1804 United States presidential election

November 2 – December 5, 1804
176 members of the Electoral College 89 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	23.8%[1] 8.5 pp
Nominee Thomas Jefferson Charles C. Pinckney Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Home state Virginia South Carolina Running mate George Clinton Rufus King Electoral vote 162 14 States carried 15 2 Popular vote 104,110 38,919 Percentage 72.8% 27.2%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Jefferson and burnt orange denotes states won by Pinckney. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
President before election Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican Elected President Thomas Jefferson Democratic-Republican

The 1804 United States presidential election was the fifth quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 2, to Wednesday, December 5, 1804. Incumbent Democratic-Republican president Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina. It was the first presidential election conducted following the ratification of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which reformed procedures for electing presidents and vice presidents.

Jefferson was re-nominated by his party's congressional nominating caucus without opposition, and the party nominated Governor George Clinton of New York to replace Aaron Burr as Jefferson's running mate. With former president John Adams in retirement, the Federalists turned to Pinckney, a former ambassador and Revolutionary War hero who had been Adams's running mate in the 1800 election.

Though Jefferson had only narrowly defeated Adams in 1800, he was widely popular due to the Louisiana Purchase and a strong economy. He carried almost every state, including most states in the Federalist stronghold of New England.

Background

Although the 1800 presidential election was a close one, Jefferson steadily gained popularity during his term. American trade boomed due to the temporary suspension of hostilities during the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe, and the Louisiana Purchase was heralded as a great achievement.

Nominations

Democratic-Republican Party nomination

Democratic-Republican Party Democratic-Republican Party Ticket, 1804
Thomas Jefferson	George Clinton
for President	for Vice President
3rd President of the United States (1801–1809)	1st Governor of New York (1777–1795, 1801–1804)

The congressional nominating caucus of the Democratic-Republican Party was held in February 1804, with 108 members of the United States Congress in attendance and Senator Stephen R. Bradley as its chair. Jefferson was renominated by acclamation while Vice President Aaron Burr was not considered for renomination. The caucus selected to give the vice-presidential nomination to Governor George Clinton whose main opponent was Senator John Breckinridge. A thirteen member committee was selected to manage Jefferson's presidential campaign.^[2][3]

Vice-presidential candidates

• John Breckinridge (Kentucky), U.S. Senator
• George Clinton (New York), Governor
• Gideon Granger (Connecticut), Postmaster General
• John Langdon (New Hampshire), former U.S. Senator
• Levi Lincoln (Massachusetts), U.S. Attorney General
• William Maclay (Pennsylvania), former U.S. Senator

• 
  Senator
  John Breckinridge
  from Kentucky
• 
  Governor
  George Clinton
  of New York
• 
  Postmaster General
  Gideon Granger
  from Connecticut
• 
  Former Senator
  John Langdon
  from New Hampshire
• 
  Attorney General
  Levi Lincoln
  from Massachusetts
• 
  Former Senator
  William Maclay
  from Pennsylvania

Balloting

Presidential ballot	Total	Vice-presidential ballot	Total
Thomas Jefferson	108	George Clinton	67
		John Breckinridge	20
		Levi Lincoln	9
		John Langdon	7
		Gideon Granger	4
		William Maclay	1

Federalist Party nomination

Federalist Party Federalist Party Ticket, 1804
Charles C. Pinckney	Rufus King
for President	for Vice President
6th U.S. Minister to France (1796–1797)	3rd U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1796–1803)

The Federalists did not hold a nominating caucus, but Federalist Congressional leaders informally agreed to nominate a ticket consisting of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former Senator Rufus King of New York.^[2] Pinckney's public service during and after the American Revolutionary War had won him national stature, and Federalists hoped that Pinckney would win some Southern votes away from Jefferson, who had dominated the Southern vote in the previous election.^[4]

General election

Federalist leader Alexander Hamilton's death in July 1804 following the Burr–Hamilton duel destroyed whatever hope the Federalists had of defeating the popular Jefferson. Leaderless and disorganized, the Federalists failed to attract much support outside of New England. The Federalists attacked the Louisiana Purchase as unconstitutional, criticized Jefferson's gunboat navy, and alleged that Jefferson had fathered children with his slave, Sally Hemings, but the party failed to galvanize opposition to Jefferson. Jefferson's policies of expansionism and reduced government spending were widely popular. Jefferson was aided by an effective Democratic-Republican party organization, which had continued to develop since 1800, especially in the Federalist stronghold of New England.^[2]

Jefferson's victory was overwhelming, and he even won four of the five New England states. Pinckney won only two states, Connecticut and Delaware. This was the first election where the Democratic-Republicans won in Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.

As of 2023, Jefferson was the first of seven presidential nominees to win a significant number of electoral votes in at least three elections, the others being Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, William Jennings Bryan, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. Of these, Jackson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt also won the popular vote in at least three elections. Jefferson, Cleveland, and Roosevelt were also their respective party's nominees for three consecutive elections.

Results

Electoral results

Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote(a), (b)		Electoral vote	Running mate
			Count	Percentage		Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote
Thomas Jefferson (incumbent)	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	104,110	72.8%	162	George Clinton	New York	162
Charles C. Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	38,919	27.2%	14	Rufus King	New York	14
Total			143,029	100%	176			176
Needed to win					89			89

Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825^[5]
Source (electoral vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved 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.

Electoral College selection

Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage of the winning candidate in each county. Shades of blue are for Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) and shades of yellow are for Pinckney (Federalist).

See also

• Bibliography of Thomas Jefferson
• History of the United States (1789–1849)
• Second inauguration of Thomas Jefferson
• 1804–05 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1804–05 United States Senate elections

References

• "A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 20, 2005.
• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825
• Presidential Election of 1804: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States presidential election, 1804.

• Election of 1804 in Counting the Votes Archived September 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine