1804 United States presidential election

Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:For Template:Infobox election Presidential elections were held in the United States from November 2 to December 5, 1804. Incumbent Democratic-Republican president Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.

Jefferson was renominated by his party's congressional nominating caucus without opposition, and the party nominated Governor George Clinton of New York to replace Aaron Burr as Jefferson's running mate. With former president John Adams in retirement, the Federalists turned to Pinckney, a former ambassador and Revolutionary War hero who had been Adams's running mate in the 1800 election.

Though Jefferson had only narrowly defeated Adams in 1800, he was widely popular due to the Louisiana Purchase and a strong economy. He carried almost every state, including most states in the Federalist stronghold of New England.

BackgroundEdit

Although the 1800 presidential election was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe, and the Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.

NominationsEdit

Democratic-Republican Party nominationEdit

[[Thomas Jefferson\|Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">Thomas Jefferson]]	[[George Clinton (vice president)\|Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">George Clinton]]
Democratic-Republican Party Democratic-Republican Party Ticket, 1804
for President	for Vice President
File:Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale 1805 cropped.jpg	File:George Clinton by Ezra Ames (3x4 cropped).jpg
3rd President of the United States (1801–1809)	1st Governor of New York (1777–1795, 1801–1804)

The congressional nominating caucus of the Democratic-Republican Party was held in February 1804, with 108 members of the United States Congress in attendance and Senator Stephen R. Bradley as its chair. Jefferson was renominated by acclamation while Vice President Aaron Burr was not considered for renomination. The caucus selected to give the vice-presidential nomination to Governor George Clinton whose main opponent was Senator John Breckinridge. A thirteen-member committee was selected to manage Jefferson's presidential campaign.<ref name="deskins1">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Vice-presidential candidatesEdit

John Breckinridge (Kentucky), U.S. Senator
George Clinton (New York), Governor
Gideon Granger (Connecticut), Postmaster General
John Langdon (New Hampshire), former U.S. Senator
Levi Lincoln (Massachusetts), U.S. Attorney General
William Maclay (Pennsylvania), former U.S. Senator

John-Breckinridge-portrait.jpg

Senator
John Breckinridge
from Kentucky
George Clinton by Ezra Ames (3x4 cropped).jpg

Governor
George Clinton
of New York
Gideon Granger (3x4 cropped).jpg

Postmaster General
Gideon Granger
from Connecticut
John langdon.jpg

Former Senator
John Langdon
from New Hampshire
LeviLincoln.gif

Attorney General
Levi Lincoln
from Massachusetts
William Maclay Portrait (3x4 cropped).jpg

Former Senator
William Maclay
from Pennsylvania

BallotingEdit

Presidential ballot	Total	Vice-presidential ballot	Total
Thomas Jefferson	108	George Clinton	67
		John Breckinridge	20
		Levi Lincoln	9
		John Langdon	7
		Gideon Granger	4
		William Maclay	1

Federalist Party nominationEdit

[[Charles Cotesworth Pinckney\|Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">Charles Cotesworth Pinckney]]	[[Rufus King\|Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">Rufus King]]
Federalist Party Federalist Party Ticket, 1804
for President	for Vice President
File:CharlesCPinckney (cropped).png	File:Gilbert Stuart - Portrait of Rufus King (1819-1820) - Google Art Project.jpg
6th U.S. Minister to France (1796–1797)	3rd U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1796–1803)

The Federalists did not hold a nominating caucus, but Federalist congressional leaders informally agreed to nominate a ticket consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former Senator Rufus King of New York.<ref name="deskins1"/> Pinckney's public service during and after the American Revolutionary War had won him national stature, and Federalists hoped that Pinckney would win some Southern votes away from Jefferson, who had dominated the Southern vote in the previous election.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

General electionEdit

Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton's death in July 1804 following the Burr–Hamilton duel destroyed whatever hope the Federalists had of defeating the popular Jefferson. Leaderless and disorganized, the Federalists failed to attract much support outside of New England. The Federalists attacked the Louisiana Purchase as unconstitutional, criticized Jefferson's gunboat navy, and alleged that Jefferson had fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings, but the party failed to galvanize opposition to Jefferson. Jefferson's policies of expansionism and reduced government spending were widely popular. Jefferson was aided by an effective Democratic-Republican party organization, which had continued to develop since 1800, especially in the Federalist stronghold of New England.<ref name="deskins1"/>

Jefferson's victory was overwhelming, and he even won four of the five New England states. Pinckney won only two states, Connecticut and Delaware. This was the first election where the Democratic-Republicans won in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

As of 2024, Jefferson was the first of eight presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Donald Trump. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Jefferson, Cleveland, Roosevelt, and Trump were also their respective party's nominees for three consecutive elections.

ResultsEdit

File:United States Electoral College 1804.svg

Electoral results
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote^{(a), (b)}		Electoral vote	Running mate
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Count	Percentage	Electoral vote	Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Thomas Jefferson (incumbent)	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	105,524	73.2%	162	George Clinton	New York	162
Charles C. Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	38,519	26.7%	14	Rufus King	New York	14
Unpledged electors	None	N/A	95	0.1%	0	N/A	N/A	0
Total			144,138	100%	176			176
Needed to win					89			89

Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Source (electoral vote): Template:National Archives EV source

^(a) Only 11 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote.
^(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.

Popular vote by stateEdit

The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of North Carolina and Tennessee appear to be incomplete.


State	Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican		Charles C. Pinckney Federalist		Other		Margin		Citation
	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%
Kentucky	5,080	100.00%	No ballots		No ballots		5,080	100.00%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Maryland	7,304	75.92%	2,306	23.97%	11	0.11%	4,987	51.84%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Massachusetts	29,599	53.58%	25,644	46.42%	2	<0.01%	3,953	7.16%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
New Hampshire	9,088	52.01%	8,386	47.99%	0Template:Efn	0.00%	702	4.02%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
New Jersey	13,119	99.79%	19	0.14%	8	0.06%	13,092	99.59%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
North Carolina	1,644Template:Efn Template:Efn		486Template:Efn Template:Efn		No ballots				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Ohio	2,593	87.69%	364	12.31%	No ballots		2,229	75.38%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pennsylvania	22,081	94.69%	1,239	5.31%	No ballots		20,842	89.38%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Rhode Island	1,312	100.00%	No ballots		No ballots		1,312	100.00%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Tennessee	778Template:Efn	100.00%	No ballots		No ballots				citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Virginia	12,926	98.86%	75	0.57%	74	0.57%	12777	97.72%	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Template:Bar box Template:Bar box

States that flipped from Federalist to Democratic-RepublicanEdit

Close statesEdit

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

New Hampshire, 4.02% (702 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

Massachusetts, 7.16% (3,953 votes)

MapsEdit

ElectoralCollege1804-Large.png

Electoral College map
1804 United States presidential election by county.svg

Map of presidential election results by county, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given candidate (includes rejected votes)
1804 United States presidential election by electoral district.svg

Map of presidential election results by electoral district, shaded according to the vote share of the highest result for an elector of any given candidate. Electoral boundaries for Maryland could not be found (includes rejected votes)