1868 Presidential Election

VAP turnout uses this page’s presidential vote total. VAP includes all residents age 21 and over, including women barred from voting in many states. VEP turnout is a separately published historical rate, using its own turnout and population estimates. These rates are not directly comparable.
31.8%
Turnout by VAP

Results of the presidential election of 1868, won by Ulysses S. Grant with 214 electoral votes.

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Election History

Historical context for the 1868 election. Before the election: Republicans controlled the House and Republicans controlled the Senate.

July 9, 1868

14th Amendment

Birthright citizenship, due process, and equal protection transformed constitutional law and the federal government’s responsibility for civil rights.

March 2, 1867

First Reconstruction Act

Congress imposed conditions for restoring former Confederate states, including new constitutions and Black male voting rights.

December 6, 1865

13th Amendment

The amendment abolished slavery nationally, except as punishment for crime, establishing a foundation for Reconstruction’s struggles over freedom.

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Grant’s Cabinet

Officials who served during Grant’s first elected term, 1869–1873. Years show full tenure in each office, including service outside the term; brief holdovers and identified acting service are included. Williams was commissioned in December 1871, effective January 10, 1872. Agriculture did not become a Cabinet department until 1889; Commerce and Labor had not yet been established.

President: Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)

Vice President: Schuyler Colfax (1869–1873)

Secretary of State: William H. Seward (1861–1869), Elihu B. Washburne (1869–1869), Hamilton Fish (1869–1877)

Secretary of the Treasury: Hugh McCulloch (1865–1869), John F. Hartley (acting) (1869–1869), George S. Boutwell (1869–1873)

Secretary of War: John M. Schofield (1868–1869), John A. Rawlins (1869–1869), William T. Sherman (acting) (1869–1869), William W. Belknap (1869–1876)

Attorney General: William M. Evarts (1868–1869), J. Hubley Ashton (acting) (1869–1869), Ebenezer R. Hoar (1869–1870), Amos T. Akerman (1870–1871), George H. Williams (1871–1875)

Postmaster General: St. John B. L. Skinner (acting) (1869–1869), John A. J. Creswell (1869–1874)

Secretary of the Navy: William Faxon (acting) (1869–1869), Adolph E. Borie (1869–1869), George M. Robeson (1869–1877)

Secretary of the Interior: William T. Otto (acting) (1869–1869), Jacob D. Cox (1869–1870), Columbus Delano (1870–1875)

Other Sources

Electoral Votes

Other color: Scattered / unclassified votes (Various). No distinct third-party movement is assigned to these 46 votes. Combined Other totals include all remaining candidates.

148 to win
2,708,744 popular votes (47.3%)
Running Mate: Francis Preston Blair Jr.
3,013,650 popular votes (52.7%)
Running Mate: Schuyler Colfax

Nebraska becomes a state during this election cycle. Mississippi, Texas and Virginia do not participate.

Presedential Election

Republican

State Electoral Votes

Alabama

8

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

5

California

5

Colorado

Connecticut

6

Delaware

3

District of Columbia

Florida

3

Georgia

9

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

16

Indiana

13

Iowa

8

Kansas

3

Kentucky

11

Louisiana

7

Maine

7

Maryland

7

Massachusetts

12

Michigan

8

Minnesota

4

Mississippi

Missouri

11

Montana

Nebraska

3

Nevada

3

New Hampshire

5

New Jersey

7

New Mexico

New York

33

North Carolina

9

North Dakota

Ohio

21

Oklahoma

Oregon

3

Pennsylvania

26

Rhode Island

4

South Carolina

6

South Dakota

Tennessee

10

Texas

Utah

Vermont

5

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

5

Wisconsin

8

Wyoming

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