1792 United States presidential election

1792 United States presidential election

← 1788–89 November 2 – December 5, 1792 1796 →
132 members of the Electoral College 67 electoral votes needed to win
Turnout	6.3%[1] 5.3 pp
Nominee George Washington Party Independent Home state Virginia Electoral vote 132 States carried 15 Popular vote 11,176[a][b][c] Percentage 100.0%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes states won by Washington. Numbers indicate the number of electoral votes cast by each state.
President before election George Washington Independent Elected President George Washington Independent

The 1792 United States presidential election was the second quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, November 2, to Wednesday, December 5, 1792. Incumbent President George Washington was elected to a second term by a unanimous vote in the electoral college, while John Adams was reelected as vice president. Washington was essentially unopposed, but Adams faced a competitive re-election against Governor George Clinton of New York.

Electoral rules of the time required each presidential elector to cast two votes without distinguishing which was for president and which for vice president. The recipient of the most votes would then become president, and the runner-up vice president. The Democratic-Republican Party, which had organized in opposition to the policies of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, supported Clinton for the position of vice president. Adams, meanwhile, was backed by the Federalist Party in his bid for another term. Neither party had fully organized, and partisan divisions had not yet solidified.

Washington received 132 electoral votes, one from each elector. Adams won 77 electoral votes, enough to win re-election. Clinton finished in third place with 50 electoral votes, taking his home state of New York as well as three Southern states. Two other candidates won the five remaining electoral votes. This election was the first in which each of the original 13 states appointed electors, as did the newly added states of Kentucky and Vermont.

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