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 Supreme Court Justice Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican candidate. Wilson was the only sitting Democratic president to win re-election between 1832 and 1936.

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
Turnout	61.6%[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

Wilson was re-nominated without opposition at the 1916 Democratic National Convention. 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, becoming the only Supreme Court Justice to serve as a major party's presidential nominee. While conservative and progressive Republicans had been divided in the 1912 election between the candidacies of then-incumbent President William Howard Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt, they largely united around Hughes in his bid to oust Wilson.

The election took place during the time of the Mexican Revolution and World War I. Although officially neutral in the European conflict, public opinion in the United States leaned towards the Allied forces headed by Great Britain and France against the German Empire and Austria-Hungary, due in large measure to the harsh treatment of civilians by the German Army in Belgium and northern France and the militaristic character of the German and Austrian monarchies, but in spite of their sympathy with 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.[2][3][4] Hughes criticized Wilson for not taking the "necessary preparations" to face a conflict, which only served to strengthen Wilson's image as an anti-war candidate. Ironically, the United States would enter the war in April 1917, one month after Wilson's second inauguration as president.

After a hard-fought contest, Wilson defeated Hughes by nearly 600,000 votes in the popular vote. The 1916 election saw an increase in Wilson's popular vote from the four-way election of 1912, but a major decline in the number of electoral votes won. 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 by just 3,773 votes; had he lost California, he would have lost the election. Allan L. Benson of the Socialist Party and Frank Hanly of the Prohibition Party each finished with greater than 1% of the popular vote.

Nominations

Democratic Party nomination

Main article: 1916 Democratic National Convention

Democratic Party Ticket, 1916
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

Democratic candidate:

• Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States

Democratic National Convention

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

In the campaign Edward M. House declined any public role, but 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."[5]

Republican Party nomination

Main article: 1916 Republican National Convention

Republican Party Ticket, 1916
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

Republican candidates:

• Charles Evans Hughes, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and former Governor of New York
• John W. Weeks, U.S. senator from Massachusetts
• Elihu Root, former U.S. senator from New York
• Theodore E. Burton, former U.S. senator from Ohio
• Charles W. Fairbanks, former Vice President of the United States from Indiana
• Albert B. Cummins, U.S. senator from Iowa

Candidates gallery

• 
  U.S. Supreme Court Justice
  Charles Evans Hughes
• 
  Senator John W. Weeks from Massachusetts
• 
  Elihu Root from New York
• 
  Theodore E. Burton from Ohio
• 
  Former Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks from Indiana
• 
  Senator Albert B. Cummins from Iowa

Republican National Convention

The 1916 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago between June 7 and 10. A major goal of the party's bosses at the convention was to heal the bitter split within the party that had occurred in the 1912 presidential campaign. In that year, Theodore Roosevelt bolted the Republican Party and formed his own political party, the Progressive Party, which attracted most of the Republican liberals. William Howard Taft, the incumbent president, won the nomination of the regular Republican Party. This split in the Republican ranks divided the Republican vote and led to the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Although several candidates were openly competing for the 1916 nomination—most prominently conservative Senator Elihu Root from New York and liberal Senator John W. Weeks from 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. Hughes was the only Supreme Court Justice to be nominated for president by a major political party.

Republican Convention, The Coliseum, Chicago

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

Progressive Party nomination

Candidates gallery

• 
  Theodore Roosevelt
  from New York
  (Refused nomination)
• 
  Victor Murdock
  from Kansas
  (Not formally nominated)
• 
  Governor
  Hiram Johnson
  of California
  (Declined interest)
• 
  Gifford Pinchot
  from Pennsylvania
  (Declined interest)

The Progressives re-nominated former President Theodore Roosevelt and nominated John Parker of Louisiana as his running-mate; others suggested for the Vice-Presidency were California Governor and the 1912 Vice-Presidential nominee Hiram Johnson, and Chairman of the Party Convention Raymond Robins, 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. With Roosevelt refusing to be their candidate, the Progressive Party quickly fell into disarray; there was a temporary shout led by former Representative Victor Murdock from Kansas for a ticket consisting of three-time Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan and industrialist Henry Ford but it amounted to little. Some like National Committeeman Harold L. Ickes refused to consider endorsing Hughes, and there was some talk of nominating an alternative candidate, such as Hiram Johnson or Gifford Pinchot, in Roosevelt's stead. However 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 the Republican ticket, and 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.

Most of its members would return to the Republican Party, although a substantial minority supported Wilson for his efforts in keeping the United States out of World War I. Roosevelt had turned down the Progressive nomination for both personal and political reasons; he had become convinced that running for president on a third-party ticket again would merely give the election to the Democrats, a result he was loath to make possible since he 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.[6][7][8]

"Middle-Road" Progressive Party nomination

"Middle-Road" Progressive ticket

• 
  Theodore Roosevelt
  from New York
  (Vacant Upon Refusal)
• 
  Businessman
  John M. Parker
  from Louisiana

However many in the party, notably the Vice-Presidential nominee John Parker and Bainbridge Colby, remained steadfast in their refusal to back the Republican ticket, though they differed in their ultimate aims; Parker for example desired for a Progressive ticket to be put into the Presidential race (himself now being the major contender for the top of the ticket among the bolters), whereas Colby, while opposed to the endorsement of Hughes, considered a Progressive ticket at this point impractical and privately supported Wilson for the Presidency. Still 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.[9][10][10]

Socialist Party nomination

Socialist candidates

• 
  Newspaper Editor
  Allan L. Benson
  from New York
• 
  State Representative
  James H. Maurer
  from Pennsylvania
• 
  Newspaper Editor
  Arthur LeSueur
  from North Dakota

While the initial frontrunner for the nomination was the popular Eugene V. Debs, 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, within a short time came to dominate the field through his fervent opposition to militarism, running on the proposal that all future participation in wars should be voted upon in a national referendum. The vote for the nomination 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.[11]

General election

The fall campaign

See also: American entry into World War I

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.[12] Charles Evans Hughes insisted on downplaying the war issue. He advocated a program of greater mobilization and preparedness.[13] 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 civil war. 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.

Results

Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage for the winning candidate. Shades of blue are for Wilson (Democratic), shades of red are for Hughes (Republican), shades of green are for "No Candidate" (Progressive), grey indicates zero recorded votes and white indicates territories not elevated to statehood.[14]

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, including The World and The Sun, which erroneously called six states - California, Idaho, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming - for Hughes.[15] By Wednesday evening Wilson had secured 254 electoral votes in the counting, needing either California or Minnesota to claim victory.[16] Democrats declared victory in California on Thursday afternoon and the California Republican Party conceded defeat that night.[17]

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 of just four presidents in US history to win re-election with a lower percentage of the electoral vote than in their prior elections, following James Madison in 1812. As the number of electors had increased during Madison's first term, but held steady throughout Wilson's, Wilson was also the first of only three successfully reelected presidents to receive fewer total electoral votes. This result would be experienced again only by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944 and by Barack Obama in 2012.

The key state proved to be California, which Wilson won by only 3,800 votes out of nearly a million cast. 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.[18][lower-alpha 1] If Hughes had carried California and its thirteen electoral votes, he would have won the election. A popular legend from the 1916 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 (stories vary as to whether this person was his son or a butler or valet) 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."

Wilson's popular vote margin of 3.1 percent was the smallest attained by a victorious sitting president until 2004. By defeating Hughes, Woodrow Wilson became 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 elected to a second term since John C. Calhoun in 1828. Wilson and Marshall became the first incumbent presidential ticket to win re-election, since James Monroe and Daniel D. Tompkins in 1820.

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. In some of the states carried by Wilson, particularly in the South, the margin of popular vote was large. Considering the vote by sections, Wilson ran behind Hughes in New England, the (Northeastern) Mid-Atlantic states, and in the East North Central section.[19] 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.[20] 1/2 of Wilson's total vote was cast in the 18 states that he did not carry.

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.

There was a shift of votes to the Democratic Party, at least for this election, which was in locality and degree a novel phenomenon in party voting for the Fourth Party System. Wilson carried 200 counties that had never voted Democratic in a two-party contest prior to that time.[21] This shift of votes led some to believe that the Democratic Party might have the position of decided advantage in the election of 1920, a judgment that later proved disastrously wrong.[21]

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 2] they either only served one term or they carried them both in another Presidential election.

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 an eventual losing candidate until 1976, the last time Minnesota voted for an eventual losing candidate until 1968, the last time West Virginia voted for a losing candidate until 1952, and the only time a Democrat was elected without West Virginia until 2008. (West Virginia's electors were voted on separately, and one of Wilson's, Orland Depue, managed to win.)

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.

Electoral results

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	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
No Candidate	Progressive	(n/a)	33,406	0.18%	0	(n/a)	(n/a)	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. 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%

Geography of results

• 
  Results by county, shaded according to winning candidate's percentage of the vote

Cartographic gallery

• 
  Map of presidential election results by county
• 
  Map of Democratic presidential election results by county
• 
  Map of Republican presidential election results by county
• 
  Map of "other" presidential election results by county
• 
  Cartogram of presidential election results by county
• 
  Cartogram of Democratic presidential election results by county
• 
  Cartogram of Republican presidential election results by county
• 
  Cartogram of "other" presidential election results by county

Results by state

[22]

States won by Wilson/Marshall

States won by Hughes/Fairbanks

		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

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

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%

Statistics

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%

See also

• President of the United States
• History of the United States (1865-1918)
• 1916 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1916 United States Senate elections
• Second inauguration of Woodrow Wilson

Notes

1. 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.
2. Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, Harry Truman in 1948 and Jimmy Carter in 1976 won without Michigan; FDR in 1932 and Truman in 1948 won for the Democrats whilst losing Pennsylvania.

References

1. "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections". The American Presidency Project. UC Santa Barbara.
2. "Wilson for 'America First'", The Chicago Daily Tribune (October 12, 1915).
3. Cooper, John Milton. Woodrow Wilson: A Biography, p. 278 (Vintage Books 2011).
4. Garrett, Garet. Defend America First: The Antiwar Editorials of the Saturday Evening Post, 1939-1942, p. 13 (Caxton Press 2003).
5. Godfrey Hodgson (2006). Woodrow Wilson's right hand: the life of Colonel Edward M. House. Yale University Press. p. 126.
6. "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.
7. "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.
8. "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.
9. "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.
10. "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.
11. "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.
12. John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson (2009) pp 341-2, 352, 360
13. Merlo J. Pusey, Charles Evans Hughes (1951) vol 1 p 356
14. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932 – Google Books. Stanford University Press. 1934. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
15. "Hughes Elected by Narrow Margin". The Sun. New York. November 8, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved January 25, 2020 – via https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/.
16. "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/.
17. "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/.
18. David Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections; 1916 Election Statistics
19. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 17
20. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 17-19
21. The Presidential Vote, 1896-1932, Edgar E. Robinson, pg. 19
22. "1916 Presidential General Election Data - National". Uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 15, 2013.

Bibliography

Further information: 1920 United States elections § Further reading

• Cooper, Jr., John Milton. Woodrow Wilson (2009), ch 16.
• Davies, Gareth, and Julian E. Zelizer, eds. America at the Ballot Box: Elections and Political History (2015) pp. 118–38.
• Gould, Lewis L. The First Modern Clash Over Federal Power: Wilson Versus Hughes in the Presidential Election of 1916 (University Press of Kansas; 2016) 178 pages.
• Leary, William M., Jr. (1967). "Woodrow Wilson, Irish Americans, and the Election of 1916". The Journal of American History. 54 (1): 57–72. doi:10.2307/1900319. JSTOR 1900319.
• Link, Arthur Stanley (1954). Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910–1917. New York: Harper.
• Link, Arthur Stanley (1965). Wilson: Campaigns For Progressivism and Peace 1916–1917. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Lovell, S. D. (1980). The Presidential Election of 1916. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-0965-3.
• Pietrusza, David (2018). TR's Last War: Theodore Roosevelt, the Great War, and a Journey of Triumph and Tragedy. Guilford (CT): Lyons Press.
• Pusey, Merlo J. (1951). Charles Evans Hughes. 1. New York: Macmillan. volume 1 ch 31-34

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

External links

• United States presidential election of 1916 at the Encyclopædia Britannica
• Presidential Election of 1916: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
• 1916 popular vote by counties
• How close was the 1916 election? at the Wayback Machine (archived August 25, 2012) — Michael Sheppard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Election of 1916 in Counting the Votes