How Bush did compared to other incumbents.

[elperromagico]

Since 1824, a sitting President has sought reelection 26
times. 17 won their bids for reelection, and nine lost. Here’s
how George W. Bush did compared to them, first based on the
margins of victory/loss, and then on the percentage of the
electoral vote. 

Popular Vote

Incumbents Who Won

Year		Incumbent		Margin
1924 		Calvin Coolidge		25.22%
1936		Franklin Roosevelt	24.25%	
1972		Richard Nixon		23.15%
1964		Lyndon Johnson		22.58%
1904		Theodore Roosevelt	18.83%
1984		Ronald Reagan		18.22%
1832		Andrew Jackson		16.81%
1956		Dwight Eisenhower	15.40%
1872		Ulysses Grant		11.80%
1864		Abraham Lincoln		10.06%
1940		Franklin Roosevelt	9.95%
1996		Bill Clinton		8.52%	
1944		Franklin Roosevelt	7.49%
1900		William McKinley	6.13%
1948		Harry Truman		4.48%
1916		Woodrow Wilson		3.12%
2004		George W. Bush		3.04%

Incumbents Who Lost

1888		Grover Cleveland (*)	0.80%
1976		Gerald Ford		-2.06%
1892		Benjamin Harrison	-3.01%
1992		George Bush		-5.56%
1840		Martin Van Buren	-6.07%
1980		Jimmy Carter		-9.74%
1828		John Q. Adams		-12.34%
1932		Herbert Hoover		-17.76%
1912		William Taft (+)	-18.67%

                       **********

Electoral Vote

Incumbents Who Won

Year            Name                    EV %
1936		Franklin Roosevelt	98.49%
1984		Ronald Reagan		97.58%
1972		Richard Nixon		96.65%
1864		Abraham Lincoln		90.60%
1964		Lyndon Johnson		90.33%
1956		Dwight Eisenhower	86.06%
1940		Franklin Roosevelt	84.56%
1944		Franklin Roosevelt	81.36%
1872		Ulysses Grant		78.14%
1832		Andrew Jackson		76.04%
1924		Calvin Coolidge		71.94%
1904		Theodore Roosevelt	70.59%
1996		Bill Clinton		70.45%
1900		William McKinley	65.32%
1948		Harry Truman		57.06%	
2004		George W. Bush		53.16%
1916		Woodrow Wilson		52.17%

Incumbents Who Lost

1976		Gerald Ford		44.61%
1888		Grover Cleveland (*)	41.90%
1892		Benjamin Harrison	32.66%
1828		John Q. Adams		31.80%
1992		George Bush		31.23%
1840		Martin Van Buren	20.41%
1932		Herbert Hoover		11.11%
1980		Jimmy Carter		9.11%
1912		William Taft (+)	1.51%	

(*) Won the popular vote, lost the electoral vote.
(+) The third party candidate, Theodore Roosevelt,
outperformed Taft in both the popular and electoral votes. 	

[MarianJack]

1. Well, I'll BE!!!

Sure looks like a mandate to Me! Maybe I do need to go home and shut up for the rest of my natural life!

Seriously though, I was born in 1955, so '56, '64, '72, '84 & '96 were all in my lifetime. Of course I wasn't cognizant of '56, but I'll be damned if I remember Johnson, Nixon, Reagan or Clinton dancing around like Yosemite Sam proclaiming a "mandate". And even as senile as Reagan was, after his 59%, 49 state win, which WAS a mandate, he didn't try to foist the religious right down our throat the way * seems to want to!

[elperromagico]

2. No follow-up questions allowed.

It's the will of the people, y'see. :eyes: