The American Vote
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First Party SystemCycle 6 / 60

1808

James Madison and the 1808 map.
James Madison (Democratic-Republican) defeated Charles C. Pinckney (Federalist).

The 1808 U.S. presidential election was won by James Madison (Democratic-Republican) with 122 of 175 electoral votes, defeating Charles C. Pinckney (Federalist). Electoral-vote margin: 75 (122 to 47). Turnout was 36.8%. The cycle falls in the First Party System era of American electoral history.

Madison
122 EV
Pinckney
47 EV
Other
6 EV
089 to win175
The map · 1808
12 states for D-R · 5 for Fed
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Open the what-if calculator → — flip states and re-count. A toy, not history.

Narrative

James Madison and the 1808 map

James Madison, Jefferson's Secretary of State and chief architect of the Constitution, won the presidency with a comfortable electoral margin. Six electors voted for George Clinton instead of Madison. The unpopular Embargo Act of 1807 was a key issue, as it had devastated New England's economy while failing to change British or French behavior. Pinckney performed better than in 1804 but the Federalists remained a regional New England party.

Key issue

Embargo Act and neutral trade rights amid the Napoleonic Wars

Notable

Madison won despite the unpopular Embargo Act; Federalists made modest gains in New England

This summary was drafted with AI tools and has not yet been checked sentence by sentence. The vote table and the National Archives note on this page come from named sources; where they differ from the summary, rely on them. Tell us about an error.

From the National Archives

*One elector from Kentucky did not vote.

National Archives, Electoral College results for 1808, archives.gov, read October 3, 2026. Quoted as published.

State results · 1808

Electoral votes by state. State popular votes for 1808 are not yet published here.
1808 presidential election results by state: electoral votes
StateElectoral votesPopular vote
Connecticut1
9 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Delaware2
3 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Georgia3
6 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Kentucky4
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Maryland5
11 EV
Madison 9, Pinckney 2
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Massachusetts6
19 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
New Hampshire7
7 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New Jersey8
8 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
New York9
19 EV
Madison 13, Clinton 6
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
North Carolina10
14 EV
Madison 11, Pinckney 3
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Ohio11
3 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Pennsylvania12
20 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Rhode Island13
4 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
South Carolina14
10 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Tennessee15
5 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.
Vermont16
6 EV
Electors were chosen by the legislature.
Virginia17
24 EV
State popular vote not yet sourced.

Notes on the figures

  1. Connecticut The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  2. Delaware The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  3. Georgia The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  4. Kentucky State popular vote not yet sourced.
  5. Maryland State popular vote not yet sourced.
  6. Massachusetts The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  7. New Hampshire State popular vote not yet sourced.
  8. New Jersey State popular vote not yet sourced.
  9. New York The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  10. North Carolina State popular vote not yet sourced.
  11. Ohio State popular vote not yet sourced.
  12. Pennsylvania State popular vote not yet sourced.
  13. Rhode Island State popular vote not yet sourced.
  14. South Carolina The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  15. Tennessee State popular vote not yet sourced.
  16. Vermont The state legislature chose the electors; there was no popular vote.
  17. Virginia State popular vote not yet sourced.

SourceNo state popular-vote figures for 1808 are published here yet. How these figures were compiled

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