Mapping the History of American Elections

The first American presidential election was held between December 15th 1788 and January 10th 1789. The winner was the non-partisan George Washington. Time's How America Voted in Every Election Since 1824 doesn't quite go back that far in history but it does show the electoral college history for every U.S. election since John Quincy Adams was elected president in 1824.

The 1824 election was the first time that a candidate won the presidency without receiving a plurality of the vote. One eventual outcome of this was that Andrew Jackson (who won the popular vote) eventually led a faction which split from the Democratic-Republican party to form the Democratic Party.

The Time animated map showing how America has voted in every election since 1824 colors each state in each election by the party of the candidate who won the most votes. You can hover over a state on the map to see which candidate won in the chosen year and how many electoral college votes that they won.