Most Popular Votes in U.S. Presidential Elections

The following is a list of the individuals who have received the most popular votes for president in a single election. All U.S. presidents can be viewed on our home page.

Rank Candidate Popular Votes (millions) Year Outcome
1. Joe Biden 81.3 2020 Won
2. Donald Trump 77.3 2024 Won
3. Kamala Harris 75.0 2024 Lost
4. Donald Trump 74.2 2020 Lost
5. Barack Obama 69.5 2008 Won
6. Barack Obama 65.9 2012 Won
7. Hillary Clinton 65.8 2016 Lost (won popular vote)
8. Donald Trump 63.0 2016 Won (lost popular vote)
9. George W. Bush 62.0 2004 Won
10. Mitt Romney 60.9 2012 Lost
11. John McCain 59.9 2008 Lost
12. John Kerry 59.0 2004 Lost
13. Ronald Reagan 54.5 1984 Won
14. Al Gore 51.0 2000 Lost (won popular vote)
15. George W. Bush 50.5 2000 Won (lost popular vote)
16. George Bush 48.9 1988 Won
17. Bill Clinton 47.4 1996 Won
18. Richard Nixon 47.2 1972 Won
19. Bill Clinton 44.9 1992 Won
20. Ronald Reagan 43.9 1980 Won

The following is a list of the individuals who had the highest margin of victory for President, based on popular votes, in a single election.

Rank President Victory Margin
Popular Votes (millions)		 Year Defeated Candidate
1. Richard Nixon 18.0 1972 George McGovern
2. Ronald Reagan 16.9 1984 Walter Mondale
3. Lyndon Johnson 15.9 1964 Barry Goldwater
4. Franklin D. Roosevelt 11.1 1936 Alf Landon
5. Dwight Eisenhower 9.6 1956 Adlai Stevenson
5. Barack Obama 9.6 2008 John McCain
7. Ronald Reagan 8.4 1980 Jimmy Carter
8. Bill Clinton 8.2 1996 Bob Dole
9. Calvin Coolidge 7.3 1924 John W. Davis
10. George Bush 7.1 1988 Michael Dukakis
10. Joe Biden 7.1 2020 Donald Trump
10. Warren Harding 7.1 1920 James Cox
13. Franklin D. Roosevelt 7.0 1932 Herbert Hoover
14. Dwight Eisenhower 6.5 1952 Adlai Stevenson
15. Herbert Hoover 6.4 1928 Al Smith
16. Bill Clinton 5.8 1992 George Bush
17. Barack Obama 5.0 2012 Mitt Romney
18. Franklin D. Roosevelt 4.9 1940 Wendell Wilkie
19. Franklin D. Roosevelt 3.6 1944 Thomas Dewey
20. George W. Bush 3.0 2004 John Kerry

The popular vote totals shown above were tabulated based on data from The American Presidency Project.