Voting: A Retrospective

I voted at about 7:45 this morning, almost an hour after I got in line. But hey, the system works, unless my write-in vote for Soil and Water Commissioner ends up breaking the ballot box. But if you wanna make an omelet, you gotta break a few eggs.

Anyway, in celebration of our democratic system, I've decided to post a little look at the history of the American vote. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am indifferent to it (which is quite a lot).

1820: To prove that one vote indeed makes a difference, John Quincy Adams cast a decisive vote in the electoral college against incumbent president James Monroe. He voted for himself. Monroe won in a landslide, 228-1.

1824: In the first election to be decided by the House of Representatives, John Quincy Adams defeated Andrew Jackson, despite the fact that Jackson received more votes in the electoral college, though neither had a majority. Four states opted to go without a popular vote that year, realizing its utter futility.

1876: In one of the most controversial elections in American history, Rutherford B. Hayes stole the election from Samuel J. Tilden, though Tilden won the popular vote. With three states in dispute, Tilden also held the majority in the electoral college. The votes in those states have still never been counted accurately, and a winner of 1876 election has yet to be declared.

1948: With Republican Thomas Dewey heavily favored over incumbent Democrat Harry Truman, the American voter outsmarted even the candidates themselves and elected Truman in one of the greatest election upsets in history. Pollsters have since refined their craft to restore faith in the polling system so that everyone can be sure of the results weeks before the election and that such a stirring finish will never happen again.

1973: Richard Nixon resigns from the office of president, elevating Gerald Ford to the position, making Ford the only president to never have won a national election. When he ran for a second term (not re-election, since he'd never been elected), the people elected Jimmy Carter, proving that voting does not always produce the superior result.

Enjoy your election day, everybody!