Election Firsts
The presidential firsts related to campaigns and elections.
| President | Note | |
|---|---|---|
| First president elected despite losing his states of birth and residence | James K. Polk | |
| First president to not seek re-election | James K. Polk | |
| First president to win election without his party holding a majority in either house of Congress | Zachary Taylor | |
| First president to win election on the same day in every state | Zachary Taylor | Nov 7, 1848 |
| First president elected after women had the right to vote | Warren G. Harding | |
| First president elected on his birthday | Warren G. Harding | |
| First president to win election over the age of 70 | Ronald Reagan | |
Campaign | ||
| First president to deliver a campaign speech in a language other than English | James A. Garfield | Oct 1880 in German |
| First president to campaign by telephone | William McKinley | |
| First president to campaign for a third term | Theodore Roosevelt | |
| First president to be elected after a televised presidential debate | John F. Kennedy | 1960 debate with Richard M. Nixon |
Results | ||
| First president unanimously eleced by electoral college | George Washington | 1789 |
| First president to be defeated for a second term | John Adams | 1800 |
| First president whose election was decided by the House of Representatives | Thomas Jefferson | 1800 |
| First president elected despite receiving fewer votes than his opponent | John Quincy Adams | 1824 |
| First president to not win a majority of electoral votes | John Quincy Adams | 1824 |
| First president to win the electoral college and popular vote in the same year | Andrew Jackson | 1828 |
| First president to win an election with over 1 million votes | William Henry Harrison | 1840 |
| First president to win an election with over 10 million votes | Warren G. Harding | 1920 |
| First president to win an election with over 50 million votes | Ronald Reagan | 1984 |
| First president to win an election with over 75 million votes | Joe Biden | 2020 |
| First president to win the electoral college vote but lose the popular vote | Rutherford B. Hayes | 1880 |
| First president to win election after assuming the presidency due to his predecessor's death | Theodore Roosevelt | 1904 |
Return to Presidential Firsts