The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election ended with Donald Trump's win over Hillary Clinton by securing shocking victories in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by campaigning in the Rust Belt region. Donald Trump won in terms of the electoral college but did not win the popular vote. In America's history, there have been four other instances where the popular vote winner would not go on to the White House.
1824: The Corrupt Bargain of John Quincy Adams
The 1824 election's candidates included: John Quincy Adams, War of 1812's hero Andrew Jackson, William H. Crawford and Kentucky senator Henry Clay. In the end, none of the candidates garnered a majority of the electoral votes, though Andrew Jackson had the most electoral votes and won the popular vote. Under the 12th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the House of Representatives would decide the election.
Before the House decided the winner, it was believed that Henry Clay, who was also the speaker of the House of Representatives, met with John Quincy Adams. Clay wanted to be appointed Secretary of State under an Adams administration. As a result, Adams was surprisingly able to carry the House's vote and appoint Clay as the head of the state department. Many of Jackson's followers decried the deal as a "corrupt bargain," and they were energized to exact revenge by electing Jackson over Adams in 1828.
1876: The Death of Reconstruction
The post-Civil War era is known as the Reconstruction period that sought to mend the nation together as one union. The Republicans ran with Rutherford B. Hayes, who previously served as the Governor of Ohio before starting his campaign. The Democrats ran with the Governor of New York, Samuel J. Tilden, who defeated the corrupt Canal Ring in his state and sought to bring the Democrats back in the position of presidency.
The results reported Tilden having a large lead in the popular vote and electoral college, but 20 electoral votes from four states were disputed. This conflict led to the Compromise of 1877 with which the Democrats allowed Hayes to be awarded the 20 electoral votes and the presidency in return for removing federal troops in the South. The removal of the troops effectively ended the Reconstruction Era and started an era known as the Gilded Age.
1888: Re-Election Denied
Democrat Grover Cleveland sought to be reelected but faced opposition from Republican Benjamin Harrison, son of former President William Henry Harrison. After a contentious campaign over tariffs, Civil War pensions and corruption, Benjamin Harrison won the presidency without winning the popular vote. Cleveland narrowly lost New York due to the corrupt political machine Tammany Hall and thus was denied his second term. However, he would seek revenge by winning over Harrison and a second term in 1892.
2000: Florida and the Supreme Court
The 2000 election pitted George W. Bush, the Republican Governor of Texas, against Bill Clinton's Vice President, Al Gore. Florida was the site of a close battle between the candidates until Bush won the state by only 1,784 votes on election night. The state mandated a recount and found no errors which led the Gore campaign to request a manual hand recount of the votes. In response, Bush's legal team filed a lawsuit which sought to prevent the extension of deadlines regarding the recounts. The case eventually went to the Supreme Court where, in a 5-4 vote divided by party lines, the ruling fell in favor of Bush and ordered the recount to end. The court's decision effectively declared Bush the winner of the election and was seen by many as a partisan decision. Because of this decision, it was argued that the Supreme Court's reputation was tainted due to the election.
