The electoral college has chosen the winners of all 57 presidential elections and all 53 vice presidential elections in U.S. history with the following exceptions:
- In 1800, the U.S. House of Representatives had to elect the president from between the two candidates who tied for first place in electoral votes, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. In effect, the electoral college determined who would be president and vice president, but the House determined which person would hold which office. The U.S. Constitution was amended in 1804 so every time after 1800 there has been a separate election for the vice president.
- In 1824, the U.S. House of Representatives had to elect the president from among the three candidates with the most electoral votes, Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams and William Caldwell in that order, because nobody received more than 50% of the presidential electoral votes. The House elected Adams, who had neither the simple majority of electoral votes nor the simple majority of the nationwide popular votes. John C. Calhoun had no problem getting enough vice presidential electoral votes because he was the running mate of both Jackson and Adams.
- In 1836, the U.S. Senate had to elect the vice president from between the two candidates with the most electoral votes, Richard Mentor Johnson and Francis Granger, because nobody received more than 50% of the vice presidential electoral votes. Many people don't know this because there was no controversy involved; Johnson was the running mate of the winner of the presidential election, Martin Van Buren, he was only one electoral vote short, and the Senate elected him easily on the first ballot.
It may surprise some people to know that the House still elects the president when nobody gets at least 270 presidential electoral votes, and the Senate still elects the vice president when nobody gets at least 270 vice presidential electoral votes. Although neither has happened in almost 200 years, those constitutional rules have never been amended or repealed.
