This video is sponsored in part by YouGov Hey I am a person named Mr. Beat You may remember me from films such as The Revenge of Abe Lincoln and the Wackiest
Wagon in the West. You may also remember that I’ve made a video about
every presidential election in American history! (awkward pause) And even wrote a book about
every presidential election in American history. Look, there have been some
close presidential elections in the United States, but most of
them have NOT been in recent years. In this video, I’m counting down the
five closest presidential elections in American history, looking at both
the electoral vote and popular vote. But first, hey remember at the
beginning of this video when I said it was sponsored by YouGov?
Well, I wasn’t lying. It really is. YouGov is my favorite way to take surveys and make
extra cash and earn rewards. I originally started using it when I was stuck in line somewhere. I
think the DMV or something, but it’s just a great, quick way to answer questions and get
rewarded for it. Here I am once again taking a YouGov survey on the toilet. I
still can’t believe I filmed this. Sorry. Anyway, YouGov is free to join and so easy
to get extra cash. As a member you’ll earn points for giving your actual opinions that
matter by completing short surveys and polls. So be heard and get rewarded for
it. Tap my link to take surveys and earn cash with YouGov. Thanks
to YouGov for sponsoring this video. Ok, for the five closest presidential
elections in American history…I have to point out that I am considering both
the electoral vote and popular vote. Tragically, the electoral vote is the one that
actually matters. The Electoral College actually picks the President and Vice President every
four years. Each of the 50 states hold its own elections, and the political parties in
each state pick these people called electors. There are 538 electors in all. When Americans
cast their votes on Election Day, they’re not directly voting for a candidate. Instead, their
votes guide who the ELECTORS should vote for. Still, for giggles and poops many
American political history dorks like me enjoy looking at the popular vote, too, as that often gives a more accurate view
of how close an election actually is. I should also add that these were not
necessarily presidential elections in which Americans were sharply divided on major
issues- just sharply divided on candidates. 5. The Election of 1960 Because John F. Kennedy is a
mostly beloved president today, I think many folks forget just how
close the 1960 election was. Richard Nixon could have easily won this one. One
example of how close this one was? Well, in Nixon’s home state of California, Kennedy
appeared to win by 37,000 votes. However, after absentee ballots were counted a week later,
Nixon came back to win the state by 36,000 votes. Kennedy got 112,827 more votes than Nixon,
a margin of just .17%, the second-narrowest in American presidential election history and
smallest margin of victory ever for a Democrat. The electoral vote was 303 to 219, but that
was incredibly misleading. In New Jersey, Kennedy beat Nixon by just 22,091 votes. In
Illinois, he beat him by just 8,858 votes, which at the time had the 4th-most electoral
votes in the country, by the way. In Hawaii, Kennedy beat Nixon
by just 115 votes holy wowza. The election of 1960 marked the first
time a candidate won the presidency even though they carried fewer
states than the other candidate. At least 24 states were “swing
states” in this election, meaning they were states that were competitive.
That’s an incredible number. Just incredible. Being such a close election, many of Nixon’s
supporters begged him to challenge the results and demand recounts. Both sides accused
the other of stuffing ballot boxes, especially in Illinois. Still, within
24 hours, Nixon conceded the election, telling his friend “our country cannot afford
the agony of a constitutional crisis.” As most of you all likely already know, Nixon would come
back eight years later and WIN the presidency. 4. The Election of 1884 This was a particularly nasty
election in terms of campaigning. In a VERY high turnout election, Grover Cleveland
won 48.4% of the popular vote. His main opponent, James Blaine? 48.3%. That’s a margin of just .57%. Like with the election of 1960, the
electoral vote was misleading. Sure, Cleveland got 219 electoral votes to Blaine’s
182, but there were at least 14 swing states in this election. Cleveland won Connecticut by just
1,284 votes. Heck, he won his home state of New York by just 1,149 votes, and if he would have
lost that state, he would have lost the entire election. Blaine conceded the results fairly
quickly, but his supporters certainly did not. 3. The Election of 1880 This was the first election in which Americans
in every state could vote directly for electors. Turnout for it was fourth highest in
American history. James Garfield won, getting 214 electoral votes. His
main opponent, Winfield Hancock, got 155. But like in 1884 and 1960, the
electoral vote was very deceiving. There were 13 swing states in this one. Just
881 votes separated the two in Nevada. Just 664 votes separated them in Oregon. Just
144 votes separated the two in California. Woah. And it was even crazier with the popular
vote. Garfield won 48.32% of the popular vote compared to Hancock’s 48.21%. Garfield
won by just 1,898 votes. It was the smallest victory in the national popular vote
ever recorded. Not only that, there were lots of voting irregularities in
this one. Georgia’s electors voted too late. Virginia’s electors all were
fighting with each other and stuff. Winfield Hancock conceded the
election within a few days. 2. The Election of 2000 Ah yes, the first presidential election I
voted in. It was a doozy, let me tell ya. First of all, Al Gore won the popular
vote. He got 48.4% and his main opponent, George W. Bush got 47.9%. Gore got 543,895 more
votes than Bush…but again, that doesn’t matter. Bush won the electoral vote, but
only by five electoral votes, and it all came down to the electoral
votes of one state- Florida. After Election Day, out of the nearly 6 million
ballots in Florida, only 1,784 votes separated the two candidates. Because it was so close, Florida
law said there had to be a machine vote recount. After the recount, it was even closer! Now,
Bush’s lead was just 327. After another recount, Bush’s lead officially was just 537. But
because Gore thought the recounts were rushed, he sued Florida’s Secretary of State, Katherine
Harris. Long story short, the case quickly went to the Supreme Court and it sided with
Bush, arguing the recounts were not fair. And don’t forget that there were
at least 17 swing states during this election. Gore beat Bush
by just 4,144 votes in Iowa. In New Mexico, just 366 votes
separated Gore and Bush. Gore conceded the election on December 13,
2000, nearly five weeks after Election Day. 1. The Election of 1876 First of all, 82.6% of eligible voters voted
in this election...the highest turnout for a presidential election in American
history. It’s pretty incredible. Rutherford Hayes ultimately won the presidency,
but he was incredibly lucky to win. He won by just ONE electoral vote over his main
opponent, Samuel Tilden. It was 185 to 184, the closest electoral vote margin in American
history. And Tilden won the popular vote! An impressive 50.9% of the popular vote, as a
matter of fact, compared to Hayes’s measly 47.9%. There were at least 15 swing states in this one. There were allegations of widespread
voter fraud in many of those swing states, as well as lots of threats of violence
against Republican voters. In South Carolina, somehow 101% of all eligible voters got to have
their votes counted. Also in South Carolina? Democrats there straight up murdered an estimated
150 African American Republicans over the results. Hayes got lots of death threats. Someone even shot
into his home as he sat down for dinner one night. By January, the 19 electoral votes of three
states- Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida, were still in question. Not only that, but
both candidates had refused to concede. The Constitution had no solution to this crisis, so
the U.S. Congress rushed to pass a law to form a 15-member Electoral Commission to settle the
results. Hey Good luck with that. The commission had five U.S. Representatives, five U.S. Senators,
and five Supreme Court justices. 5 of the members of Congress were Democrat and 5 Republican. Of
the 5 justices, 2 were Democrat and 2 Republican, and then there was David Davis, the fifth justice
who supposedly was an independent. However, Democrats in the Illinois legislature elected
Davis to the U.S. Senate, in hopes that Davis would support Tilden. That plan backfired as
Davis excused himself from the commission. Davis was replaced by Justice Joseph Bradley,
someone more aligned with the Republicans, and he would vote with them. Bradley’s
vote broke the tie along party lines, and in an 8 to 7 ruling, the commission decided
to award the disputed electoral votes to Hayes. Of course, this made so many people
angry that some even talked about a second civil war. To make the Democrats
happy, the Republicans agreed to withdraw all remaining federal troops from the South,
which officially ended Reconstruction.This informal agreement became famously
known as the Compromise of 1877. The Election of 1876 nearly ripped the country
apart again. It was arguably the most disputed presidential election in American history. Tilden
wouldn’t concede the election until June 13, 1877, more than three months after
Hayes was sworn in as president. So there you have it. Those were the five closest
presidential elections in American history, in my opinion. Five times in which
the country was sharply divided. You may have noticed that three of the five
closest presidential elections in American history were back to back to back. Look, the 1870s and
1880s weren’t really as much a time when Americans were divided on major issues but instead just
more divided on the two major political parties. Of course, I have to mention honorable mentions,
like the Election of 1796, Election of 1888, Election of 1916, and Election of 1968.
Those were all also very close elections. And you might be surprised to see that the
Election of 1824 and Election of 1800 both didn’t make the cut. After all, the House of
Representatives had to determine the winner in both of those. Well, the thing is, the
majority of the country was actually clearly with Andrew Jackson in the election of 1824.
Adams was incredibly lucky to win. I mean, the dude got less than a third of the vote
in both the Electoral College AND popular vote. And what about the Election of 1800? I
mean, this WAS the only election in American history to end in a tie, for crying out loud.
Thomas Jefferson tied…believe it or not…Aaron freaking Burr. Well, this tie happened only
because the Democratic-Republicans done messed up when casting their electoral votes. Jefferson and
Burr were both running as Democratic-Republicans with Burr as Jefferson’s running mate, after
all. However, in the House of Representatives, it wasn’t even close- Jefferson won 10 states,
Burr won 4. Thanks again Alexander Hamilton for saving the country, by the way. Heck,
Jefferson won 60.5% of the popular vote. Some also might be wondering why I also
left off the Election of 2016. Well, I definitely went back and forth with
this one. After all, Trump comfortably won the electoral vote but lost the popular
vote by nearly 2.9 million. I ultimately decided to leave it off this list because
the electoral vote is…again tragically in my opinion…what ultimately determines
the winner of a presidential election. But what do YOU think? Am I full of garbage? I
mean, what do I know. I’ve only been obsessed with this stuff since I was in third grade. Let
me know how much of an idiot I am down below. Hey thanks for watching! It’s pretty awesome that
you watch…especially if you’re watching right now.
