National Political Party Platforms

RELATED PAGE:  Party Platforms (allowing quick search by year)

Of Parties Receiving Electoral Votes and Others of Significance: 1840 - 2020

Year
Party (link to document) Download Nominee Electoral Votes # Words
2020 Democratic pdf Joseph Biden 306 42,092
Republican (see 2016)** pdf Donald Trump 232 n/a
2016 Democratic pdf Hillary Clinton 227 26,058
Republican pdf Donald Trump 304 35,467
2012 Democratic pdf Barack Obama 332 26,558
Republican pdf Mitt Romney 206 30,563
2008 Democratic pdf Barack Obama 365 25,997
Republican pdf John McCain 173 23,585
2004 Democratic pdf John F. Kerry 251 17,751
Republican pdf George W. Bush 286 41,156
2000 Democratic   Albert Gore, Jr. 266 24,220
Republican   George W. Bush 271 34,555
1996 Democratic   William J. Clinton 379 18,107
Republican   Robert Dole 159 27,817
1992 Democratic   William J. Clinton 370 8,555
Republican   George Bush 168 28,531
1988 Democratic   Michael Dukakis 111 4,838
Republican   George Bush 426 35,838
1984 Democratic   Walter F. Mondale 13 37,231
Republican   Ronald Reagan 525 27,383
1980 Democratic   Jimmy Carter 49 38,180
Republican   Ronald Reagan 489 34,558
1976 Democratic   Jimmy Carter 297 21,202
Republican   Gerald R. Ford 240 20,463
1972 Democratic   George McGovern 17 25,615
Libertarian   John Hospers 1 2,542
Republican   Richard Nixon 520 24,407
1968 American Independent   George Wallace 45 12,818
Democratic   Hubert H. Humphrey 191 16,791
Republican   Richard Nixon 301 10,013
1964 Democratic   Lyndon B. Johnson 486 20,126
Republican   Barry Goldwater 52 8,740
1960 Democratic   John F. Kennedy 303 16,098
Republican   Richard Nixon 219 10,680
1956 Democratic   Adlai Stevenson 73 12,839
Republican   Dwight D. Eisenhower 457 11,390
1952 Democratic   Adlai Stevenson 89 8,878
Republican   Dwight D. Eisenhower 442 5,988
1948 Democratic   Harry S. Truman 303 4,256
Republican   Thomas E. Dewey 189 2,739
States' Rights   Strom Thurmond 39 495
Progressive   Henry A. Wallace 0 7,495
1944 Democratic   Franklin D. Roosevelt 432 1,366
Republican   Thomas E. Dewey 99 4,216
1940 Democratic   Franklin D. Roosevelt 449 4,667
Republican   Wendell L. Willkie 82 3,284
1936 Democratic   Franklin D. Roosevelt 523 2,310
Republican   Alfred M. Landon 8 3,030
1932 Democratic   Franklin D. Roosevelt 472 1,489
Republican   Herbert Hoover 59 7,832
1928 Democratic   Alfred E. Smith 87 5,613
Republican   Herbert Hoover 444 7,401
1924 Democratic   John W. Davis 136 5,819
Progressive   Robert LaFollette 13 2,004
Republican   Calvin Coolidge 382 5,227
1920 Democratic   James M. Cox 127 7,118
Republican   Warren G. Harding 404 6,391
1916 Democratic   Woodrow Wilson 277 4,570
Republican   Charles E. Hughes 254 2,377
1912 Democratic   Woodrow Wilson 435 4,696
Progressive   Theodore Roosevelt 88 4,693
Republican   William Howard Taft 8 3,393
1908 Democratic   William Jennings Bryan 162 4,555
Republican   William Howard Taft 321 4,092
1904 Democratic   Alton B. Parker 140 3,058
Republican   Theodore Roosevelt 336 2,254
1900 Democratic   William Jennings Bryan 155 2,580
Republican   William McKinley 292 2,299
1896 Democratic   William Jennings Bryan 176 1,929
Republican   William McKinley 271 1,933
1892 Democratic   Grover Cleveland 277 2,510
Populist   James B. Weaver 22 1,488
Republican   Benjamin Harrison 145 1,342
1888 Democratic   Grover Cleveland 168 1,379
Republican   Benjamin Harrison 233 2,391
1884 Democratic   Grover Cleveland 219 2,695
Republican   James G. Blane 182 1,538
1880 Democratic   Winfield S. Hancock 155 692
Republican   James A. Garfield 214 1,471
1876 Democratic   Samuel Tilden 184 1,867
Republican   Rutherford B. Hayes 185 1,363
1872 Democratic   Horace Greeley 66* 633
Liberal Republican   624
Republican   Ulysses S. Grant 286 1,270
1868 Democratic   Horatio Seymour 80 1,422
Republican   Ulysses S. Grant 214 924
1864 Democratic   George McClellan 21 506
Republican   Abraham Lincoln 212 895
1860 Constitutional Union   John Bell 39 211
Democratic   Stephen Douglas 12 372
Republican   Abraham Lincoln 180 1,194
Southern Democratic   John Breckenridge 72 363
1856 American ("Know Nothing")   Millard Fillmore 8 698
Democratic   James Buchanan 174 2,433
Republican   John C. Fremont 114 952
Whig   Millard Fillmore 8 566
1852 Democratic   Franklin Pierce 254 1,367
Whig   Winfield Scott 42 650
1848 Democratic   Lewis Cass 127 1,865
Whig   Zachary Taylor 163 784
Free Soil   Martin Van Buren 0 1,183
1844 Democratic   James K. Polk 170 938
Whig   Henry Clay 105 357
1840 Democratic   Martin Van Buren 60 536

* Horace Greeley died on November 29, 1872, between the date the popular votes were cast and the electoral votes were cast. 63 of his electoral votes were cast for other Democrats, while 3 were cast posthumously for Greeley.
** On June 10, 2020, the executive committee of the Republican National Committee chose not to adopt a new platform in 2020 and left the 2016 platform in place for the 2020 election. (link)  On August 24, 2020, the Republican National Committee issued a resolution regarding this decision.

Word counts include the preamble (if any). Excluded is the table of contents, list of committee members, and any dedication material before the preamble. Dedication material included within, or after the preamble, is included. Microsoft Word was used to compute word counts.

Citation: Gerhard Peters. "Political Party Platforms of Parties Receiving Electoral Votes." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2020.  www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/324129

Media That Have Cited These Data:
• The Washington Post—"What Republicans and Democrats Have Disagreed On, from 1856 to Today" by Ted Mellnik, Chris Alcantara and Kevin Uhrmacher. July 15, 2016

Length in Words of Democratic and Republican Platforms: The American Presidency Project

Length in Words of Democratic Party Platforms: The American Presidency Project

Length in Words of Republican Party Platforms: The American Presidency Project