Electoral vote difference in U.S. presidential re-election campaigns 1792-2020

Since the presidency was established, sitting U.S. presidents have campaigned for re-election 28 times in total, with 18 successful re-elections, and ten unsuccessful campaigns. In history, 12 presidents have received a larger share of the electoral votes in their second campaign than in their previous campaign, while 15 campaigns received a smaller share of these votes, yet five of those still returned a majority and were successful.Biggest declineThe largest drop in share of electoral votes was in 1932, when Herbert Hoover received 72.5 percent fewer electoral votes than in 1928, losing to Franklin D. Roosevelt, who would go on to be re-elected three times after this. Hoover was incredibly popular in 1928 due to the economic growth and prosperity of the 1920s while he was the Secretary of Commerce. However, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the economic mismanagement of the Great Depression's early years saw his approval rate plummet.In contrast, the smallest difference happened over 100 years before, when John Quincy Adams lost the presidency to Andrew Jackson in 1928, with 0.38 percent fewer electoral votes than in 1824. However, the election in 1824 was irregular, as no nominee received a majority. The only time when there was no difference in share of electoral votes was for George Washington in 1782, as both elections were uncontested, and he received 100 percent of the votes.

自总统职位设立以来，现任美国总统总计进行了28次连任竞选，其中18次成功连任，10次竞选失败。在历史上，有12位总统在第二次竞选中所获得的选举人票比例超过了前一次，而15次竞选的选举人票比例有所下降，尽管如此，仍有五位总统凭借微弱的优势成功当选。选举人票比例的最大跌幅发生在1932年，当时赫伯特·胡佛所获得的选举人票比1928年减少了72.5%，最终败给了连任三次的富兰克林·D·罗斯福。1928年，胡佛因担任商务部长期间美国20世纪20年代的经济发展和繁荣而极受欢迎。然而，1929年的华尔街股市崩盘和20世纪30年代初期的经济管理不善导致其支持率急剧下降。相对而言，最小的差距发生在100年前，即1828年约翰·昆西·亚当斯以比1824年少0.38%的选举人票输给了安德鲁·杰克逊。然而，1824年的选举并不规范，因为没有任何候选人获得多数票。唯一一次选举人票比例完全相同的情况发生在1782年的乔治·华盛顿身上，因为两次选举均无争议，他获得了100%的选票。