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531 members of theElectoral College 266 electoral votes needed to win | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turnout | 61.8%[1] 2.8pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Presidential election results map.Blue denotes states won by Wilson/Marshall,red denotes those won by Hughes/Fairbanks. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Presidential elections were held in theUnited States on November 7, 1916. TheDemocratic ticket of incumbent PresidentWoodrow Wilson and incumbent Vice PresidentThomas Marshall defeated theRepublican ticket of formerassociate justice of the Supreme CourtCharles Evans Hughes and former Vice PresidentCharles Fairbanks by a narrow margin. Wilson was the first incumbent Democrat since1832 to win re-election to a second consecutive term.[a]
In June, the1916 Republican National Convention chose Hughes as a compromise between theconservative andprogressive wings of the party. Hughes was on the Supreme Court in 1912 and was not involved in the bitter politics of that year. He defeatedJohn W. Weeks,Elihu Root, and several other candidates on the third ballot. While conservative and progressive Republicans had been divided in the1912 election between the candidacies of incumbent PresidentWilliam Howard Taft and former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, they largely united around Hughes in his bid to oust Wilson. Hughes remains the only person to have served as a Supreme Court justice and later been a major party's presidential nominee. Wilson was renominated at the1916 Democratic National Convention, as was Vice PresidentThomas R. Marshall, both without opposition. Hughes's running mate wasCharles W. Fairbanks, who had been Theodore Roosevelt's vice president in his second term.
Although many saw Hughes as the favorite to win, Wilson defeated him by nearly 600,000 votes out of about 18.5 million cast in the popular vote. Wilson secured a narrow majority in the Electoral College by sweeping theSolid South and winning severalswing states with razor-thin margins. Wilson won California, the tipping point state, by a slim margin. Wilson's top vote-getting elector received just 3,773 more votes than Hughes's top vote-getting elector. Since the GOP was not as split as in 1912, Wilson did not have the same easy victory as he had four years earlier, losing his home state of New Jersey along with the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Marshall's home state of Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, West Virginia (although he still won an electoral vote from the state), and Wisconsin. However, Wilson still managed to win two states that he had lost in 1912 (Utah and Washington), and fully won California after having only obtained two out of 13 electoral votes from California in 1912. TheSocialist party underAllan L. Benson received 3.19% of the vote. This resulted in no candidate securing a majority inCalifornia,Washington,North Dakota, orNew Hampshire, with theProhibition party also receiving 1.19% of the vote.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Woodrow Wilson | Thomas R. Marshall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.jpg) | .jpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28th President of the United States (1913–1921) | 28th Vice President of the United States (1913–1921) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HCV: 1,092 votes 1,202,492 votes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1916 Democratic National Convention was held inSt. Louis, Missouri between June 14 and 16. Given Wilson's incumbency and enormous popularity within the party, he was overwhelmingly re-nominated. Vice PresidentThomas R. Marshall was also re-nominated with no opposition.
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Charles Evans Hughes | Charles W. Fairbanks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_(3x4_crop).png) |  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1910–1916) | 26th Vice President of the United States (1905–1909) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ID: 18 delegates HCV: 950 votes 82,530 votes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates in this section are sorted by their highest vote count on the nominating ballots | |||||
| John W. Weeks | Elihu Root | Charles W. Fairbanks | Albert B. Cummins | Theodore Roosevelt | Theodore E. Burton |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  | |  | .jpg) |  |
| U.S. Senator fromMassachusetts (1913–1919) | U.S. Senator fromNew York (1909–1915) | U.S. Vice President fromIndiana (1905–1909) | U.S. Senator fromIowa (1908–1926) | U.S. President fromNew York (1901–1909) | U.S. Senator fromOhio (1909–1915) |
| W:Before Third Ballot ID: 0 delegates HCV: 105 votes 0 votes | W:In Midst of Third Ballot ID: 0 delegates HCV: 103 votes 786 votes | W:In Midst of Third Ballot ID: 40 delegates HCV: 89 votes 176,080 votes | ID: 82 delegates HCV: 85 votes 191,951 votes | ID: 14 delegates HCV: 81 votes 83,739 votes | W:In Midst of Third Ballot ID: 40 delegates HCV: 78 votes 122,169 votes |
| Lawrence Y. Sherman | Philander C. Knox | Henry Ford | Martin G. Brumbaugh | Robert M. La Follette | T. Coleman du Pont |
 |  |  |  |  |  |
| U.S. Senator fromIllinois (1913–1921) | Secretary of State fromPennsylvania (1909–1913) | President of the Ford Motor Company fromMichigan (1906–1919) | Governor ofPennsylvania (1915–1919) | U.S. Senator fromWisconsin (1906–1925) | President ofDuPont fromDelaware (?–1915) |
| ID: 56 delegates W:Before Third Ballot HCV: 66 votes 155,945 votes | ID: 0 delegates NFN HCV: 36 votes 386 votes | ID: 32 delegates NFN HCV: 32 votes 131,965 votes | ID: 19 delegates W:Before Second Ballot HCV: 29 votes 233,100 votes | ID: 25 delegates HCV: 25 votes 133,486 votes | ID: 6 delegates HCV: 13 votes 0 votes |
The 1916 Republican National Convention was held inChicago between June 7 and 10.
A major goal of the party leaders was to heal the bitter split that ripped the party apart in 1912. Although several candidates were openly competing for the 1916 nomination — most prominently SenatorElihu Root of New York and SenatorJohn W. Weeks of Massachusetts — the leaders wanted a moderate who would be acceptable to both factions.
They turned to Supreme Court JusticeCharles Evans Hughes, who had been serving on the court since 1910 and had the advantage of not having publicly spoken about political issues in six years. Although he had not actively sought the nomination, Hughes made it known that he would not turn it down. He won the nomination on the third ballot. Former Vice PresidentCharles W. Fairbanks was nominated as his running mate. Hughes remains, as of today, the only serving Supreme Court justice to be nominated for president by a major political party.
| Ballot | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Evans Hughes | 253 | 326 | 950 |
| John W. Weeks | 105 | 102 | 2 |
| Elihu Root | 103 | 89 | 9 |
| Charles W. Fairbanks | 89 | 75 | 7 |
| Albert B. Cummins | 85 | 77 | 2 |
| Theodore Roosevelt | 81 | 65 | 19 |
| Theodore E. Burton | 78 | 69 | 9 |
| Lawrence Yates Sherman | 66 | 59 | 5 |
| Philander C. Knox | 36 | 30 | 6 |
| Henry Ford | 32 | 29 | 9 |
| Martin Grove Brumbaugh | 29 | 22 | 2 |
| Robert M. La Follette | 25 | 25 | 23 |
| William Howard Taft | 14 | 4 | 0 |
| T. Coleman du Pont | 7 | 13 | 6 |
| Henry Cabot Lodge | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| John Wanamaker | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Frank B. Willis | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| William Borah | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Warren G. Harding | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Samuel W. McCall | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Leonard Wood | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1916 Progressive Party ticket | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| None | John Parker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | .jpg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N/A | Businessman and 1916nominee for Governor of Louisiana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates Considered | |||
| Theodore Roosevelt | Victor Murdock | Hiram Johnson | Gifford Pinchot |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| U.S. President fromNew York (1901–1909) | U.S. Representative fromKansas (1903–1915) | Governor ofCalifornia (1911–1917) | Chief of the U.S. Forest Service fromPennsylvania (1905–1910) |
| DN | NFN | DI | DI |
TheProgressive Party re-nominated former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt.
For Vice President, Progressives nominated businessmanJohn M. Parker ofLouisiana, who had run an unsuccessful campaign. California GovernorHiram Johnson was suggested for renomination, andRaymond Robins, chairman of the party convention, was proposed, but both withdrew their names in favor of Parker.
However, Roosevelt telegraphed the convention and declared that he could not accept their nomination and would be endorsing Republican nominee Charles Evans Hughes for the presidency. Roosevelt turned down the Progressive nomination for both personal and political reasons. He was convinced that running for president on a third-party ticket again would merely give the election to the Democrats and had developed a strong dislike for President Wilson. He also believed Wilson was allowingGermany and other warring nations inEurope to "bully" and intimidate the United States.[2][3][4]
Former U.S. RepresentativeVictor Murdock of Kansas pushed for a ticket consisting ofWilliam Jennings Bryan andHenry Ford but nothing came of it.[citation needed] Some, such as National CommitteemanHarold L. Ickes, refused to consider endorsing Hughes. There was some talk of replacing Roosevelt with Hiram Johnson orGifford Pinchot.[citation needed] All those discussed refused to consider the notion, and by this point, some leaders such asHenry Justin Allen had started to follow Roosevelt's lead and endorsed Hughes. Various state parties, such as those in Iowa and Maine, began to disband.
Finally, when the Progressive Party National Committee met in Chicago on June 26, those in attendance begrudgingly endorsed Hughes; even those like Ickes who had vehemently refused to consider granting an endorsement to Hughes began to recognize that without Roosevelt the party had no electoral staying power. There had been a weak attempt to replace Roosevelt on the ticket with Victor Murdock, but the motion was defeated 31 to 15.[5]
With Roosevelt refusing their nomination, the Progressive Party quickly fell into disarray. Most members returned to the Republican Party, but a substantial minority supported Wilson for his efforts in keeping the United States out ofWorld War I.
Without a presidential nominee, many in the party, notably vice-presidential nomineeJohn M. Parker andBainbridge Colby, remained steadfast in their refusal to support Hughes. Parker desired the presidential nomination himself. Colby, while opposed to the endorsement of Hughes, now considered a Progressive campaign impractical and privately supported Wilson. It appeared likely for a time that another convention would be called in early August, until a conference held among the remaining representatives of the party in Indianapolis decided against it, while also narrowly voting against filling the vacancy that had been caused by Roosevelt's refusal to be placed on the ticket (though Parker remained the vice-presidential nominee). Electoral tickets would still be put in place where the Progressive Party remained organized in the hopes of electing enough electors so as to possibly hold the balance of power in a close contest between the Democratic and Republican candidates.
While running as the vice-presidential nominee, John Parker would endorse Woodrow Wilson for the presidency.[6][7]
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Allan L. Benson | George R. Kirkpatrick | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
_circa_1915_(cropped_closein).jpg) |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newspaper Editor fromNew York | Writer and Political Activist fromNew Jersey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates in this section are sorted by number of votes received in the Mail-In Primary | |||||
| James H. Maurer | Arthur LeSueur | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) |  | ||||
| State Representative fromPennsylvania (1915–1919) | Newspaper Editor fromNorth Dakota | ||||
| 12,264 votes | 3,495 votes | ||||
Eugene V. Debs andCharles Edward Russell declined to run for the nomination.[8] Debs, who had served as the party's presidential nominee since its foundation, chose torun for a seat in theUnited States House of Representatives fromIndiana's 5th congressional district.[9]Allan Benson, a newspaper editor from New York, quickly came to dominate the field on a platform of his fervent opposition to militarism and proposal that all wars should be voted upon in anational referendum. Rather than a traditional nominating convention, the vote was conducted through a mail-order ballot, with Benson capturing 16,639 out of a total of 32,398 cast (to 12,264 for Maurer and 3,495 for Le Sueur). A vote for the vice-presidential nomination was jointly held withGeorge Ross Kirkpatrick, a lecturer from New Jersey, winning the nomination 20,607 to 11,388 overKate Richards O'Hare of Missouri.[10]
| 1916 Prohibition Party ticket | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frank Hanly | Ira Landrith | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| for President | for Vice President | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26th Governor of Indiana (1905–1909) | Minister and Temperance Activist fromTennessee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Candidates in this section are sorted by their highest vote count on the nominating ballots |
| William Sulzer |
|---|
.jpg) |
| State Assemblyman fromNew York (1914–1914) |
| 181 votes |
The twelfth Prohibition National Convention assembled inSaint Paul, Minnesota on July 19. Before the convention a number of figures were considered potential nominees for the presidency, among them former Democratic presidential nomineeWilliam Jennings Bryan, former Governor of New YorkWilliam Sulzer, former Governor of MassachusettsEugene Foss, former Governor of IndianaFrank Hanly, former GeneralNelson Miles, and former Alabama CongressmanRichmond Hobson;[11] Sulzer and Hanly ultimately were the only two to actively campaign for the nomination. It was generally recognized early on that Hanly's nomination was favored with a supporter of his, Robert Patton, being named as permanent chairman of the convention. This culminated with the adoption of much of his program into the Party platform and his own nomination for the presidency, Hanly receiving 440 votes to Sulzer's 181.[12][13]Ira Landrith, a Presbyterian minister from Tennessee and member of theFlying Squadron of America was nominated for the vice presidency after other names were withdrawn from contention before the first ballot.
The campaign took place against a background dominated by a huge bloodyWorld War in Europe. The U.S. was officially neutral, but public opinion tended to favor Britain and therefore theAllied cause led byGreat Britain,France and Russia against theGerman Empire andAustria-Hungary. Americans were troubled by the harsh treatment of Belgian civilians by theGerman Army and the militaristic character of the German monarchy.[14] The large communities ofGerman Americans andIrish Americans were strongly against helping Britain.[15][16]
Most American voters wanted to avoid involvement in the war and preferred to continue a policy of neutrality. Wilson's campaign used the popular slogans "He kept us out of war" and "America First" to appeal to those voters who wanted to avoid a war in Europe or with Mexico.[17][18][19] Hughes criticized Wilson for not taking the "necessary preparations" to face a conflict.[20] In 1915–1917Theodore Roosevelt was the leading proponent of America entering the war on the side of Great Britain. He campaigned for the Republican ticket on the argument that the United States had a moral obligation to support the Allies and that neutrality, as President Wilson was promising, was both cowardly and dangerous.[21] In October, 1916, Roosevelt lashed out:
President Wilson's ignoble shirking of responsibility has been clothed in an utterly misleading phrase, the phrase of a coward,He kept us out of war. In actual reality, war has been creeping nearer and nearer... and we face it without policy, plan, purpose or preparation.[22]
During the campaign,Edward M. House was Wilson's top campaign advisor. Hodgson says, "he planned its structure; set its tone; guided its finance; chose speakers, tactics, and strategy; and, not least, handled the campaign's greatest asset and greatest potential liability: its brilliant but temperamental candidate."[23] The Democrats built their campaign around the slogan, "He Kept Us Out of War," saying a Republican victory would mean war with both Mexico and Germany. Wilson's position was probably critical in winning the Western states.[24]
Charles Evans Hughes advocated greater mobilization and preparedness for war.[25] With Wilson having successfully pressured the Germans to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare, it was difficult for Hughes to attack Wilson's peace platform.
Instead, Hughes criticized Wilson's military interventions in Mexico, where the U.S. was supporting various factions in theMexican Revolution.[26]
Hughes also attacked Wilson for his support of various "pro-labor" laws (such as limiting the workday to eight hours), on the grounds that they were harmful to business interests. His criticisms gained little traction, however, especially among factory workers who supported such laws. Hughes was helped by the vigorous support of popular former PresidentTheodore Roosevelt, and by the fact that the Republicans were still the nation's majority party at the time.[citation needed]
Hughes made a key mistake in California. The 1912 split in Republican ranks remained a lingering issue, with two rival factions in California. Hughes decided to base his California campaign with the conservative Republican regulars instead of the Progressive faction.Hiram Johnson, the governor of California who had been Roosevelt's running mate in 1912, did endorse and speak for Hughes. However Johnson did not mobilize the Progressive faction and it saw Wilson as more of a true progressive. Wilson carried California by 3,773 votes (0.3%) and with it the Electoral College and the presidency.[27][28]
In the weeks prior to the election, Wilson began to worry that, were he to lose the race to Hughes, he would remain alame duck until March 1917. For Wilson, this was problematic, given that the United States was likely on the eve of its entry into the First World War. Wilson, thus, privately floated a contingency plan: were Hughes to win, Wilson would immediately appoint Hughessecretary of state (a role which was, at the time, second-in-line to the presidency). Wilson and Vice President Marshall would both then resign, allowing Hughes to immediately becomeacting president, thereby avoiding a lengthy lame duck presidency.[29][30] This plan was first revealed publicly two decades later in the memoirs ofRobert Lansing, Wilson's secretary of state, who, under the plan, would have had to have resigned or been dismissed in order to allow Hughes to assume that office.[31]
Turnout in the election was 61.8%, with 32.1% of the voting age population participating in the election.[32] The result was exceptionally close and the outcome remained in doubt for some time. Some New York newspapers declared Hughes the winner on Wednesday morning, includingThe World andThe Sun, which erroneously published that six states (California, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming) had voted for Hughes.[33] The official gazette of theKingdom of Serbia also declared him the winner on 16 November 1916.[34]
A popular legend from the campaign states that Hughes went to bed on election night thinking that he was the newly elected president. When a reporter tried to telephone him the next morning to get his reaction to Wilson's comeback, someone[b] answered the phone and told the reporter that "the president is asleep." The reporter retorted, "When he wakes up, tell him he isn't the president."[35][36]
By Wednesday evening, Wilson had secured 254 electoral votes in the counting, needing either California or Minnesota to claim victory.[37] Democrats declared victory in California on Thursday afternoon, and the California Republican Party conceded defeat that night.[38]
Wilson was the first Democratic president to win a second consecutive term sinceAndrew Jackson in1832; his victory also marked the first time that Democrats had won two consecutive presidential elections since 1856.[39] Vice-presidentThomas R. Marshall also earned the distinction of becoming the first vice-president of any party elected to a second term sinceJohn C. Calhoun in1828. As Calhoun had served as vice president underJohn Quincy Adams and was re-elected to serve underAndrew Jackson, Wilson and Marshall became the first incumbent ticket to win re-election sinceJames Monroe andDaniel D. Tompkins in1820.
The electoral vote was one of the closest in U.S. history – with 266 votes needed to win, Wilson took 30 states for 277 electoral votes, while Hughes won 18 states and 254 electoral votes. Wilson was the second of just four presidents in United States history to win re-election with a lower percentage of the electoral vote than in their prior elections, afterJames Madison in1812,Franklin D. Roosevelt in1940 and1944 andBarack Obama in2012.
Wilson's popular vote margin of 3.1 percent was the smallest attained by a victorious sitting president since1812 and retained that status until2004. This was the only election between1896 and1948 in which the national margin of victory was under 5 percentage points. The total popular vote cast in 1916 exceeded that of 1912 by 3,500,000. The large total vote was an indication of an aroused public interest in the campaign. It was larger in every section, notably in theEast North Central section. Some of this was due to the extension ofsuffrage to women in individual states. In Illinois, for example, the total vote was one million greater than in 1912. It increased by more than 260,000 in Kansas, and in Montana, it more than doubled. Wilson's vote was 9,126,868, an increase of nearly 3,000,000. There was a gain in every section and in every state. Hughes, the nominee of the united Republican Party, polled more votes by nearly 1,000,000 than had ever been cast for a Republican candidate.
Among the third-party candidates, Benson's vote dropped to a little over half of what Eugene Debs had earned at the previous election, though this would still represent the best-ever showing of any Socialist candidate other than Debs. Hanly's performance would mark the last time the Prohibition Party exceeded one percent of the popular vote, with the party quickly declining into irrelevance after the passage of theEighteenth Amendment in 1919.
To date, this is the last presidential election in which North Dakota and South Dakota did not vote for the same candidate, with the only others being1896 and1912. This is the last time Illinois voted for a losing candidate until1976, the last time Minnesota voted for a losing candidate until1968, and the last time West Virginia voted for a losing candidate until1952. It was the only time a Democrat was elected without winning West Virginia from the state's founding until2008.[c] This election was one of only four U.S. presidential elections, held since the Democrats and Republicans became the two major parties in U.S. politics, in which the winner did not carry any of the threeRust Belt states ofMichigan,Pennsylvania, andWisconsin; the others were1884,2000, and2004.[40] Hughes is the only Republican candidate between 1888 and 1932 who was never elected president.
This was the last election in which the Democrats won New Hampshire until1936 and the last in which the Democrats won Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming until1932. This would also be one of four times in which the winning presidential candidate lost his home state, including 1844, 1968, and 2016. This election and the 1968 election are the only elections ever where the winning presidential and vice-presidential candidates lost each of their home states. Wilson was the last Democrat to win an election without carrying Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island (although he had previously won the latter two states in1912). This was the first time since 1856 that Democrats won consecutive elections. The eleven states of the former Confederacy provided 5.45% of Hughes' votes, with him taking 24.89% of the vote in that region.[41]
| Presidential candidate | Party | Home state | Popular vote | Electoral vote | Running mate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | Percentage | Vice-presidential candidate | Home state | Electoral vote | ||||
| Woodrow Wilson (incumbent) | Democratic | New Jersey | 9,126,868 | 49.24% | 277 | Thomas R. Marshall (incumbent) | Indiana | 277 |
| Charles Evans Hughes | Republican | New York | 8,548,728 | 46.12% | 254 | Charles W. Fairbanks | Indiana | 254 |
| Allan L. Benson | Socialist | New York | 590,524 | 3.19% | 0 | George Ross Kirkpatrick | New Jersey | 0 |
| Frank Hanly | Prohibition | Indiana | 221,302 | 1.19% | 0 | Ira Landrith | Tennessee | 0 |
| None | Progressive | (n/a) | 33,406 | 0.18% | 0 | John M. Parker | Louisiana | 0 |
| Arthur E. Reimer | Socialist Labor | Massachusetts | 15,295 | 0.08% | 0 | Caleb Harrison | Illinois | 0 |
| Other | 462 | 0.00% | — | Other | — | |||
| Total | 18,536,585 | 100% | 531 | 531 | ||||
| Needed to win | 266 | 266 | ||||||
Source (Popular Vote):Leip, David."1916 Presidential Election Results".Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. RetrievedJuly 28, 2005.
Source (Electoral Vote):"Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996".National Archives and Records Administration. RetrievedJuly 31, 2005.
| Wilson | 49.24% | |||
| Hughes | 46.12% | |||
| Benson | 3.19% | |||
| Hanly | 1.19% | |||
| Others | 0.27% | |||
| Wilson | 52.17% | |||
| Hughes | 47.83% | |||
Although there were numerous examples of election results being broadcast by radio stations in 1912,[42][43][44][45] these stations had exclusively transmitted usingMorse code. Taking advantage of recent advances in vacuum-tube transmitters, the 1916 election was the first to include audio radio returns, provided by theNew York American in conjunction with the De Forest Radio Telephone and Telegraph company's experimental station2XG. This broadcast was described by the newspaper as "For the first time the wireless telephone had been demonstrated as a practical, serviceable carrier of election news and comment."[46][47]
The key state proved to be California, which Wilson won by only 3,800 votes out of nearly a million cast. If Hughes had carried California and its 13 electoral votes, he would have won the election.
Although New Hampshire may not have been a deciding state in the election, the margin of victory for Wilson there was the second smallest ever recorded in an American presidential election at just 56 votes, behind Franklin Pierce's 25-vote victory in Delaware in 1852.[48][d]
In some of the states carried by Wilson, particularly in theSouth, the popular vote margin was large. Wilson ran behind Hughes inNew England, theMid-Atlantic states, and in the East North Central section.[49] His lead was not great in theWest North Central, but was very large in theWest South Central andMountain as well as in theEast South Central andSouth Atlantic sections.[50] Half of Wilson's total vote was cast in the 18 states that he did not carry.
| States/districts won byWilson/Marshall |
| States/districts won byHughes/Fairbanks |
| [51] | Woodrow Wilson Democratic | Charles Evans Hughes Republican | Allan Benson Socialist | James Hanly Prohibition | No Candidate Progressive "Bull Moose" | Arthur Reimer Socialist Labor | Margin | State Total | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | electoral votes | # | % | # | |
| Alabama | 12 | 99,409 | 76.04 | 12 | 28,662 | 21.92 | - | 1,916 | 1.47 | - | 741 | 0.57 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 70,747 | 54.12 | 130,728 | AL |
| Arizona | 3 | 33,170 | 57.17 | 3 | 20,524 | 35.37 | - | 3,174 | 5.47 | - | 1,153 | 1.99 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 12,646 | 21.80 | 58,021 | AZ |
| Arkansas | 9 | 112,211 | 65.97 | 9 | 48,879 | 28.73 | - | 6,999 | 4.11 | - | 2,015 | 1.18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 63,332 | 37.23 | 170,104 | AR |
| California | 13 | 466,289 | 46.65 | 13 | 462,516 | 46.27 | - | 42,898 | 4.29 | - | 27,713 | 2.77 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3,773 | 0.38 | 999,603 | CA |
| Colorado | 6 | 178,816 | 60.74 | 6 | 102,308 | 34.75 | - | 10,049 | 3.41 | - | 2,793 | 0.95 | - | 409 | 0.14 | - | - | - | - | 76,508 | 25.99 | 294,375 | CO |
| Connecticut | 7 | 99,786 | 46.66 | - | 106,514 | 49.80 | 7 | 5,179 | 2.42 | - | 1,789 | 0.84 | - | - | - | - | 606 | 0.28 | - | -6,728 | -3.15 | 213,874 | CT |
| Delaware | 3 | 24,753 | 47.78 | - | 26,011 | 50.20 | 3 | 480 | 0.93 | - | 566 | 1.09 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -1,258 | -2.43 | 51,810 | DE |
| Florida | 6 | 55,984 | 69.34 | 6 | 14,611 | 18.10 | - | 5,353 | 6.63 | - | 4,786 | 5.93 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 41,373 | 51.25 | 80,734 | FL |
| Georgia | 14 | 127,754 | 79.51 | 14 | 11,294 | 7.03 | - | 941 | 0.59 | - | - | - | - | 20,692 | 12.88 | - | - | - | - | 107,062 | 66.63 | 160,681 | GA |
| Idaho | 4 | 70,054 | 52.04 | 4 | 55,368 | 41.13 | - | 8,066 | 5.99 | - | 1,127 | 0.84 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14,686 | 10.91 | 134,615 | ID |
| Illinois | 29 | 950,229 | 43.34 | - | 1,152,549 | 52.56 | 29 | 61,394 | 2.80 | - | 26,047 | 1.19 | - | - | - | - | 2,488 | 0.11 | - | -202,320 | -9.23 | 2,192,707 | IL |
| Indiana | 15 | 334,063 | 46.47 | - | 341,005 | 47.44 | 15 | 21,855 | 3.04 | - | 16,368 | 2.28 | - | 3,898 | 0.54 | - | 1,659 | 0.23 | - | -6,942 | -0.97 | 718,848 | IN |
| Iowa | 13 | 218,699 | 42.55 | - | 280,439 | 54.57 | 13 | 10,973 | 2.14 | - | 3,371 | 0.66 | - | - | - | - | 460 | 0.09 | - | -61,740 | -12.01 | 513,942 | IA |
| Kansas | 10 | 314,588 | 49.95 | 10 | 277,658 | 44.09 | - | 24,685 | 3.92 | - | 12,882 | 2.05 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 36,930 | 5.86 | 629,813 | KS |
| Kentucky | 13 | 269,990 | 51.91 | 13 | 241,854 | 46.50 | - | 4,734 | 0.91 | - | 3,039 | 0.58 | - | 129 | 0.02 | - | 332 | 0.06 | - | 28,136 | 5.41 | 520,078 | KY |
| Louisiana | 10 | 79,875 | 85.90 | 10 | 6,466 | 6.95 | - | 292 | 0.31 | - | - | - | - | 6,349 | 6.83 | - | - | - | - | 73,409 | 78.95 | 92,982 | LA |
| Maine | 6 | 64,033 | 46.97 | - | 69,508 | 50.99 | 6 | 2,177 | 1.60 | - | 596 | 0.44 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -5,475 | -4.02 | 136,314 | ME |
| Maryland | 8 | 138,359 | 52.80 | 8 | 117,347 | 44.78 | - | 2,674 | 1.02 | - | 2,903 | 1.11 | - | - | - | - | 756 | 0.29 | - | 21,012 | 8.02 | 262,039 | MD |
| Massachusetts | 18 | 247,885 | 46.61 | - | 268,784 | 50.54 | 18 | 11,058 | 2.08 | - | 2,993 | 0.56 | - | - | - | - | 1,097 | 0.21 | - | -20,899 | -3.93 | 531,823 | MA |
| Michigan | 15 | 286,775 | 44.05 | - | 339,097 | 52.09 | 15 | 16,120 | 2.48 | - | 8,139 | 1.25 | - | - | - | - | 842 | 0.13 | - | -52,322 | -8.04 | 650,973 | MI |
| Minnesota | 12 | 179,152 | 46.25 | - | 179,544 | 46.35 | 12 | 20,117 | 5.19 | - | 7,793 | 2.01 | - | 290 | 0.07 | - | 468 | 0.12 | - | -392 | -0.10 | 387,364 | MN |
| Mississippi | 10 | 80,422 | 92.78 | 10 | 4,253 | 4.91 | - | 1,484 | 1.71 | - | - | - | - | 520 | 0.60 | - | - | - | - | 76,169 | 87.87 | 86,679 | MS |
| Missouri | 18 | 398,032 | 50.59 | 18 | 369,339 | 46.94 | - | 14,612 | 1.86 | - | 3,884 | 0.49 | - | - | - | - | 902 | 0.11 | - | 28,693 | 3.65 | 786,769 | MO |
| Montana | 4 | 101,063 | 56.88 | 4 | 66,750 | 37.57 | - | 9,564 | 5.38 | - | - | - | - | 302 | 0.17 | - | - | - | - | 34,313 | 19.31 | 177,679 | MT |
| Nebraska | 8 | 158,827 | 55.28 | 8 | 117,771 | 40.99 | - | 7,141 | 2.49 | - | 2,952 | 1.03 | - | - | - | - | 624 | 0.22 | - | 41,056 | 14.29 | 287,315 | NE |
| Nevada | 3 | 17,776 | 53.36 | 3 | 12,127 | 36.40 | - | 3,065 | 9.20 | - | 348 | 1.04 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5,649 | 16.96 | 33,316 | NV |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 43,781 | 49.12 | 4 | 43,725 | 49.06 | - | 1,318 | 1.48 | - | 303 | 0.34 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 56 | 0.06 | 89,127 | NH |
| New Jersey | 14 | 211,018 | 42.68 | - | 268,982 | 54.40 | 14 | 10,405 | 2.10 | - | 3,182 | 0.64 | - | - | - | - | 855 | 0.17 | - | -57,964 | -11.72 | 494,442 | NJ |
| New Mexico | 3 | 33,527 | 50.20 | 3 | 31,152 | 46.64 | - | 1,996 | 2.99 | - | 112 | 0.17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2,375 | 3.56 | 66,787 | NM |
| New York | 45 | 759,426 | 44.51 | - | 879,238 | 51.53 | 45 | 45,944 | 2.69 | - | 19,031 | 1.12 | - | - | - | - | 2,666 | 0.16 | - | -119,812 | -7.02 | 1,706,305 | NY |
| North Carolina | 12 | 168,383 | 58.10 | 12 | 120,890 | 41.71 | - | 509 | 0.18 | - | 55 | 0.02 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 47,493 | 16.39 | 289,837 | NC |
| North Dakota | 5 | 55,206 | 47.84 | 5 | 53,471 | 46.34 | - | 5,716 | 4.95 | - | 997 | 0.86 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1,735 | 1.50 | 115,390 | ND |
| Ohio | 24 | 604,161 | 51.86 | 24 | 514,753 | 44.18 | - | 38,092 | 3.27 | - | 8,080 | 0.69 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 89,408 | 7.67 | 1,165,086 | OH |
| Oklahoma | 10 | 148,113 | 50.59 | 10 | 97,233 | 33.21 | - | 45,527 | 15.55 | - | 1,646 | 0.56 | - | 234 | 0.08 | - | - | - | - | 50,880 | 17.38 | 292,753 | OK |
| Oregon | 5 | 120,087 | 45.90 | - | 126,813 | 48.47 | 5 | 9,711 | 3.71 | - | 4,729 | 1.81 | - | 310 | 0.12 | - | - | - | - | -6,726 | -2.57 | 261,650 | OR |
| Pennsylvania | 38 | 521,784 | 40.22 | - | 703,823 | 54.26 | 38 | 42,638 | 3.29 | - | 28,525 | 2.20 | - | - | - | - | 419 | 0.03 | - | -182,039 | -14.03 | 1,297,189 | PA |
| Rhode Island | 5 | 40,394 | 46.00 | - | 44,858 | 51.08 | 5 | 1,914 | 2.18 | - | 470 | 0.54 | - | - | - | - | 180 | 0.20 | - | -4,464 | -5.08 | 87,816 | RI |
| South Carolina | 9 | 61,846 | 96.71 | 9 | 1,550 | 2.42 | - | 135 | 0.21 | - | - | - | - | 162 | 0.25 | - | - | - | - | 60,296 | 94.28 | 63,952 | SC |
| South Dakota | 5 | 59,191 | 45.91 | - | 64,217 | 49.80 | 5 | 3,760 | 2.92 | - | 1,774 | 1.38 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -5,026 | -3.90 | 128,942 | SD |
| Tennessee | 12 | 153,280 | 56.31 | 12 | 116,223 | 42.70 | - | 2,542 | 0.93 | - | 145 | 0.05 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 37,057 | 13.61 | 272,190 | TN |
| Texas | 20 | 286,514 | 76.92 | 20 | 64,999 | 17.45 | - | 18,969 | 5.09 | - | 1,985 | 0.53 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 221,515 | 59.47 | 372,467 | TX |
| Utah | 4 | 84,145 | 58.78 | 4 | 54,137 | 37.82 | - | 4,460 | 3.12 | - | 149 | 0.10 | - | 111 | 0.08 | - | 144 | 0.10 | - | 30,008 | 20.96 | 143,146 | UT |
| Vermont | 4 | 22,708 | 35.22 | - | 40,250 | 62.43 | 4 | 798 | 1.24 | - | 709 | 1.10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -17,542 | -27.21 | 64,475 | VT |
| Virginia | 12 | 101,840 | 66.99 | 12 | 48,384 | 31.83 | - | 1,056 | 0.69 | - | 678 | 0.45 | - | - | - | - | 67 | 0.04 | - | 53,456 | 35.16 | 152,025 | VA |
| Washington | 7 | 183,388 | 48.13 | 7 | 167,208 | 43.89 | - | 22,800 | 5.98 | - | 6,868 | 1.80 | - | - | - | - | 730 | 0.19 | - | 16,180 | 4.25 | 380,994 | WA |
| West Virginia | 8 | 140,403 | 48.44 | 1 | 143,124 | 49.38 | 7 | 6,150 | 2.12 | - | 175 | 0.06 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -2,721 | -0.94 | 289,852 | WV |
| Wisconsin | 13 | 191,363 | 42.80 | - | 220,822 | 49.39 | 13 | 27,631 | 6.18 | - | 7,318 | 1.64 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | -29,459 | -6.59 | 447,134 | WI |
| Wyoming | 3 | 28,316 | 54.62 | 3 | 21,698 | 41.86 | - | 1,453 | 2.80 | - | 373 | 0.72 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6,618 | 12.77 | 51,840 | WY |
| TOTALS: | 531 | 9,126,868 | 49.24 | 277 | 8,548,728 | 46.12 | 254 | 590,524 | 3.19 | - | 221,302 | 1.19 | - | 33,406 | 0.18 | - | 15,295 | 0.08 | - | 578,140 | 3.12 | 18,536,585 | US |
Margin of victory of less than 1% (52 electoral votes):
Margin of victory of less than 5% (77 electoral votes):
Margin of victory of between 5% and 10% (162 electoral votes):
Of the 3,022 counties making returns, Wilson led in 2,039 counties (67.47%). Hughes managed to carry only 976 counties (32.30%), the smallest number in the Republican column in a two-party contest during theFourth Party System. Two counties (0.07%) split evenly between Wilson and Hughes. Although the Progressive Party had no presidential candidate (just candidates for presidential electors who were unpledged for president), they carried five counties (0.17%), whilst nine counties – 0.30 percent and the same as in 1912 – inhabited either by Native Americans without citizenship ordisenfranchised African Americans failed to return a single vote. Wilson carried 200 counties that had never voted Democratic in a two-party contest prior to that time.[52]
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)
Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other)
The gains made by Wilson in this election were a novel phenomenon under theFourth Party System. This shift of votes led some to believe that the Democratic Party might have the position of decided advantage in the election of1920.[52]
News start on the far left column
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