1916 United States presidential election

The 1916 United States presidential election was the 33rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1916. Incumbent Democratic President Woodrow Wilson defeated former Governor of New York Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican candidate.

For related races, see 1916 United States elections.

1916 United States presidential election
November 7, 1916
531 members of the Electoral College
266 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout61.6%[1] 2.8 pp
 
Nominee Woodrow Wilson Charles Evans Hughes
Party Democratic Republican
Home state New Jersey New York
Running mate Thomas R. Marshall Charles W. Fairbanks
Electoral vote 277 254
States carried 30 18
Popular vote 9,126,868 8,548,728
Percentage 49.2% 46.1%
Presidential election results map. Blue denotes those won by Wilson/Marshall, red denotes states won by Hughes/Fairbanks. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes allotted to each state.
President before election

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

 Elected President

Woodrow Wilson
Democratic

In June, the 1916 Republican National Convention chose Hughes as a compromise between the conservative and progressive wings of the party. Hughes defeated John W. Weeks, Elihu Root, and several other candidates on the third ballot of the convention. While conservative and progressive Republicans had been divided in the 1912 election between the candidacies of incumbent President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt, they largely united around Hughes in his bid to oust Wilson. As of 2021, Hughes remains the only current or former Supreme Court Justice to serve as a major party's presidential nominee. Wilson was re-nominated at the 1916 Democratic National Convention a few days later, without opposition.

The campaign took place against a background dominated by war — the Mexican Revolution and World War I. Although officially neutral in the European conflict, public opinion in the United States favored the Allied forces led by Great Britain and France against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, due to the harsh treatment of civilians by the German Army and the militaristic character of the German and Austrian monarchies.[2] Despite their sympathy for the Allied forces, 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.[3][4][5] Hughes criticized Wilson for not taking the "necessary preparations" to face a conflict.[6]

After a hard-fought contest, Wilson defeated Hughes 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 the Solid South and winning several swing states with razor-thin margins. Wilson won California, the decisive state, by just 3,773 votes.

The United States entered the war in April 1917, one month after Wilson's second term began.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination
Main article: 1916 Democratic National Convention
Democratic Party (United States)
1916 Democratic Party ticket
Woodrow Wilson Thomas R. Marshall
for President for Vice President
28th
President of the United States
(1913–1921)		 28th
Vice President of the United States
(1913–1921)
Campaign

The 1916 Democratic National Convention was held in St. Louis, Missouri between June 14 and 16. Given Wilson's incumbency and enormous popularity within the party, he was overwhelmingly re-nominated. Vice President Thomas R. Marshall was also re-nominated with no opposition.

Republican Party nomination
Republican Party (United States)
1916 Republican Party ticket
Charles Evans Hughes Charles W. Fairbanks
for President for Vice President
Associate Justice
of the U.S. Supreme Court
(1910–1916)		 26th
Vice President of the United States
(1905–1909)
Campaign

Delegate selection
Main article: 1916 Republican Party presidential primaries

Convention
Main article: 1916 Republican National Convention
Republican Convention, The Coliseum, Chicago

The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago between June 7 and 10.

A major goal of the party bosses at the convention was to heal the bitter split within the party that had occurred in the 1912 presidential campaign. Although several candidates were openly competing for the 1916 nomination — most prominently Senator Elihu Root of New York and Senator John W. Weeks of Massachusetts — the party's bosses wanted a moderate who would be acceptable to both factions of the party.

They turned to Supreme Court Justice Charles 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 President Charles W. Fairbanks was nominated as his running mate. As of 2021 Hughes remains the only active Supreme Court Justice to be nominated for president by a major political party.

Ballot123
Charles Evans Hughes253326950
John W. Weeks1051022
Elihu Root103899
Charles W. Fairbanks89757
Albert B. Cummins85772
Theodore Roosevelt816519
Theodore E. Burton78699
Lawrence Yates Sherman66595
Philander C. Knox36306
Henry Ford32299
Martin Grove Brumbaugh29222
Robert M. La Follette252523
William Howard Taft1440
T. Coleman du Pont7136
Henry Cabot Lodge720
John Wanamaker511
Frank B. Willis122
William Borah202
Warren G. Harding101
Samuel W. McCall011
Leonard Wood011

Progressive Party nomination
1916 Progressive Party ticket
None John Parker
for President for Vice President
N/A Businessman and 1916 nominee for Governor of Louisiana

The Progressive Party re-nominated former President Theodore Roosevelt.

For Vice President, Progressives nominated businessman John Parker of Louisiana, who had run an unsuccessful campaign. California Governor Hiram Johnson was suggested for renomination, and Chairman of the Party Convention Raymond Robins was proposed, but both withdrew their names in favor of Parker.

However, Roosevelt later telegraphed the convention and declared that he could not accept their nomination and would be endorsing Republican nominee Charles 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 allowing Germany and other warring nations in Europe to "bully" and intimidate the United States.[7][8][9]

Former U.S. Representative Victor Murdock from Kansas pushed for a ticket consisting of William Jennings Bryan and Henry Ford but nothing came of it. Some, like National Committeeman Harold L. Ickes, refused to consider endorsing Hughes. There was some talk of replacing Roosevelt with Hiram Johnson or Gifford Pinchot. All those discussed refused to consider the notion, and by this point, some leaders like Henry 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 the former Representative Victor Murdock from Kansas, but the motion was defeated 31 to 15.

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 of World War I.

Without a presidential nominee, many in the party, notably Vice-Presidential nominee John Parker and Bainbridge 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.[10][11]

Socialist candidates

The initial frontrunner was the popular four-time nominee Eugene V. Debs, but he opted to instead run for Congress in his native Indiana, leaving the field open to other contenders. 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 a national 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 with George Ross Kirkpatrick, a lecturer from New Jersey, winning the nomination 20,607 to 11,388 over Kate Richards O'Hare of Missouri.[12]

General election
See also: American entry into World War I
Business advertising postcard exploiting public interest in the election; parts of Wilson's and Hughes' faces can be seen in this image, with the U.S. Capitol building in the background

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."[13] 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.[14]

Charles Evans Hughes advocated greater mobilization and preparedness for war.[15] 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 the Mexican Revolution.

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 President Theodore Roosevelt, and by the fact that the Republicans were still the nation's majority party at the time.

Hughes made a key mistake in California. Just before the election, Hughes made a campaign swing through the state, but he never met with the powerful Republican Governor Hiram Johnson to seek his support. Johnson took this as a snub, and never gave Hughes his full support. Wilson carried California by 3,420 votes (0.3%) and with it the presidency.

In the weeks prior to the election, Wilson began to worry that, were he to lose the race to Hughes, he would remain a lame duck until March of 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 decided that, were Hughes to win, he would immediately appoint him to be his secretary of state. Wilson and his vice president, Thomas R. Marshall, would then resign, allowing Hughes to immediately ascend to the presidency, thereby allowing the nation to avoid a lengthy lame duck period.[16]

Results

The result was exceptionally close and the outcome remained in doubt for some time.

Results in doubt

Some New York newspapers declared Hughes the winner on Wednesday morning, including The World and The Sun, which erroneously published that six states (California, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming) had voted for Hughes.[17]

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[lower-alpha 1] 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."[18][19]

By Wednesday evening, Wilson had secured 254 electoral votes in the counting, needing either California or Minnesota to claim victory.[20] Democrats declared victory in California on Thursday afternoon, and the California Republican Party conceded defeat that night.[21]

Wilson was the first Democratic president to win a second consecutive term since Andrew Jackson in 1832. Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall also earned the distinction of becoming the first vice-president of any party elected to a second term since John C. Calhoun in 1828. Together, Wilson and Marshall became the first incumbent ticket to win re-election, since James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins in 1820.

Electoral results

The electoral vote was one of the closest in U.S. history – with 266 votes needed to win, Wilson took thirty states for 277 electoral votes, while Hughes won eighteen states and 254 electoral votes. Wilson was the second president in US history to win re-election with a reduced percentage of the electoral vote, following James Madison in 1812. As the raw number of electors had actually increased during Madison's first term, Wilson was also the first president to receive fewer total electoral votes. This experience would be repeated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944 and by Barack Obama in 2012.

Wilson's popular vote margin of 3.1 percent was the smallest attained by a victorious sitting president until 2004.

The total popular vote cast in 1916 exceeded that of 1912 by 3,500,000. The very large total vote was an indication of an aroused public interest in the campaign. It was larger in every section, notably in the East North Central section. Some of this was due to the extension of suffrage to women in individual states. In Illinois, for example, the total vote was one million greater than in 1912. It increased by more than two hundred and sixty thousand in Kansas, and in Montana, it more than doubled.

Wilson's vote was 9,126,868, an increase of nearly three million. 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.

Electoral results
Presidential candidate Party Home state Popular vote Electoral
vote		 Running mate
Count Percentage Vice-presidential candidate Home state Electoral vote
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (Incumbent) Democratic New Jersey 9,126,868 49.24% 277 Thomas Riley Marshall Indiana 277
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. Republican New York 8,548,728 46.12% 254 Charles Warren Fairbanks Indiana 254
Allan Louis Benson Socialist New York 590,524 3.19% 0 George Ross Kirkpatrick New Jersey 0
James Franklin Hanly Prohibition Indiana 221,302 1.19% 0 Ira Landrith Tennessee 0
None Progressive (n/a) 33,406 0.18% 0 John Milliken Parker Sr. Louisiana 0
Arthur Elmer 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. Retrieved July 28, 2005.

Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 31, 2005.

Popular vote
Wilson
 
 49.24%
Hughes
 
 46.12%
Benson
 
 3.19%
Hanly
 
 1.19%
Others
 
 0.27%
Electoral vote
Wilson
 
 52.17%
Hughes
 
 47.83%

Results by state

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 thirteen 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.[22][lower-alpha 2]

In some of the states carried by Wilson, particularly in the South, the margin of popular vote was large. Wilson ran behind Hughes in New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and in the East North Central section.[23] His lead was not great in the West North Central, but was very large in the West South Central and Mountain as well as in the East South Central and South Atlantic sections.[24] 1/2 of Wilson's total vote was cast in the 18 states that he did not carry.

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 being 1896 and 1912. This is the last time Illinois voted for a losing candidate until 1976, the last time Minnesota voted for a losing candidate until 1968, and the last time West Virginia voted for a losing candidate until 1952. It was the only time a Democrat was elected without winning West Virginia from the state's founding until 2008.[lower-alpha 3]

This was the last election in which the Democrats won New Hampshire until 1936 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 until 1932.

This would also be the last election in which the winning presidential candidate lost their home state until Donald Trump lost New York in 2016.

Wilson was the last Democrat to win an election without carrying Minnesota, Massachusetts and Rhode Island (although he had previously won the two latter states in 1912). He was also the last Democrat elected to two terms without carrying Michigan and Pennsylvania either time. Although other Democrats since have won elections without one or both states,[lower-alpha 4] they either only served one term or they carried them both in another Presidential election.

States/districts won by Wilson/Marshall
States/districts won by Hughes/Fairbanks
[25] Woodrow Wilson
Democratic		 Charles Evans Hughes
Republican		 Allan Benson
Socialist		 James Hanly
Prohibition		 No Candidate
Progressive		 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

Close states

Margin of victory of less than 1% (52 electoral votes):

  1. New Hampshire, 0.06%
  2. Minnesota, 0.10%
  3. California, 0.38% (tipping point state)
  4. West Virginia, 0.94%
  5. Indiana, 0.97%

Margin of victory of less than 5% (77 electoral votes):

  1. North Dakota, 1.50%
  2. Delaware, 2.43%
  3. Oregon, 2.57%
  4. Connecticut, 3.15%
  5. New Mexico, 3.56%
  6. Missouri, 3.65%
  7. South Dakota, 3.90%
  8. Massachusetts, 3.93%
  9. Maine, 4.02%
  10. Washington, 4.25%

Margin of victory of between 5% and 10% (162 electoral votes):

  1. Rhode Island, 5.08%
  2. Kentucky, 5.41%
  3. Kansas, 5.86%
  4. Wisconsin, 6.59%
  5. New York, 7.02%
  6. Ohio, 7.67%
  7. Maryland, 8.02%
  8. Michigan, 8.04%
  9. Illinois, 9.23%

Results by county

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 the Fourth 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 or disenfranchised 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.[26]

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Democratic)

  1. Dillon County, South Carolina 100.00%
  2. Hampton County, South Carolina 100.00%
  3. Jasper County, South Carolina 100.00%
  4. Tunica County, Mississippi 100.00%
  5. Echols County, Georgia 100.00%

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Republican)

  1. Leslie County, Kentucky 91.55%
  2. Sevier County, Tennessee 90.42%
  3. Zapata County, Texas 89.17%
  4. Jackson County, Kentucky 87.90%
  5. Johnson County, Tennessee 87.33%

Counties with Highest Percent of Vote (Other)

  1. Lafourche Parish, Louisiana 59.38%
  2. Glascock County, Georgia 53.79%
  3. Paulding County, Georgia 53.52%
  4. Fannin County, Georgia 51.29%
  5. Iberia Parish, Louisiana 47.59%

Maps
  • Results by state
  • Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote
  • Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Wilson
  • Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for Hughes
  • Results by county, shaded according to percentage of the vote for all others
  • A continuous cartogram of the 1916 United States presidential election
  • Cartogram shaded according to percentage of the vote for Wilson
  • Cartogram shaded according to percentage of the vote for Hughes
  • Cartogram shaded according to percentage of the vote for all others

Aftermath

The gains made by Wilson in this election were a novel phenomenon under the Fourth Party System. This shift of votes led some to believe that the Democratic Party might have the position of decided advantage in the election of 1920.[26]

See also

Notes
  1. Stories vary as to whether this person was his son, a butler, or a valet.
  2. Theodore Roosevelt won Maryland in 1904 by just fifty-one votes, but voters voted for individual presidential electors and only one Republican elector, Charles Bonaparte, survived the tally. Likewise, Henry Clay won Maryland by only four votes in 1832, but Maryland chose electors by district.
  3. West Virginia's electors were voted on separately, and one of Wilson's, Orland Depue, managed to win.
  4. Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, Harry Truman in 1948 and Jimmy Carter in 1976 won without Michigan. Roosevelt in 1932 and Truman in 1948 won without Pennsylvania.

References
  1. "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara.
  2. Frederick Luebke, Bonds of Loyalty: German-Americans and World War I (1974) pp 57–98.
  3. "Wilson for 'America First'", The Chicago Daily Tribune (October 12, 1915).
  4. Cooper, John Milton. Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, p. 278 (Vintage Books 2011).
  5. Garrett, Garet. Defend America First: The Antiwar Editorials of the Saturday Evening Post, 1939-1942, p. 13 (Caxton Press 2003).
  6. John Patrick Finnegan, Against the Specter of a Dragon: The Campaign for American Military Preparedness, 1914-1917 (1974) p. 164.
  7. "MOOSE ANGRY AND BITTER - Convention Ends in Gloom After Long Fight for Roosevelt. NAME HIM AMID CHEERS Three Minutes Afterward They Hear of the Republican Stampede to Hughes. COLONEL'S LETTER A BOMB Delegates Disperse Sadly When They Hear That He Conditionally Declines to Run. MOOSE CONVENTION CLOSES IN GLOOM" (PDF). The New York Times. June 11, 1916. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  8. "BULL MOOSE CHIEFS GOING TO OYSTER BAY - Gov. Johnson and Others to Visit Roosevelt This Week to Discuss Party's Plans. DIVIDED ON THE FUTURE Some Leaders Insist on Third Ticket - - Henry Allen Announces He Will Support Hughes" (PDF). The New York Times. June 12, 1916. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  9. "HUGHES INDORSED BY MOOSE COMMITTEE - National Body Adopts Suggestion of Roosevelt, 32 to 6, With 9 Members Not Voting. MOOSE INDORSES, HUGHES ACCEPTS" (PDF). The New York Times. June 27, 1916. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  10. "MOOSE CONVENTION MAY NAME WILSON - Second Progressive National Gathering Will Meet at Chicago Aug. 5. LOOK TO COLBY TO LEAD Insurgents Get Democratic Assurances That They Will Have No Reason to Regret Flop" (PDF). The New York Times. July 25, 1916. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  11. "MOOSE WON'T NAME ANOTHER CANDIDATE - Leaders at Indianapolis Conference, However, Severely Criticise Indorsement of Hughes. CALL ACTION A BETRAYAL Plan to Name Electoral Tickets in Some States and Unite with Other Parties After Election MOOSE WON'T NAME ANOTHER CANDIDATE" (PDF). The New York Times. August 4, 1916. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  12. "A.L. BENSON HEADS SOCIALIST TICKET - Yonkers Man Nominated for the Presidency in Primary Taken by Mail. BALLOTS TOTALED 32,398 G.R. Kirkpatrick Chosen for Vice President - Berger and Hillquit Also Win" (PDF). The New York Times. March 12, 1916. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  13. Godfrey Hodgson (2006). Woodrow Wilson's right hand: the life of Colonel Edward M. House. Yale University Press. p. 126.
  14. John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson (2009) pp 341-2, 352, 360
  15. Merlo J. Pusey, Charles Evans Hughes (1951) vol 1 p 356
  16. Link, Arthur (1962). "President Wilson's Plan to Resign in 1916". The Princeton University Library Chronicle. 23 (4). Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  17. "Hughes Elected by Narrow Margin". The Sun. New York. November 8, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved January 25, 2020 – via https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.
  18. The United States Presidents. Curtis Publishing Company. p. 102. ISBN 0-89387-051-X.
  19. Rasmussen, Frederick N. (November 2, 2008). "When Wilson beat Hughes, Baltimore blinked". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  20. "Wilson Lacks Only 12 Out of Possible 38 Votes". Bridgeport Evening Farmer. Bridgeport, Connecticut. November 8, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved January 25, 2020 – via https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.
  21. "Wilson Elected by Votes of California and North Dakota". The Ogden Standard. Ogden, Utah. November 9, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved January 25, 2020 – via https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.
  22. David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1916 Election Statistics
  23. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 17
  24. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 17-19
  25. "1916 Presidential General Election Data - National". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  26. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 19

Bibliography
Further information: 1920 United States elections § Further reading

Primary sources
  • Chester, Edward W A guide to political platforms (1977) online
  • Porter, Kirk H. and Donald Bruce Johnson, eds. National party platforms, 1840-1964 (1965) online 1840-1956
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