Julian Assange Will Step Out of the Shadows in Risk – Vanity Fair

Andrew Jackson, 1828 and 1832

In an ironic twist, Jacksonwho was arguably the most Trumpian of presidents pastsecured the most popular votes in the 1824 election, only to lose the presidency to John Quincy Adams after the vote was pushed to the House of Representatives. But in the 1828 and 1832 elections, he handedly won the popular vote with 56 percent and 55 percent, respectively.

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Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States, garnered a roughly 14-percentage-point margin over his opponent William Henry Harrison in the 1836 popular vote. (Sadly, Harrison would edge him out in four years time.)

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After losing to Van Buren in the 1836 election, Harrison won the popular vote in the 1840 presidential race by six percentage points.

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Like Donald Trump, Polk was viewed as a dark horse candidate. But unlike Trump, Polk actually won the popular vote. (Sure, by a less than a 2-percentage-point marginbut he still won it.)

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The 12th president of the United States, Taylor won just shy of 5 percentage points more of the popular vote than his opponent Lewis Cass.

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Pierce, a president whose name most Americans probably dont even recognize, managed to do one thing Donald Trump could notsecure more than 50 percent of the popular vote.

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While Buchanan failed to nab more than 50 percent of the popular vote, his more than 12-percentage-point margin over his closest opponent shows he still managed to trounce the rest of the field.

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Remember this guy? Honest Abe secured more than 10-percentage-point margins over Stephen Douglas and George McClellan in 1860 and 1864 presidential elections, respectively.

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Against a guy named Horatio Seymour, Grant won nearly 53 percent of the popular vote in the 1868 election. Then, in 1872, he beat out Horace Greeley, securing more than 55 percent of the popular vote.

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Four years after Rutherford B. Hayes embarrassed himself when he lost the popular vote but won the presidency, Garfield narrowly edged out Winfield Hancock in the popular vote by less than 1 percentage point. But heywhat do you call a president who won the popular vote by less than 1 percentage point? A president who won the popular vote.

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Like his predecessor James A. Garfield, Cleveland won the presidency in 1884 with a less than 1-percentage-point edge over James Blaine. Cleveland ran again in the 1888 election, wherein he won the popular vote but lost the presidency to Benjamin Harrison. Then in 1892, he garnered just over 46 percent of the popular vote and won the electoral college.

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McKinley won the popular vote in the 1896 and 1900 elections, with margins of more than 4 percentage points and 6 percentage points, respectively.

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Teddy a.k.a Haroun-al-Roosevelt, a.k.a. the Dynamo of Power, a.k.a. the Trust Buster dominated his opponents in the 1904 presidential race, securing more than 56 percent of the popular vote.

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In the 1908 presidential election, Taft nabbed more than 51 percent of the popular vote.

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While Wilson didnt win the majority of the popular vote in either presidential election he ran in, he did secure respectable margins of more than 14 percentage points in the 1912 race and of more than 3 percentage points in 1916.

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In the 1920 presidential election, Harding won more than 60 percent of the popular vote.

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Coolidge nabbed just over 54 percent of the popular vote in 1924nearly double that of his closest rival, John Davis.

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Despite going down in history as one of the least popular presidents in U.S. history, Hoover landed a respectable 58 percent of the popular vote in the 1928 election.

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F.D.R. did what Donald Trump couldntfour times.

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Truman won the popular vote in the 1948 presidential election by a margin of more than four percentage points.

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Ike, the 34th president of the United States, won the presidential elections handedly in 1952 and 1956, with 55 percent and 57 percent of the popular vote, respectively.

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At the young age of 43, J.F.K. narrowly edged out Richard Nixon by less than 1 percentage point in the popular vote.

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When Johnson ran for re-election after taking over the presidency in the wake of J.F.K.s death, he won more than 61 percent of the popular vote, easily defeating Barry Goldwater.

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In the 1968 presidential election, Nixon won the popular vote by a margin of less than 1 percent. And four years later, in his landslide victory over George McGovern, he won the popular vote by a margin of over 23 percentage points.

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With an edge of just over 2 percentage points, this peanut farmer won what a New York billionaire could notthe popular vote.

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Despite his continued attempts to associate himself with Reagans legacy, Trump has already failed to match the 40th president in one area: winning the popular vote. In 1980, Reagan won the popular vote by nearly 10 percentage points, and over 18 percentage points in 1984.

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The elder Bush won the popular vote by nearly 8 percentage points in 1988.

From Getty Images.

Like Donald Trump, the younger Bush knows what it feels like to win the presidency but lose the popular voteas he did in 2000. Four years later, however, Bush escaped the shame and was able to bask in the presidential glory one feels when one wins the popular vote after he edged out John Kerry.

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Both of the Clintons won the popular vote. In 1992, Bill edged out George H.W. Bush by more than 5 percentage points, and in 1996 he beat Bob Dole by more than 8 percentage points.

From AFP/Getty Images.

After winning nearly 53 percent and more than 51 percent of the popular vote in 2008 and 2012, respectively, Obama truly knows what it feels like when more than half of the country actually wants you in the White House.

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Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 2.9 million votes.

By Kip Carroll/Rex/Shutterstock.

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Julian Assange Will Step Out of the Shadows in Risk - Vanity Fair