In our recent history there have been some very close presidential elections, but elections decided by a small margin are certainly not something new. Throughout our countryâ??s short history we have had more than our fair share of presidential elections that were too close to call. Here are the top 10 presidential elections based on the electoral college votes.
In 1960 John F. Kennedy (D) defeats Richard Nixon (R) by 84 Electoral Votes and won the popular vote by .2%.
The election on November 8 remains one of the most famous election nights in American history. As the early returns poured in Kennedy opened a large lead in the popular and electoral vote, and appeared headed for victory. However, as later returns came in from the Western states, Nixon began to steadily close the gap with Kennedy. It was not until the afternoon of Wednesday, November 9 that Nixon finally conceded the election and Kennedy claimed victory. A sample of how close the election was can be seen in California; Kennedy appeared to have carried the state by 37,000 votes when all of the voting precincts reported, but when the absentee ballots were counted a week later, Nixon came from behind to win the state by 36,000 votes. In the national popular vote Kennedy beat Nixon by just one tenth of one percentage point (0.1%) â?? the closest popular-vote margin of the twentieth century. Kennedy carried 11 states by three percentage points or less, while Nixon won 5 states by the same margin.
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