United States presidential election, 1804

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The United States presidential election of 1804 pitted incumbent Democratic-Republican President Thomas Jefferson against Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Jefferson easily defeated Pinckney in the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Under the rules of the Twelfth Amendment, presidential electors were required to specify in their votes their choice for President and Vice President; previously, electors voted only for President, with the person who came in second becoming the Vice President. George Clinton was elected Vice President and would go on to serve under both Jefferson and his successor, James Madison.

Contents 1 Background 2 General election 2.1 Results 3 Electoral college selection 4 See also 5 References 6 Navigation

[edit] Background

Although the 1800 election had been close, Jefferson had steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade had boomed because the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe had been temporarily suspended. The Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.

[edit] General election

Jefferson was renominated and Governor George Clinton of New York replaced Aaron Burr as his running mate. The Federalists chose Pinckney and former United States Senator Rufus King of New York to run against him. Attacks on Jefferson's policies proved fruitless; Jefferson's victory was overwhelming, even winning most of the states in the Federalist heartland of New England.

[edit] Results

Presidential Candidate	Party	Home State	Popular Vote(a), (b)		Electoral Vote	Running Mate	Running Mate's Home State	Running Mate's Electoral Vote
			Count	Percentage
Thomas Jefferson	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	104,110	72.8%	162	George Clinton	New York	162
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	38,919	27.2%	14	Rufus King	New York	14
Total			143,029	100.0%	176	Total		176
Needed to win					89	Needed to win		89

Source (Popular Vote): U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 10, 2006).

Source (Electoral Vote): Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996. Official website of the National Archives. (July 30, 2005).

^(a) Only 11 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote.
^(b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements.

[edit] Electoral college selection

Method of choosing Electors	State(s)
each Elector appointed by state legislature	Connecticut Delaware Georgia New York South Carolina Vermont
each Elector chosen by voters statewide	New Hampshire New Jersey Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia
state is divided into electoral districts, with one Elector chosen per district by the voters of that district	Kentucky Maryland North Carolina Tennessee
two Electors chosen by voters statewide one Elector chosen per Congressional district by the voters of that district	Massachusetts

-Since this election, Vermont continued to vote for Jefferson' party in future Presidential elections.

[edit] See also

• History of the United States (1789-1849)

[edit] References

• A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College. The Green Papers. Retrieved on March 20, 2005.
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825

[edit] Navigation

United States Presidential Elections

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