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The American Political Almanac
RECONSTRUCTION & THE GILDED AGETHE SYSTEM OF 1896THE NEW DEAL ORDERTHE LONG REALIGNMENTPOLARIZED ERA1868RRRRD1888RDRRR1908RDDRR1928RDDDD1948DRRDD1968RRDRR1988RDDRR2008DDRD2024R

A data almanac of U.S. presidential elections

The American Political Almanac

A century and a half of the vote, county by county and ballot by ballot · 1868–2024

Forty elections on the spine above — drag through the eras, or start from the most recent: 2024, Donald Trump · R+1.5. Press ⌘K to search 3,100 counties, 51 states, and 76 candidates.

Five Eras

The 156-year spine, in chapters
IReconstruction & the Gilded Age1868–1892The Third Party System: razor-thin national margins, the Solid South hardening after Reconstruction, machine politics, and the first stirrings of Populist revolt.IIThe System of 18961896–1928The Fourth Party System: Republican dominance everywhere outside the South, sectionalism at its peak, Progressive insurgencies, and the electorate doubling with women's suffrage in 1920.IIIThe New Deal Order1932–1964The Fifth Party System: the Democratic coalition of the South, the cities, and labor — built in 1932, cracking by 1948, gone by 1968.IVThe Long Realignment1968–2004The Sixth Party System: the South flips, the parties sort by ideology, and the suburbs become the battleground.VThe Polarized Era2008–2024Calcified coalitions, the diploma divide, county-level landslides — the map stops moving even as margins stay close.

Start with a County

3,172 county records — a few worth opening first
★ Bellwether
Albany, WY

Voted with the winner in 30 of its 34 elections — 88%, the best long-run record in the file.

★ Bellwether
San Joaquin, CA

Voted with the winner in 35 of its 40 elections — 88%, the best long-run record in the file.

★ Bellwether
Vigo, IN

Voted with the winner in 35 of its 40 elections — 88%, the best long-run record in the file.

Longest streak
Edwards, IL

Republican in 40 straight elections, every cycle since 1868.

Longest streak
Ogle, IL

Republican in 40 straight elections, every cycle since 1868.

Wildest swing
Bossier, LA

Its two-party margin moved 200 points in 1872 — the largest single-cycle swing on record.

Or browse by state: CA · TX · FL · NY · PA · OH · GA · WI · AZ · NC · all sources & caveats

156 Years of Faces

Every major- and notable third-party nominee, 1868–2024
Horatio SeymourSeymour1868Ulysses S. GrantGrant1868Horace GreeleyGreeley1872Rutherford B. HayesHayes1876Samuel J. TildenTilden1876James A. GarfieldGarfield1880James B. WeaverWeaver1880Winfield Scott HancockHancock1880Grover ClevelandCleveland1884James G. BlaineBlaine1884Benjamin HarrisonHarrison1888William Jennings BryanBryan1896William McKinleyMcKinley1896Alton B. ParkerParker1904Eugene V. DebsDebs1904Theodore RooseveltRoosevelt1904William Howard TaftTaft1908Woodrow WilsonWilson1912Allan L. BensonBenson1916Charles Evans HughesHughes1916James M. CoxCox1920Warren G. HardingHarding1920Calvin CoolidgeCoolidge1924John W. DavisDavis1924Robert M. La FolletteFollette1924Al SmithSmith1928Herbert HooverHoover1928Franklin D. RooseveltRoosevelt1932Norman ThomasThomas1932Alf LandonLandon1936William LemkeLemke1936Wendell WillkieWillkie1940Thomas E. DeweyDewey1944Harry S. TrumanTruman1948Henry A. WallaceWallace1948Strom ThurmondThurmond1948Adlai Stevenson IIII1952Dwight D. EisenhowerEisenhower1952Harry F. ByrdByrd1960John F. KennedyKennedy1960Richard NixonNixon1960Barry GoldwaterGoldwater1964Lyndon B. JohnsonJohnson1964George WallaceWallace1968Hubert HumphreyHumphrey1968George McGovernMcGovern1972Eugene McCarthyMcCarthy1976Gerald FordFord1976Jimmy CarterCarter1976Ed ClarkClark1980John B. AndersonAnderson1980Ronald ReaganReagan1980Walter MondaleMondale1984George H. W. BushBush1988Michael DukakisDukakis1988Bill ClintonClinton1992Ross PerotPerot1992Bob DoleDole1996Al GoreGore2000George W. BushBush2000Ralph NaderNader2000John KerryKerry2004Barack ObamaObama2008Bob BarrBarr2008John McCainMcCain2008Gary JohnsonJohnson2012Jill SteinStein2012Mitt RomneyRomney2012Donald TrumpTrump2016Evan McMullinMcMullin2016Hillary ClintonClinton2016Jo JorgensenJorgensen2020Joe BidenBiden2020Chase OliverOliver2024Kamala HarrisHarris2024Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Jr.2024