# John Quincy Adams with a minority of the Electoral Vote??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764 "2004-08-07T13:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/1 "2004-08-07T13:07:04Z")
In [this Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=5143824) **BobT** mentions that John Quincy Adams became President “with a minority in BOTH the popular and electoral votes.” Huh??? How did this happen? I understand becoming President with a minority in the Popular Vote, but how could he become President with an minority of the Electoral Vote? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/2 "2004-08-07T13:16:52Z")
WAG: 3 presidental candidates? Didn’t Clinton also win with less then 50% of the electoral votes? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/3 "2004-08-07T13:20:34Z")
this was back in … 92? Clinton vs perot vs … um bush sr? Wow. Memories. I was barely 9 and I remembered rooting for perot cause he had big ears. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/4 "2004-08-07T13:36:49Z")
Election: 1796 President: John Adams [F] Main Opponent: Thomas Jefferson [D-R] Electoral Vote: Winner: 71 Main Opponent: 68 Total/Majority: 138/69 Popular Vote: no record > **[The Electoral College](https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college)** > > Certificates now available! The Certificates from the 2020 Electoral College are posted to the 2020 results page after we receive them from the States and can process them. We post the Certificates on a rolling basis and update the page only on... ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/5 "2004-08-07T13:49:35Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > In [this Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?postid=5143824) **BobT** mentions that John Quincy Adams became President “with a minority in BOTH the popular and electoral votes.” > > Huh??? > > How did this happen? > > I understand becoming President with a minority in the Popular Vote, but how could he become President with an minority of the Electoral Vote? > > 😕 Reeder - John Quincy Adams, not John Adams. Election of 1824. Nobody won a majority of the electoral college, so it was referred to the House of Represenatives to choose from the top 3 candidates, under the provisions of the 12th ammendment. In 1824, there were 4 candidates who got electoral votes - Andrew Jackson won the most votes in both the popular vote and the electoral college. Before the decision by the House, 4th place Henry Clay publically supported Adams. The 1824 election: [http://www.multied.com/elections/1824.html](http://www.multied.com/elections/1824.html) Clinton had very clear majorities in the electoral college in both 1992 and 1996. The last time a third party candidate carried any states was Wallace, in 1968. Nixon still had a majority. There have been a few electoral votes cast for candidates other than the main two, such as the West Virginia elector who cast a vote for Lloyd Bentsen in 1988. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/6 "2004-08-07T13:52:33Z")
Thanks **Yabob**. Apparently it’s to early for me to read. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/7 "2004-08-07T18:16:18Z")
Another weird aspect of the 1824 election is that William Crawford, who finished third, had suffered a stroke after the general election and was pretty much incapicitated, yet refused to remove his name from consideration. And there was no conflict over the selection of the VP. John Calhoun won that. Calhoun was VP under both Adams and most of Jackson’s first term even though he really didn’t like either man. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/8 "2004-08-07T20:52:10Z")
In 1876, Tilden won the popular vote over Hayes but lost the electoral vote 185-184. Hayes also had fewer ELECTED electors than Tilden. I’m not referring to the several states that were in dispute but Colorado where Hayes got all 3. Colorado had recently become a state, and because of finances did not have an election at all that year. The legislature chose the electors who then voted for Hayes. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/9 "2004-08-07T22:23:22Z")
Which is not to say that Colorado’s actions were illegal or unconstitutional. States have wide latitude in methods of choosing electors. It wasn’t until after 1876 that the process of counting electoral votes became a bit more organized. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/10 "2004-08-08T01:28:05Z")
Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824 were chosen by the House of Representatives because no one man gained a majority of the Electoral College – the only two times that process has had to have been invoked. JQA and Gerald Ford are the only two Presidents never to have been elected by the Electoral College (Jefferson did get a majority in 1804, when he was re-elected). ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/11 "2004-08-08T01:47:46Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824 were chosen by the House of Representatives because no one man gained a majority of the Electoral College . . . Actually, the problem in 1800–perversely enough–was that _two men_ ended up with the same majority, and the House had to break the tie. Jefferson and Burr both won the votes of 73 of 138 electors. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-quincy-adams-with-a-minority-of-the-electoral-vote/258764/12 "2004-08-08T01:59:17Z")
In the “what the hell else could go wrong” category, there’s the possibility that this year’s election could also end up in the House. It would take an electoral tie for this to happen since Nader has no chance of getting even one electoral vote.