Election Year Presidential Preferences: Gallup Poll Accuracy Record: 1936-2012

Year	Nominees	Final Poll	Election Results	Deviation
2012	Barack Obama	49	51.1	+2
	Mitt Romney	50	47.2	-3
2008	Barack Obama	55	52.6	-2
	John McCain	44	46.0	+2
2004	George W. Bush	49	50.7	-2
	John F. Kerry	49	48.3	+1
2000	George W. Bush	48	47.9	0
	Albert Gore, Jr.	46	48.4	-2
	Ralph Nader	4	2.7	+1
1996	William J. Clinton	52	49.2	+3
	Robert Dole	41	40.7	0
	H. Ross Perot	7	8.4	-1
1992	William J. Clinton	49	43.0	+6
	George Bush	37	37.4	0
	H. Ross Perot	14	18.9	-5
1988	George Bush	56	53.4	+3
	Michael Dukakis	44	45.6	-2
1984	Ronald Reagan	59	58.8	0
	Walter F. Mondale	41	40.6	0
1980	Ronald Reagan	47	50.7	-4
	Jimmy Carter	44	41.0	+3
	John Anderson	8	6.6	+1
1976	Jimmy Carter	48	50.1	-2
	Gerald Ford	49	48.0	+1
1972	Richard Nixon	62	60.7	+1
	George McGovern	38	37.5	0
1968	Richard Nixon	43	43.4	0
	Hubert H. Humphrey	42	42.7	-1
	George Wallace	15	13.5	+1
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson	64	61.1	+3
	Barry Goldwater	36	38.5	-3
1960	John F. Kennedy	51	49.7	+1
	Richard Nixon	49	49.5	-1
1956	Dwight Eisenhower	59.5	57.4	+2
	Adlai Stevenson	40.5	42.0	-2
1952	Dwight Eisenhower	51	55.1	-4
	Adlai Stevenson	49	44.4	+5
1948	Harry S. Truman	44.5	49.5	-5
	Thomas E. Dewey	49.5	45.1	-4
	Strom Thurmond	4	2.4	+2
1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt	51.5	53.4	-2
	Thomas E. Dewey	48.5	45.9	+3
1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt	52	54.7	-3
	Wendell L. Willkie	48	44.8	+3
1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt	55.7	60.8	-5
	Alfred M. Landon	44.3	36.5	+8

Table compiled by Gerhard Peters, The American Presidency Project. Survey data from The Gallup Poll.