How many US presidents failed to get reelected?

Answer 1

The total is either 10 or 11, among those who actively sought reelection. John Adams lost his bid for a second term, and 10 other US Presidents lost elections to challengers despite renomination by their party. Grover Cleveland might not be counted as he did finally win a second term. The total number of Presidents who served only one term or less is 16, or 21 including the 5 who died in their first term. There were 4 Presidents who succeeded to the office and were then reelected to one term (Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson).

1800 - John Adams, 2nd President, lost in 1800 to Thomas Jefferson. Both parties had two nominees.

1828 - John Quincy Adams, 6th President, lost (as his father had) after edging Andrew Jackson in the House in the disputed election of 1824

1840 - Martin Van Buren, 8th President, lost to William Harrison mainly due to the disastrous economic downturn in the Panic of 1837. He lost again in 1848.

1856 - Millard Fillmore, 13th President, lost his attempt to win an elected term, having succeeded Zachary Taylor from 1850-1853 and declining to run in 1852. James Buchanan, who wins, is not renominated in 1860.

*1888 - Grover Cleveland, 22nd President, lost a narrow, disputed election to Benjamin Harrison. Cleveland tries again in 1892.

1892 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President, lost to a resurgent Cleveland, who became the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms.

1912 - William Howard Taft, 27th President, lost to Woodrow Wilson as the Bull Moose candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt split the Republican party. Roosevelt had already served 7 years as President and was attempting a second elected term.

1932 - Herbert Hoover, 31st President, was trounced by Franklin D. Roosevelt over his failure to end the Great Depression (1929)

1976 - Gerald Ford, 38th President, loses his unelected presidency to Jimmy Carter, primarily on the basis of economic woes and perceived clumsiness

1980 - Jimmy Carter, 39th President, loses to Ronald Reagan, primarily because of continuing economic problems and debacles in foreign relations.

1992 - George H. Bush, 41st President, loses to Bill Clinton, during a period of high unemployment, despite having had high public support during the Gulf War.