Barack Obama's Election: Presidential Winners, 1900-2008

Barack Obama's Election:
Most Popular President-elects?




Not Really:
Obama Ranks in Bottom Half of Last 28 Election Winners
In Both Popular Vote Percentage, Electoral College

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The CNN story "Belief that country heading in right direction is at all-time low", prompted a response by Amanda Terkel, who said that the "Least popular president meets one of the most popular president-elect."

Terkel refers to a Gallup poll taken after the November 4 election showing that Barack Obama has a 70% favorability rating.

Of course, the most reliable poll is the one voters participated in two days before the Gallup Poll--which was one of the most unreliable prior to Election Day--when they cast votes for their choice. By that most reliable of polls, Obama's favorability is nothing special, history-wise.

In the 28 U.S. elections held since 1900, Obama finishes in the bottom half in both popular vote percentage and electoral vote totals.

Obama's 65+ million votes is the most in terms of absolute votes cast. But, by that standard of popularity, George Washington is the least popular president ever. It's likely that the number of votes the winning candidate receives will continue to go up with each election, as the U.S. population increases.

Several presidential winners who ranked below Obama were involved in three-way races, which lowered their totals. Among the winners of these multi-candidate races were: Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996; Ronald Reagan in 1980; and Richard Nixon in 1968.

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Popular Vote Percentage
U.S. Presidential Elections, 1900-2008

1. 61.1% - Lyndon Johnson 1964
   
2. 60.8% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936
   
3. 60.7% - Richard M. Nixon 1972
   
4. 58.8% - Ronald Reagan 1984
   
5. 60.3% - Warren G. Harding 1920
   
6. 58.2% - Herbert Hoover 1928
   
7. 57.4% - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956
   
8. 57.4% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932
   
9. 56.4% - Theodore Roosevelt 1904
   
10. 55.2% - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952
    
11. 54.7% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1940
    
12. 54.0% - Calvin Coolidge 1924
    
13. 53.4% - George H. Bush 1988
    
14. 53.4% - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1944
    
15. 52.6% - Barack Obama 2008
    
16. 51.6% - William H. Taft 1908
    
17. 51.6% - William B. McKinley 1900
    
18. 50.7% - Ronald Reagan 1980
    
19. 50.7% - George H.W. Bush 2004
    
20. 50.1% - Jimmy Carter 1976
    
21. 49.7% - John F. Kennedy 1960
    
22. 49.6% - Harry Truman 1948
    
23. 49.24%- Bill Clinton 1996
    
24. 49.2% - Woodrow Wilson 1916
    
25. 47.9% - George H.W. Bush 2000
    
26. 43.4% - Richard M. Nixon 1968
    
27. 43.0% - Bill Clinton 1992
    
28. 41.8% - Woodrow Wilson 1912
    

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Electoral Vote Total,
U.S. Presidential Elections 1900-2008

1. 525 - Ronald Reagan 1984
   
2. 523 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1936
   
3. 520 - Richard Nixon 1972
   
4. 489 - Ronald Reagan 1980
   
5. 486 - Lyndon Johnson 1964
   
6. 472 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1932
   
7. 457 - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956
   
8. 449 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1940
   
9. 444 - Herbert Hoover 1928
   
10. 442 - Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952
    
11. 435 - Woodrow Wilson 1912
    
12. 432 - Franklin D. Roosevelt 1944
    
13. 426 - George H. Bush 1988
    
14. 404 - Warren G. Harding 1920
    
15. 382 - Calvin Coolidge 1924
    
16. 379 - Bill Clinton 1992
    
17. 370 - Bill Clinton 1992
    
18. 364 - Barack Obama 2008
    
19. 336 - Theodore Roosevelt 1904
    
20. 321 - William H. Taft 1908
    
21. 303 - Harry Truman 1948
    
22. 303 - John F. Kennedy 1960
    
23. 301 - Richard Nixon 1968
    
24. 297 - Jimmy Carter 1976
    
25. 292 - William McKinley 1900
    
26. 286 - George H.W. Bush 2004
    
27. 277 - Woodrow Wilson 1916
    
28. 271 - George H.W. Bush 2000
    

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There was one yardstick by which Barack Obama could be called "the most popular president-elect"--number of times he's appeared on the cover of TIME before he was elected. [Obama’s Constant Time Cover Status: TIME Hearts Obama] Obama appeared on 10 TIME covers in the 42 weeks before the 2008 election.

Obama still has quite a way to go to pass the man with the most TIME covers, Richard Nixon. Nixon appeared on TIME's cover 55 times over 4 decades.

Obama has passed the women featured on TIME's cover: Princess Diana and The Virgin Mary, each with eight.

We'll leave the Messiah jokes for the comments.

by Mondo Frazier
images: dbkp file
Sources:
* Presidential Elections, 1789–2008
* Wikipedia
* Guiness World Records