Donald Trump and Popular Vote Counts
While Donald Trump lost the 2020 U.S. Presidential election at the age of 74, he can take solace in the fact that he got over 74 million votes (approximately
74.22 million votes). He was the first losing U.S. presidential candidate in history to have a votes-to-age ratio of over one million.
Speaking of one million, he was also the first winning U.S. presidential candidate to
lose the popular vote by over
one million votes (2016).
Trump can also take pride in the fact that he received 11.23 million more votes than he received in the previous election (3rd biggest increase of all-time). Trump is
not the only recent Republican incumbent to experience a massive increase in the number of votes. Four of the last five Republican Presidents running for re-election
(and who hadn't taken over for a President who resigned) have had 10 million+ jumps in vote totals:
- Trump: +11.23 million (increase)
- Bush (younger): + 11.56 million (increase)
- Bush (older): - 9.78 million (decrease)
- Reagan: + 10.47 million (increase)
- Nixon: +16.12 million (increase)
Conversely, four of the last five Democratic Presidents running for re-election (and who hadn't taken over for a deceased President)
experienced declines in vote totals:
- Obama: -3.58 million (decrease)
- Clinton: +2.49 million (increase)
- Carter: -5.35 million (decrease)
- Roosevelt [3rd re-election]: -1.70 million (decrease)
- Roosevelt [2nd re-election]: -0.43 million (decrease)
It could be a coincidence. Democrat John F. Kennedy probably would have had a solid increase in votes if he wasn't assassinated in his
first term. His running mate Lyndon Johnson received 43.13 million votes in '64, 8.91 million votes more than Kennedy received in '60.