We can all take our guess at who will win the big race, but until the dust settles, you can never be sure who the winner will be. Here are five of the most shocking Election Day outcomes. #RaiseTheMoney
1. If it’s in the paper, it must be true: During the 1948 election, virtually every prediction indicated that Harry Truman would lose to Thomas Dewey. Truman defeated Dewey 49.6% to 45.1% and was famously photographed holding the front page of the Chicago Tribune on November 3, 1948, with the headline reading, “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Truman famously replied, “That ain’t the way I heard it.”
2. Let’s flip a coin for it: When Thomas Jefferson ran against John Adams in the 1800 presidential election, the race resulted in a tie. The fate of the election was placed in the hands of the House of Representatives, which chose Jefferson as the new president. The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1804, helped the country avoid this issue in the future.
3. If you can help me out, I’ll owe you a favor: The election of 1824 is the only election that has enacted the Twelfth Amendment to decide the results of a presidential election. The House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams as the winner. This election became known to some as the “Corrupt Bargain” after Adams chose Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House, to serve as Secretary of State.
4. 49/50 isn’t so bad: In 1972, Richard Nixon won 60.7% of the popular vote and almost 18 million more popular votes than his challenger George McGovern. This is the widest margin of any U.S. presidential election. Nixon won in 49 of the 50 states, losing only in McGovern’s home state of Massachusetts.
5. We have to wait how long to get the results? In 2000, Al Gore narrowly won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College. The Florida Supreme Court sided with Gore when he challenged them to recount their votes. However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the state court overstepped its authority by setting new standards to determine who won. Finally, on December 12, George W. Bush was declared the winner.