United States presidential elections in Missouri

Presidential elections in Missouri
Number of elections	52
Voted Democratic	30
Voted Republican	20
Voted Democratic-Republican	2
Voted other	0
Voted for winning candidate	38
Voted for losing candidate	14

The tables below list the United States presidential elections in Missouri, ordered by year. Since 1904, Missouri has voted for the eventual winner of the presidential election with only four exceptions: 1956, 2008, 2012, and 2020, although the popular vote winner failed the win the electoral vote in 2000 and 2016. Missouri was historically viewed as a bellwether state, but the consecutive votes against the winning candidate in 2008 and 2012 introduced doubts about its continued status as a bellwether, and an 18.5-point Republican victory in 2016 indicated that it had become a safe red state.

Winners of the state are in bold. The shading refers to the state winner, and not the national winner.

Elections from 1864 to present

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates^[a]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
2020^[1]	Joe Biden	1,253,014	41.41	Donald Trump	1,718,736	56.80	—			10
2016^[2]	Donald Trump^[b]	1,594,511	56.38	Hillary Clinton	1,071,068	37.87	-			10
2012^[3]	Barack Obama	1,223,796	44.38	Mitt Romney	1,482,440	53.76	-			10
2008^[4]	Barack Obama	1,441,911	49.29	John McCain	1,445,814	49.43	-			11
2004^[5]	George W. Bush	1,455,713	53.30	John Kerry	1,259,171	46.1	-			11
2000^[6]	George W. Bush^[b]	1,189,924	50.42	Al Gore	1,111,138	47.08	-			11
1996^[7]	Bill Clinton	1,025,935	47.54	Bob Dole	890,016	41.24	Ross Perot	217,188	10.06	11
1992	Bill Clinton	1,053,873	44.07	George H. W. Bush	811,159	33.92	Ross Perot	518,741	21.69	11
1988	George H. W. Bush	1,084,953	51.83	Michael Dukakis	1,001,619	47.85	-			11
1984	Ronald Reagan	1,274,188	60.02	Walter Mondale	848,583	39.98	-			11
1980	Ronald Reagan	1,074,181	51.16	Jimmy Carter	931,182	44.35	John B. Anderson	77,920	3.71	12
1976	Jimmy Carter	998,387	51.1	Gerald Ford	927,443	47.47	-			12
1972	Richard Nixon	1,154,058	62.29	George McGovern	698,531	37.71	-			12
1968	Richard Nixon	811,932	44.87	Hubert Humphrey	791,444	43.74	George Wallace	206,126	11.39	12
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	1,164,344	64.05	Barry Goldwater	653,535	35.95	-			12
1960	John F. Kennedy	972,201	50.26	Richard Nixon	962,221	49.74	-			13
1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower	914,289	49.89	Adlai Stevenson II	918,273	50.11	T. Coleman Andrews/ Unpledged Electors^[c]	-		13
1952	Dwight D. Eisenhower	959,429	50.71	Adlai Stevenson II	929,830	49.14	-			13
1948	Harry S. Truman	917,315	58.11	Thomas E. Dewey	655,039	41.49	Strom Thurmond	42	0.003	15
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	807,804	51.37	Thomas E. Dewey	761,524	48.43	-			15
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	958,476	52.27	Wendell Willkie	871,009	47.5	-			15
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1,111,043	60.76	Alf Landon	697,891	38.16	-			15
1932	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1,025,406	63.69	Herbert Hoover	564,713	35.08	-			15
1928	Herbert Hoover	834,080	55.58	Al Smith	662,562	44.15	-			18
1924	Calvin Coolidge	648,486	49.58	John W. Davis	572,753	43.79	Robert M. La Follette	84,160	6.43	18
1920	Warren G. Harding	727,162	54.56	James M. Cox	574,799	43.13	Parley P. Christensen	3,291	0.25	18
1916	Woodrow Wilson	398,032	50.59	Charles E. Hughes	369,339	46.94	-			18
1912	Woodrow Wilson	330,746	47.35	Theodore Roosevelt	124,375	17.8	William H. Taft	207,821	29.75	18
1908	William H. Taft	347,203	48.5	William Jennings Bryan	346,574	48.41	-			18
1904	Theodore Roosevelt	321,449	49.93	Alton B. Parker	296,312	46.02	-			18
1900	William McKinley	314,092	45.94	William Jennings Bryan	351,922	51.48	-			17
1896	William McKinley	304,940	45.25	William Jennings Bryan	363,667	53.96	-			17
1892	Grover Cleveland	268,400	49.56	Benjamin Harrison	227,646	42.03	James B. Weaver	41,204	7.61	17
1888	Benjamin Harrison^[b]	236,252	45.31	Grover Cleveland	261,943	50.24	-			16
1884	Grover Cleveland	236,023	53.49	James G. Blaine	203,081	46.02	-			16
1880	James A. Garfield	153,647	38.67	Winfield S. Hancock	208,600	52.51	James B. Weaver	35,042	8.82	15
1876	Rutherford B. Hayes	145,027	41.36	Samuel J. Tilden	202,086	57.64	-			15
1872	Ulysses S. Grant	119,196	43.65	Horace Greeley	151,434	55.46	-			15
1868	Ulysses S. Grant	86,860	57	Horatio Seymour	65,628	43	-			11
1864	Abraham Lincoln	72,750	69.7	George B. McClellan	31,596	30.3	-			11

Election of 1860

The election of 1860 was a complex realigning election in which the breakdown of the previous two-party alignment culminated in four parties each competing for influence in different parts of the country. The result of the election, with the victory of an ardent opponent of slavery, spurred the secession of eleven states and brought about the American Civil War.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1860	Abraham Lincoln	17,028	10.3	Stephen A. Douglas	58,801	35.5	John C. Breckinridge	31,362	18.9	John Bell	58,372	35.3	9

Elections from 1828 to 1856

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Other national candidates^[a]	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1856	James Buchanan	57,964	54.43	John C. Frémont	no ballots		Millard Fillmore	48,522	45.57	9
1852	Franklin Pierce	38,817	56.42	Winfield Scott	29,984	43.58	John P. Hale	no ballots		9
1848	Zachary Taylor	32,671	44.91	Lewis Cass	40,077	55.09	Martin Van Buren	no ballots		7
1844	James K. Polk	41,322	56.98	Henry Clay	31,200	43.02	-			7
1840	William Henry Harrison	22,954	43.37	Martin Van Buren	29,969	56.63	-			4
1836	Martin Van Buren	10,995	59.98	Hugh Lawson White	7,337	40.02	various^[d]	no ballots	-	4
1832	Andrew Jackson	5,192	100	Henry Clay	no ballots		William Wirt	no ballots		4
1828	Andrew Jackson	8,232	70.64	John Quincy Adams	3,422	29.36	-			3

Election of 1824

The election of 1824 was a complex realigning election following the collapse of the prevailing Democratic-Republican Party, resulting in four different candidates each claiming to carry the banner of the party, and competing for influence in different parts of the country. The election was the only one in history to be decided by the House of Representatives under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution after no candidate secured a majority of the electoral vote. It was also the only presidential election in which the candidate who received a plurality of electoral votes (Andrew Jackson) did not become president, a source of great bitterness for Jackson and his supporters, who proclaimed the election of Adams a corrupt bargain.

Year	Winner (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Runner-up (nationally)	Votes	Percent	Electoral Votes
1824	Andrew Jackson	1,166	33.97	John Quincy Adams	159	4.63	Henry Clay	2,042	59.50	William H. Crawford	32	0.93	3

Election of 1820

In the election of 1820, incumbent President James Monroe ran effectively unopposed, winning all electoral votes except one vote in New Hampshire. The popular vote was primarily directed to filling the office of vice president.

Missouri's participation in the election was a point of political dispute. On March 9, 1820, Congress had passed a law directing Missouri to hold a convention to form a constitution and a state government. This law stated that "the said state, when formed, shall be admitted into the Union, upon an equal footing with the original states, in all respects whatsoever."^[8] However, when Congress reconvened in November 1820, the admission of Missouri became an issue of contention. Proponents claimed that Missouri had fulfilled the conditions of the law and therefore was a state; detractors contended that certain provisions of the Missouri Constitution violated the United States Constitution.

By the time Congress was due to meet to count the electoral votes from the election, this dispute had lasted over two months. The counting raised a ticklish problem: if Congress counted Missouri's votes, that would count as recognition that Missouri was a state; on the other hand, if Congress failed to count Missouri's vote, it would count as recognition that Missouri was not a state. Knowing ahead of time that Monroe had won in a landslide and that Missouri's vote would therefore make no difference in the final result, the Senate passed a resolution on February 13, 1821, stating that if a protest were made, there would be no consideration of the matter unless the vote of Missouri would change who would become president. Instead, the President of the Senate would announce the final tally twice, once with Missouri included and once with it excluded.^[9]

The next day this resolution was introduced in the full House. After a lively debate, it was passed. Nonetheless, during the counting of the electoral votes on February 14, 1821, an objection was raised to the votes from Missouri by Representative Arthur Livermore of New Hampshire. He argued that since Missouri had not yet officially become a state, it had no right to cast any electoral votes. Immediately, Representative John Floyd of Virginia argued that Missouri's votes must be counted. Chaos ensued, and order was restored only with the counting of the vote as per the resolution and then adjournment for the day.^[10]

Popular candidates

Excluding two-campaign two-term presidents, including candidates who eventually lost

Franklin Roosevelt - 4 times (4 terms)
Grover Cleveland - 3 times (2 terms)
Martin Van Buren - 2 times (1 term)
William Jennings Bryan - 2 times (0 terms)

Notes

^ ^a ^b For purposes of these lists, other national candidates are defined as those who won at least one electoral vote, or won at least ten percent of the vote in multiple states.
^ ^a ^b ^c Won the electoral college while losing the popular vote
^ Was allied with a slate of unpledged electors in Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina
^ Three other candidates ran and received electoral votes nationally as part of the unsuccessful Whig strategy to defeat Martin Van Buren by running four candidates with local appeal in different regions of the country. The others were William Henry Harrison, Daniel Webster, and Willie Person Mangum. None of these candidates appeared on the ballot in Missouri.