The presidential election in the US is held every four years, hence the election is said to be quadrennial (from the Latin quadri for ‘four’). There have been 59 presidential elections in the US since 1788-89 (the first presidential election is the only one to span two calender years, running from December 15, 1788 to January 7, 1789).
The first person to win a presidential election in the US was George Washington in 1788-89. The most recent presidential election took place in 2020 with Joe Biden emerging as the winner.
The next presidential election year in the US is this year, 2024. The president and vice president are being elected formally through the electoral college where the candidate who receives the majority of the electoral votes emerges as the winner.
The candidate is expected to have at least 270 out of 538 votes to emerge as the winner. In a situation where there is no candidate with a majority vote, the president is being elected by the House of Representative which may choose among the three candidates with the highest number of electoral votes.
List of presidents in the US from 1778
Year of election | Name of President | No. of Electoral Votes | Political party |
1788/89 | George Washington | 69 | No organized party |
1792 | George Washington | 132 | Federalist |
1796 | John Adams | 71 | Federalist |
1800 | Thomas Jefferson | 73 | Democratic-Republican |
1804 | Thomas Jefferson | 162 | Democratic-Republican |
1808 | James Madison | 122 | Democratic-Republican |
1812 | James Madison | 128 | Democratic-Republican |
1816 | James Monroe | 183 | Democratic-Republican |
1820 | James Monroe | 231 | Democratic-Republican |
1824 | John Quincy Adams | 84 | |
1828 | Andrew Jackson | 178 | Democratic |
1832 | Andrew Jackson | 219 | Democratic |
1836 | Martin Van Buren | 170 | Democratic |
1840 | William Henry Harrison | 234 | Whig |
1844 | James K. Polk | 170 | Democratic |
1848 | Zachary Taylor | 163 | Whig |
1852 | Franklin Pierce | 254 | Democratic |
1856 | James Buchanan | 174 | Democratic |
1860 | Abraham Lincoln | 180 | Republican |
1864 | Abraham Lincoln | 212 | Republican |
1868 | Ulysses S. Grant | 214 | Republican |
1872 | Ulysses S. Grant | 286 | Republican |
1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes | 185 | Republican |
1880 | James A. Garfield | 214 | Republican |
1884 | Grover Cleveland | 219 | Democratic |
1888 | Benjamin Harrison | 233 | Republican |
1892 | Grover Cleveland | 277 | Democratic |
1896 | William McKinley | 271 | Republican |
1900 | William McKinley | 292 | Republican |
1904 | Theodore Roosevelt | 336 | Republican |
1908 | William Howard Taft | 321 | Republican |
1912 | Woodrow Wilson | 435 | Democratic |
1916 | Woodrow Wilson | 277 | Democratic |
1920 | Warren G. Harding | 404 | Republican |
1924 | Calvin Coolidge | 382 | Republican |
1928 | Herbert Hoover | 444 | Republican |
1932 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 472 | Democratic |
1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 523 | Democratic |
1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 449 | Democratic |
1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | 432 | Democratic |
1948 | Harry S. Truman | 303 | Democratic |
1952 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 442 | Republican |
1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 457 | Republican |
1960 | John F. Kennedy | 303 | Democratic |
1964 | Lyndon B. Johnson | 486 | Democratic |
1968 | Richard M. Nixon | 301 | Republican |
1972 | Richard M. Nixon | 520 | Republican |
1976 | Jimmy Carter | 297 | Democratic |
1980 | Ronald W. Reagan | 489 | Republican |
1984 | Ronald W. Reagan | 525 | Republican |
1988 | George H.W. Bush | 426 | Republican |
1992 | Bill Clinton | 370 | Democratic |
1996 | Bill Clinton | 379 | Democratic |
2000 | George W. Bush | 271 | Republican |
2004 | George W. Bush | 286 | Republican |
2008 | Barack Obama | 365 | Democratic |
2012 | Barack Obama | 332 | Democratic |
2016 | Donald Trump | 304 | Republican |
2020 | Joe Biden | 306 | Democratic |