### Evolution of US Presidential Elections and Voting Rights

The evolving voting landscape in the U.S. reflects deep societal changes and ongoing political polarization throughout history.

### The Evolution of U.S. Presidential Elections: From 1789 to 2024
* 🗳 The U.S. presidential election landscape has transformed significantly since George Washington was elected in 1789, with only **1.3% of the population casting votes**, primarily **white male property owners**.
* 📜 Over the years, voting rights have expanded, with **free people of color allowed to vote** in certain states, and the emergence of the **two-party system** featuring Federalists and Democratic-Republicans shaping political dynamics.
* 📈 The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 marked a turning point with **increased voter participation** due to the **elimination of property requirements**, leading to a **surge in white working-class voters**.
* ⚔ The Civil War and the subsequent election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 highlighted the **deep divisions in the country**, as 11 Southern states **seceded from the Union**, leading to significant changes in voting rights with the passage of the **15th Amendment**.
* 🏛 The post-war era saw the rise of **Jim Crow laws** that disenfranchised African Americans, while the Republican Party gained strength in the North, culminating in significant victories for figures like **Ulysses S. Grant**.
* 🌍 Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency marked a shift in voter demographics, as he garnered support from **African Americans and immigrants**, while the New Deal programs began to **reshape party alignments**.
* 📺 The 1960s brought civil rights to the forefront, with landmark legislation like the **Civil Rights Act of 1964** and the **Voting Rights Act of 1965**, although this alienated many white Southerners who shifted their allegiance to the **Republican Party**.
* 🔄 The 21st century has seen **increasing polarization in American politics**, with Donald Trump's election in 2016 and Joe Biden's victory in 2020 culminating in dramatic events, including the **storming of the Capitol** and a contentious 2024 election that saw Trump return to power as a **convicted felon**.

You've seen this map before. The edges are usually blue, and for the most part, the middle is red. But it hasn't always been that way. New parties have come and gone, new states expanded the map, then shifted from left to right and back again. And who is allowed to vote has

transformed this map over the centuries. Here's how the US has voted in every presidential election since 1789. 13 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, George Washington is elected the first president of the Union in 1789. He easily wins a second term, but

only about 1.3% of the country's population casts a ballot. In most states, only white men who own property can vote, with some exceptions. Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, all allowed free people of color to vote on exactly the same basis as their white

neighbors and with/without property requirements. The birth of our two-party system includes the Federalists, who favor financial interests, and the Democratic-Republicans, who favor farmers. The election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800 initiates more than 20 years of Democratic-Republican presidential dominance. In 1824, four Democratic

Republicans run against each other in a race so close, it's decided by the House of Representatives, which chooses John Quincy Adams over Andrew Jackson. 4 years later, Jackson runs again. By then, many states have eliminated property requirements and voter participation almost doubles. Jackson rallies white

working-class voters to fight Washington elitism. He wins with nearly two-thirds of the electoral vote. And some of it is on the basis of economic populism, some of it is on the basis of inveterate racist policies towards Native American nations.

some of that is on the basis of a climate friendliness and an accommodation to slavery Jackson wins again in 1832 and a new business-friendly opposition party comes together they call themselves The Whigs and one of their major issues is fighting the expansion

of slavery into new territories slavery is the one issue that is most likely to determine which way someone votes throughout the first half of the 19th century with conservatives and liberals on both sides in 1836 four Whig candidates run but Democrat Martin Van

Buren wins the most States and power shifts back and forth between the two parties for the next four elections new States like Florida Texas and Iowa expand the electoral map by 1856 after a string of defeats and infighting over slavery the Whig party collapses a new

Republican party emerges opposing slavery and calling for economic reform so at this point we have both major parties that exist today even though their platforms have changed drastically since then there are Republicans gain popularity in the north and try to win over free black voters in

the South it's not as if Republicans are not racially discriminatory or they're not racist it's going to benefit them to have black people become a part of the franchise and begin to vote and ideally be Republican meanwhile the Democratic party unifies the pro-slavery vote and

cements their hold on the South that divide deepens and in 1860 Republican Abraham Lincoln wins on an anti-slavery platform it's really two separate elections one in the north and one in the South Lincoln isn't even on the ballot in most of the slave states we

might as well already be in two distinct republics by the summer and fall of 1860, starting with South Carolina. 11 southern states secede from the union to form the Confederacy, and the Civil War begins in 1861. In the midst of the war, Lincoln

wins a second term. That's also the first election where we had absentee balloting. Uh, Lincoln wanted to make it possible for soldiers in the field to vote because he assumed they would vote overwhelmingly Republican, which in fact is what they did. In early 1865, the Confederacy falls.

Lincoln is assassinated in April, and Vice President Andrew Johnson takes over. Over the next four years, the southern states begin to rejoin the union. Republicans hang on to power when Ulysses S. Grant wins in 1868, and the only reason Grant won a popular majority was because

because there were sufficient numbers of blacks voting in some Southern States. 90% of African-Americans voted. Grant signs the 15th Amendment giving all male citizens the right to vote regardless of color or race, with the exception of Native Americans. Grant wins again in

1872. In 1876, it wasn't clear which candidate won the election, so Congress makes a deal. Republicans get the presidency with Rutherford B. Hayes taking office, and Democrats in the South get some they've wanted since the end of the war: the removal of federal troops

that have been protecting the civil rights of newly freed Black people. People can vote, people can run for office, they can purchase property. And essentially, the Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction, and we begin to move towards what we later come to know is Jim Crow. State and local governments

pass laws designed to keep African-Americans from voting. Democrats ride a wave of anti-construction sentiment and dominate the South for the next century or so. In 1896, Republican William McKinley wins by the largest margin his party has seen in 20 years.

The Republican Party basically had become the presumptive majority party. I mean, it was a contest basically over kind of rural agrarianism and urban capitalism, and the country favored Republicans. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt runs as a progressive in what he dubs the

Bull Moose Party. It splits the Republican vote, handing the win to Democrat Woodrow Wilson. Still, Roosevelt's Progressive Party is the first with an agenda designed to attract women suffragists. So the agenda of progressives was things like food and drug

legislation, child labor legislation, uh, factory legislation, better education, uh, those sorts of things. And those are traditionally seen as women's issues. And the progressives understood that if they enfranchised women, they would win more votes. The women's rights movement gains momentum through the

1910s, and states like Washington, Oregon, and California give women the vote. The 19th Amendment grants women the right to vote nationwide in 1920, but over four decades pass before they turn out at the same rate as men and form a significant voting block. Women maybe turned out at two-thirds of male

voters' right, they weren't changing the electorate in that way. They weren't going to change it until they started voting differently from men. After Wilson, three Republicans win in a row, ending with Herbert Hoover in 1928. The economy crashes in 1929 and

Public outrage over the Great Depression helps Franklin D. Roosevelt win in 1932. World War II collides with the end of his second term and the nation decides to stick with him for an unprecedented third term and then a fourth term to get them through the

other side of the war. Voter demographics and party alignment shift during his 12-year presidency in ways that can still be felt today. Democrats consolidate the support of recent immigrants and younger working-class whites who had previously voted Republican. New Deal Democrats begin winning over the millions of Black

people migrating North to escape Jim Crow terror in the South. When Roosevelt first ran in 1932, when he was first elected, 80% of African-Americans were still voting for Herbert Hoover. The first time significant numbers of blacks voted Democratic was in Franklin Roosevelt's

reelection in 1936, and that's because the New Deal anti-poverty programs extended to African-Americans. FDR dies in 1945. Vice president Harry S. Truman takes over, then wins the election of 1948. If you were a Truman voter in 1948, what you thought you would be

voting for is, in effect, a third stage of the New Deal. But in 1952, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower ends 20 years of Democratic rule with two landslide elections in which he only loses the South. Campaigning passes still another milestone: a TV-savvy campaign leads John

F. Kennedy to victory in 1960. The newly popular medium forces him and the nation to confront rampant discrimination against Black people. Civil rights activity in the 1960s is being aired on television globally. By the mid-1960s, we're involved in Vietnam.

Mass draft card burning was urged, the globe is sitting on us every day on television. I'm not standing by the same kinds of principles that we argue we are bringing to other countries at our peril. Our obligation is to make that revolution, that change, civil rights.

Bills had been passed in 1957 and 1960, but neither fully enfranchised blacks in the South. At 25, the murder rate of the downtown area death is 6 minutes away. JFK's assassinated in late 1963. Lyndon B Johnson becomes president

and wins outright in 1964. If we succeed, it will not be because of what we have, but it will be because of what we are. He passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, meant to keep states from changing

voting laws the way they had during the Jim Crow era. You actually achieved equity between the black vote in terms of its percentage share and the white vote, but the improvements are substantial. The Democrats' strong civil rights push alienates many white Southerners who throw their support

behind Republicans in 1968, a year of social upheaval. Republicans pick up support in the West and Midwest as the country shifts right. Richard Nixon wins the election running on law and order. What Nixon is essentially telling people is, civil rights has gone too far. If you

elect me, you know, I'll, I'll bring us back to a more stable, uh, stable system. Nixon wins in a landslide in 1972. Two years later, amid the Watergate scandal, Nixon becomes the only president to ever resign. Therefore, I shall resign the presidency.

of F that noon tomorrow then in 1976 Jimmy Carter secures a win for the Democrats. Actor turned governor Ronald Reagan beats Carter in 1980, revitalizing the conservative movement. This every 4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a

miracle. It's hard to overstate how devastating a defeat, um, the 1980 election was for the Democrats because if you compare 1980 to 1984, they actually get worse. Reagan's Vice President, George H.W. Bush, wins in 1988 as

the clear front runner with the promise to continue Reagan's policies. But in 1992, Bill Clinton, a southern Democratic governor, revitalizes his party by successfully appealing to moderate voters. And Clinton is, uh, is elected on this platform of a kind of young, new

Democrat. Al Gore is his running mate. The idea is that this will symbolize a new generation of, uh, of Democrats. In 2000, Republicans rally behind the younger George Bush, George W., then the governor of Texas. Al Gore wins the popular vote, but a controversial Supreme Court decision

gives Bush Florida, handing him the election. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Bush wins again in 2004, coming close to rebuilding Reagan's red wall. But in 2008, during a devastating financial crisis, Democrat Barack Obama wins in a landslide, picking up solidly

Republican states like Virginia and becomes the first black president. But on this January night at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do. The Obama approach is to energize the young and essentially to appease, uh, and soothe suburban voters.

who had been uh Reliant Republican voters in the 80s and 90s because basically they thought Democrats would drive the country off the cliff uh uh economically after Obama wins a second term in 2012 with the same diverse Coalition of Voters Republicans do what they call

an autopsy on their party.  PoW said we need to reach out to Latino voters, we need to reach out to Asian voters, but 4 years later they nominate a famed real estate Baron and reality TV star not known for appealing to a diverse array of Voters. Donald Trump doesn't intend to

build a wall, believe me folks, we're building the wall, and instead what Trump realized was maybe I could double down on the racially resentful white people who in each election are voting slightly more and more Republican. In 2016 Hillary Clinton is the odds on favorite to

become the first female president. Pundits point to the blue wall of states that had voted Democratic over the past six elections, but that was not to be. Very similar to the Voting Rights Act itself, the election of Obama created a significant backlash. I mean the American

history is defined to some degree by the Civil Rights Movement forward, backlash, white supremacy back. Clinton does win the popular vote, but Trump charges through the blue wall winning the Electoral College with a campaign that by and large ignored the 2012 autopsy. Trump's populist campaign

captures swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin that could have gone either way. I I don't know if Trump's a political genius or not, but he intuited something that you actually could squeeze another presidential victory or two out of a racially disaffected white electorate today. Experts

say the American political system is the most polarized it's ever been Trump benefited from the fact that 90% of Republicans are going to support him There's this phenomenon called negative partisanship where even if you don't love your party you know you hate

the other side In the 2020 election in the middle of a global pandemic Democrat and former Vice President Joe Biden secures a convincing win over Trump with 306 electoral votes and Biden wins back the five swing states Trump took in the previous election Michigan Pennsylvania

Wisconsin Georgia and Arizona Trump and his supporters refused to accept the result of the vote and repeat the baseless claim that the election had been stolen But in two elections I won them both and the second one I won much bigger than the first Okay The bad blood culminates in the

storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters on January 6 2021 [Applause] which puts an end to America's streak of peaceful transfers of [Applause] power Election year 2024 is also punctuated by

drama In May Trump is the first ex-president to become a convicted felon Not in June President Biden falters during the televised presidential debate in July Trump is shot and injured during a campaign rally in Butler Pennsylvania and later that month Biden withdraws

from the race I've decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation clearing the road for Kamala Harris his vice president to take the Democratic nomination in the runup to election day Pollsters everywhere labeled the race a

tossup, but in the end, Trump secures an unlikely return to the White House with a convincing win over Harris. He even takes the popular vote, 312 electoral college votes, and Republicans take the Senate at 78. Trump becomes the oldest person elected to the

office, the second person to win non-consecutive terms, and the first convicted criminal to serve as president. [Music] [Music]

How The US Voted In Every Election, From George Washington To Donald Trump | Business Insider

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Early US Presidential Elections and the Evolution of Voting Rights

Early maps show a predominantly red (Republican) center and blue (Democrat) edges, but this has changed over time due to new parties, state expansions, and shifts in voter demographics.

George Washington's election in 1789; only about 1.3% of the population voted, mostly white male property owners.

Some states allowed free people of color to vote, regardless of property ownership.

Emergence of the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans; Jefferson's election in 1800.

Andrew Jackson's election in 1828; property requirements eliminated in many states, leading to increased voter participation.

The Rise of the Republican Party and the Civil War Era

The Whig party emerges, opposing the expansion of slavery; slavery becomes a major determinant of voting patterns.

The Whig party collapses; the Republican party emerges, opposing slavery and advocating for economic reform.

Republicans gain popularity in the North and attempt to attract Black voters in the South.

Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860; the South secedes, leading to the Civil War.

Ulysses S. Grant's election in 1868; the 15th Amendment grants voting rights to all male citizens, excluding Native Americans.

Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Expansion of Suffrage

The Compromise of 1877 ends Reconstruction; Jim Crow laws restrict African-American voting rights.

Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party; focus on women's suffrage and social reforms.

The 19th Amendment grants women the right to vote in 1920.

Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency; the Great Depression and World War II shift voter demographics and party alignment.

The Post-War Era and the Civil Rights Movement

Harry S. Truman's election in 1948; continuation of the New Deal.

Dwight D. Eisenhower's election in 1952; end of 20 years of Democratic rule.

John F. Kennedy's election in 1960; the impact of television on political campaigns and the Civil Rights Movement.

Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency; passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Richard Nixon's election in 1968; a shift towards conservatism.

Ronald Reagan's election in 1980; revitalization of the conservative movement.

Bill Clinton's election in 1992; appeal to moderate voters.

George W. Bush's election in 2000; the contested election and the 9/11 attacks.

Barack Obama's election in 2008; the first Black president.

Donald Trump's election in 2016; appeal to racially resentful white voters.

Hillary Clinton's loss in 2016; Trump's victory despite losing the popular vote.

Joe Biden's election in 2020; victory over Trump amidst a global pandemic.

The 2024 election; Trump's return to the White House.