1808 United States presidential election

1808 United States presidential election
175 members of the Electoral College; 88 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	36.8% 13.0 pp
	Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Madison, burnt orange denotes states won by Pinckney, and light green denotes states won by Clinton. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
President before election; Thomas Jefferson; Democratic-Republican	Elected President ; James Madison; Democratic-Republican

The 1808 United States presidential election was the sixth quadrennial presidential election, held from Friday, November 4, to Wednesday, December 7, 1808. The Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison defeated Federalist candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney decisively. Madison's victory made him the first individual to succeed a president of the same party.

Madison had served as Secretary of State since President Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801. Jefferson, who had declined to run for a third term, threw his strong support behind Madison, a fellow Virginian. Sitting Vice President George Clinton and former Ambassador James Monroe both challenged Madison for leadership of the party, but Madison won his party's nomination and Clinton was re-nominated as vice president. The Federalists chose to re-nominate Pinckney, a former ambassador who had served as the party's 1804 nominee.

Despite the unpopularity of the Embargo Act of 1807, Madison won the vast majority of electoral votes outside of the Federalist stronghold of New England. Clinton received six electoral votes for president from his home state of New York. This election was the first of two instances in American history in which a new president was selected but the incumbent vice president won re-election, the other being in 1828.

Nominations[]

Democratic-Republican Party nomination[]

James Madison	George Clinton
Democratic-Republican Party Ticket, 1808
for President	for Vice President

5th U.S. Secretary of State (1801–1809)	4th Vice President of the United States (1805–1812)

Presidential candidates[]

James Madison (Virginia), Secretary of State
James Monroe (Virginia), Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
George Clinton (New York), Vice President of the United States

Secretary of State
James Madison
Former U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom
James Monroe
of Virginia
Vice President
George Clinton

Vice-presidential candidates[]

George Clinton (New York), Vice President of the United States
Henry Dearborn (Maine), Secretary of War
John Quincy Adams (Massachusetts), United States Senator

Vice President
George Clinton
Secretary of War
Henry Dearborn
Senator
John Quincy Adams
from Massachusetts

Caucus[]

Nominations for the 1808 presidential election were made by congressional caucuses. With Thomas Jefferson ready to retire, supporters of Secretary of State James Madison of Virginia worked carefully to ensure that Madison would succeed Jefferson. Madison's primary competition came from former diplomat James Monroe of Virginia and Vice President George Clinton. Monroe was supported by a group known as the tertium quids, who supported a weak central government and were dissatisfied by the Louisiana Purchase and the Compact of 1802. Clinton's support came from Northern Democratic-Republicans who disapproved of the Embargo Act (which they saw as potentially leading towards war with Great Britain) and who sought to end the Virginia Dynasty. The Congressional caucus met in January 1808, choosing Madison as its candidate for president and Clinton as its candidate for vice president.^[2]

Many supporters of Monroe and Clinton refused to accept the result of the caucus. Monroe was nominated by a group of Virginia Democratic-Republicans, and although he did not actively try to defeat Madison, he also refused to withdraw from the race.^[3] Clinton was also supported by a group of New York Democratic-Republicans for president even as he remained the party's official vice presidential candidate.^[4]

Balloting[]

Presidential Ballot	Total	Vice Presidential Ballot	Total
James Madison	83	George Clinton	79
James Monroe	3	John Langdon	5
George Clinton	3	Henry Dearborn	3
		John Quincy Adams	1

Federalist Party nomination[]

Charles C. Pinckney	Rufus King
Federalist Party Ticket, 1808
for President	for Vice President

Former U.S. Minister to France (1796–1797)	Former U.S. Minister to Great Britain (1796–1803)

The Federalist caucus met in September 1808 and re-nominated the party's 1804 ticket, which consisted of General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former Senator Rufus King of New York.^[5]

General election[]

Campaign[]

The election was marked by opposition to Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807, a halt to trade with Europe that disproportionately hurt New England merchants and was perceived as favoring France over Britain. Nonetheless, Jefferson was still very popular with Americans generally and Pinckney was soundly defeated by Madison, though not as badly as in 1804. Pinckney received few electoral votes outside of New England.

Results[]

Pinckney retained the electoral votes of the two states that he carried in 1804 (Connecticut and Delaware), and he also picked up New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and three electoral districts in North Carolina besides the two electoral districts in Maryland that he carried earlier. Except for the North Carolina districts, all of the improvement was in New England.

Monroe won a portion of the popular vote in Virginia and North Carolina,^[3] while the New York legislature split its electoral votes between Madison and Clinton.^[4]

Electoral results
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Popular vote^{(a), (b)}		Electoral vote^(c)	Running mate
Presidential candidate	Party	Home state	Count	Percentage	Electoral vote^(c)	Vice-presidential candidate	Home state	Electoral vote^(c)
James Madison	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	124,732	64.7%	122	George Clinton (incumbent)	New York	113
James Madison	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	124,732	64.7%	122	John Langdon	New Hampshire	9
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney	Federalist	South Carolina	62,431	32.4%	47	Rufus King	New York	47
George Clinton	Democratic-Republican	New York	—	—	6	James Madison	Virginia	3
George Clinton	Democratic-Republican	New York	—	—	6	James Monroe	Virginia	3
James Monroe	Democratic-Republican	Virginia	4,848	2.5%	0	None	N/A	0
Unpledged electors	None	N/A	680	0.4%	0	N/A	N/A	0
Total			192,691	100%	175			175
Needed to win					88			88

Source (Popular Vote): U.S. President National Vote. Our Campaigns. (February 10, 2006).
Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825^[6]
Source (Electoral Vote): "Electoral College Box Scores 1789–1996". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved July 30, 2005.

^(a) Only 10 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.
^(c) One Elector from Kentucky did not vote.

Popular vote by state[]

The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of North Carolina and Tennessee appear to be incomplete.


State	James Madison Democratic-Republican		Charles C. Pinckney Federalist		James Monroe Democratic-Republican		Margin		Citation
	#	%	#	%			#	%
	2,679	98.02%	54	1.98%	No ballots		2,625	96.04%	^[7]
	15,336	63.31%	8,886	36.69%	No ballots		6,450	26.62%	^[8]
	12,793	47.60%	14,085	52.40%	No ballots		-1,292	-4.80%	^[9]
New Jersey	18,670	55.97%	14,687	44.03%	No ballots		3,983	11.94%	^[10]
	8,829	51.08%	7,523	43.53%	931	5.39%	1,306	7.55%	^[11]
Ohio	3,645	60.82%	1,174	19.59%	1,174	19.59%	2,471	41.23%	^[12]
Pennsylvania	42,518	78.37%	11,735	21.63%	No ballots		30,783	56.74%	^[13]
	2,692	46.70%	3,072	53.30%	No ballots		-380	-6.60%	^[14]
	1,016		11		No ballots				^[15]
	15,683	78.62%	761	3.81%	3,505	17.57%	12,178	61.05%	^[16]

Close states[]

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

New Hampshire, 4.8% (1,292 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

Rhode Island, 6.6% (380 votes)
North Carolina, 7.55% (1,306 votes)

Popular vote

Madison			64.7%
Pinckney			27.2%

Electoral vote—President

Madison			69.3%
Pinckney			26.7%
Clinton			3.4%

Electoral vote—Vice President

Clinton			64.2%
King			26.7%
Langdon			5.1%
Madison			1.7%
Madison			1.7%
Unpledged electors			0.6%

Electoral college selection[]

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

Method of choosing electors	State(s)
Each Elector appointed by state legislature	Connecticut Delaware Georgia Massachusetts 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

References[]

^ "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Election Project. CQ Press. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016.
^ Sabato, Larry; Ernst, Howard (January 1, 2009). Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. Infobase Publishing. pp. 302–304.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Ammon, Harry (1963). "James Monroe and the Election of 1808 in Virginia". The William and Mary Quarterly. 20 (1): 33–56. doi:10.2307/1921354. JSTOR 1921354.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Kaminski, John P. (1993). George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 281–288. ISBN 9780945612186. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
^ Deskins, Donald Richard; Walton, Hanes; Puckett, Sherman (2010). Presidential Elections, 1789-2008: County, State, and National Mapping of Election Data. University of Michigan Press. pp. 49–50.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
^ "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

External links[]

Election of 1808 in Counting the Votes Archived October 1, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
Presidential Election of 1808: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress
"A Historical Analysis of the Electoral College". The Green Papers. Retrieved March 20, 2005.
A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787-1825

[1] "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present". United States Election Project. CQ Press. Archived from the original on November 14, 2016.

[sabato1-2] Sabato, Larry; Ernst, Howard (January 1, 2009). Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections. Infobase Publishing. pp. 302–304.

[ammon-3] Jump up to: ^a ^b Ammon, Harry (1963). "James Monroe and the Election of 1808 in Virginia". The William and Mary Quarterly. 20 (1): 33–56. doi:10.2307/1921354. JSTOR 1921354.

[kaminski-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b Kaminski, John P. (1993). George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 281–288. ISBN 9780945612186. Retrieved October 12, 2015.

[deskins1-5] Deskins, Donald Richard; Walton, Hanes; Puckett, Sherman (2010). Presidential Elections, 1789-2008: County, State, and National Mapping of Election Data. University of Michigan Press. pp. 49–50.

[6] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on May 13, 2018.

[7] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[8] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[9] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[10] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[11] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[12] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[13] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[14] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[15] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[16] "A New Nation Votes". elections.lib.tufts.edu. Retrieved October 8, 2020.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

show v t James Madison
4th President of the United States (1809–1817) 5th U.S. Secretary of State (1801–1809) United States House of Representatives (1789–1797) Congress of the Confederation (1781–1783) Virginia House of Delegates (1776–1779, 1784–1786)
"Father of the Constitution"	Co-wrote, 1776 Virginia Constitution 1786 Annapolis Convention 1787 Constitutional Convention Virginia Plan Constitution of the United States Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 The Federalist Papers written by Madison No. 10 No. 51 Virginia Ratifying Convention United States Bill of Rights 27th amendment Constitution drafting and ratification timeline Tariff of 1789 Founding Fathers
Presidency	First inauguration Second inauguration Tecumseh's War Battle of Tippecanoe War of 1812 origins Burning of Washington The Octagon House Treaty of Ghent Seven Buildings residence results Second Barbary War Era of Good Feelings Second Bank of the United States State of the Union Address (1810 1814 1815 1816) Cabinet Federal judiciary appointments
Other noted accomplisments	Co-founder, American Whig Society Supervised the Louisiana Purchase Anti-Administration party Residence Act Compromise of 1790 Democratic-Republican Party First Party System republicanism Library of Congress Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions Report of 1800
Other writings	The Papers of James Madison
Life	Early life and career Belle Grove Plantation, birthplace Montpelier
Elections	1789 Virginia's 5th congressional district election 1790 1792 1794 U.S. presidential election, 1808 1812
Legacy and popular culture	Memorials James Madison Memorial Building statue James Madison University James Madison College Madison, Wisconsin James Madison Park James Madison Memorial High School Madison Square Madison River Mount Madison Madison Street U.S. postage stamps James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation James Madison Freedom of Information Award James Madison Award James Madison Institute A More Perfect Union (1989 film) Liberty's Kids (2002 series) Hamilton (musical, film) Washington (2020 miniseries)
Related	Age of Enlightenment American Enlightenment Marbury v. Madison National Gazette Paul Jennings Madisonian model Cognitive Madisonianism American Philosophical Society The American Museum magazine Virginia dynasty
Family	Dolley Madison (wife) John Payne Todd (stepson) James Madison Sr. (father) William Madison (brother) Ambrose Madison (grandfather)
← Thomas Jefferson James Monroe → Category

show v t United States presidential elections
Elections by year	1788–89 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Elections by state	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington, D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Primaries and caucuses	Iowa caucuses New Hampshire presidential primary Nevada presidential caucuses South Carolina presidential primary Super Tuesday
Nominating conventions	List of nominating conventions Brokered convention Convention bounce Superdelegate
Electoral College and popular vote	Results summary elections in which the winner lost the popular vote Electoral College margins Electoral College results by state electoral vote changes between elections electoral vote recipients popular votes received popular-vote margins Electoral Count Act Certificate of ascertainment Certificate of vote Contingent election Faithless elector Unpledged elector Voter turnout
Related	Campaign slogans Historical election polling Election Day Major party tickets Major party losers Presidential debates October surprise Red states and blue states Swing state Tipping-point state Election recount Guam straw poll Vice presidential confirmations: 1973 1974
House elections Senate elections Gubernatorial elections

show v t State results of the 1808 U.S. presidential election
Candidates	James Madison Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
General articles
Local results	Connecticut New Jersey New York Ohio Pennsylvania South Carolina Vermont
Other 1808 elections	Senate