sorry I couldn't do #4

[Schmitz in 1972]

Totally forgot about "no soviet domination in Poland"! It would still probably be in 5th though

In 4th Place: 1876
I know I know, this election produced the biggest amount of drama ever with the possible exception of 2000 but realisticly this election was so corrupt that I can't really place it any higher. If it weren't for the plainly obvious corruption (on both sides but more notably the Republican) this would definately be in first. The Democrats virtually had the election won but botched it - twice! The electoral vote couldn't have been any closer and tensions were running so high that there was some talk of a second civil war. To prevent such a frightening prospect from happening a 15 man commission was made that gave the election to Hayes by what else then a one vote margin.

In 3rd Place: 1968
The Democrats convention that year was almost without a doubt the most drama filled nomination of all time. The Kennedy assasination, the Johnson drop-out, the unruly protesters and police of Chicago... Meanwhile Nixon aspired to be the first former loser to win since Grover Cleveland (Or W.H. Harrison if you prefer not to count Cleveland). Fierce battle on the political front while another battle raged on thousands of miles away in Vietnam. The popular vote was close, Nixon had just managed to edge out Humphrey but had far less than 50% due to the canidacy of Wallace.  

[Schmitz in 1972]

Well this is it, the post where I reveal 2nd Place, and in doing so I reveal 1st place as well.

In 2nd Place: 2000
The last election of the 20th century gave us the closest and longest lasting election since 1876. Arguably the most drama filled election ever! The butterfly ballots, the recounts, the court cases (including the the 5-4 Supreme Court one)... For 26 days all of America was focused on one man and one state.  Tensions ran high, there was talk of defecting Bush electors (but funnily enough the only one that did defect was one of Gore's). Never before in this century had the public been so split about who should be president. The night of November 7, 2000 is one of the most vivid memories in my life. This was one great election no matter who you supported.

Which means that number one has to be...

In 1st Place: 1948
Three reasons 1948 is number one. 1, It was the greatest upset ever. The odds were so stacked against Truman and Thurmond and Wallace virtually guaranteed a Dewey victory. At one time 50 pollsters were asked who would win and all 50 said Dewey. 2, It had one of the greatest campaigns ever. Who can forget the "Give 'em Hell Harry" whistle-stop, speech-filled cross country tour, which mustered up public support that no one thought he had. And 3, It geve us the most memorable election image ever. There isn't anyone interested in elections who hasn't seen "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN", a picture that has become iconic over the years. So whether you agree or not there you have it, all 54 elections ranked, and like it or not 1948 is number one (if not just read the disclaimer again). So that's the end ladies and gentlemen thank you and good day!

God Bless America!

[Schmitz in 1972]

Now that 2004 is in the books (who cares if the electoral college hasn't actually voted yet) I decided to try to find where I should place this new election on the list. I decided on 14th place above 1884 and below 1912.

In 14th Place: 2004
American's were spared a second coming of 2000 when Kerry conceded after it became obvious he could not win Ohio. The campaign had been rather nasty and the polls showed the candidates close throughout the whole campaign. One of the important weaknesses of Kerry which led to his defeat was his supposed "flip-flopping" on issues. This was typified by his now famous comment "I actually did vote for the $87,000,000,000 before I voted against it"