In 1828, Andrew Jackson (Democratic) won 178 of 261 electoral votes, defeating John Quincy Adams by 95 EV during the Second Party System era. In 2016, Donald Trump (Republican) won 304 of 538, defeating Hillary Clinton by 77 EV during the Modern Polarization era. Turnout: 57.3% vs 60.1%.
vs
1828
Second Party System
Andrew Jackson
Democratic
Electoral votes
178 of 261
EV margin
95
Popular vote
55.9%
Turnout
57.3%
Runner-up
John Quincy Adams (N-R)
Andrew Jackson decisively defeated incumbent John Quincy Adams in a rematch driven by Jackson's furious populist campaign against the 'Corrupt Bargain' of 1824. Jackson carried the South and West by enormous margins, running as the champion of ordinary frontier and working-class voters against the Eastern elite. The election was extraordinarily bitter, featuring personal attacks on both candidates and their wives. Jackson's victory marked the beginning of Jacksonian Democracy and the modern Democratic Party.
2016
Modern Polarization
Donald Trump
Republican
Electoral votes
304 of 538
EV margin
77
Popular vote
46.1%
Turnout
60.1%
Runner-up
Hillary Clinton (Dem)
Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in one of the most shocking upsets in American political history, winning the Electoral College while losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes. Trump flipped the 'Blue Wall' of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania — states Democrats had won for decades — by narrow margins on a wave of white working-class resentment. FBI Director Comey's late October letter about Clinton's emails, and Russian social media interference, were widely seen as influential. Seven faithless electors defected, the most since 1872.