United States presidential election, 1820

The 9th election of the President of the United States took place in 1820. The incumbent President James Monroe won highly superior and received almost without exception all the votes in the Electoral College. Only William Plumer, an elector from New Hampshire, chose not Monroe, but the Acting Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who had not even a candidate. Whether Plumer wanted to ensure the fact that George Washington is the only elected unopposed president remains (1789 and 1792), or he wanted to make his friend Adam, who was then elected president four years later, already widely known, remained the subject of speculation.

Candidates

The Democratic- Republican Party nominated the already incumbent President James Monroe. As Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins was proposed, which was already in the office also. The Federalist party nominated no candidates for the presidency; Richard Stockton only went to a candidate for the office of Vice- President, who received eight votes in the Electoral College.

The election took place without a previous serious campaign.

Result

Background

The previous four years coincided with the beginning of the so-called Feelgood era. International tensions were barely measurable after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The federal government consisted only of members of a party, as the Federalists had collapsed as a national party and no new opposition arose, which filled this place. The United States had also extended in the previous 4 years. The Florida Territory was purchased from Spain and 5 new states were to joined the Union: Mississippi ( 1817 ), Illinois (1818 ), Alabama (1819 ), Missouri and Maine ( 1820).