How would you have voted?: United States Presidential Elections

[traininthedistance]

This is with the benefit of hindsight: I find it hard to think about these elections any other way, and the only case where I'm sure it would have been different was 2000, when I was young and stupid and not yet old enough to vote and would have been tempted by Nader.

1789: George Washington (unaffiliated)
1792: George Washington (unaffiliated)
1796: John Adams (F)
1800: Thomas Jefferson (D-R)
1804: Thomas Jefferson (D-R)
1808: James Madison (D-R)
1812: DeWitt Clinton (F)
1816: James Monroe (D-R)
1820: James Monroe (D-R)
1824: John Quincy Adams (D-R)
1828: John Quncy Adams (NR)
1832: Henry Clay (NR)
1836: Daniel Webster (W)
1840: William Henry Harrison (W)
1844: James Birney (L)
1848: Martin van Buren (FS)
1852: Winfield Scott (W)
1856: John Fremont (R)
1860: Abraham Linclon (R)
1864: Abraham Lincoln (NU)
1868: Ulysses S. Grant (R)
1872: Horace Greeley (LR)
1876: Rutherford Hayes (R)
1880: James Weaver (G)
1884: Grover Cleveland (D)
1888: Benjamin Harrison (R)
1892: James Weaver (P)
1896: William J. Bryan (D)
1900: William McKinley (R)
1904: Theodore Roosevelt (R)
1908: William Taft (R)
1912: Theodore Roosevelt (P)
1916: Charles E. Hughes (R)
1920: Eugene Debs (S)
1924: Robert M. La Follette (P)
1928: Al Smith (D)
1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1948: Harry Truman (D)
1952: Dwight Eisenhower (R)
1956: Dwight Eisenhower (R)
1960: John F. Kennedy (D)
1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (D)
1968: Richard Nixon (R)
1972: George McGovern (D)
1976: Jimmy Carter (D)
1980: Jimmy Carter (D)
1984: Walter Mondale (D)
1988: Michael Dukakis (D)
1992: Bill Clinton (D)
1996: Bill Clinton (D)
2000: Al Gore (D)
2004: John Kerry (D)
2008: Barack Obama (D)

Some of these are pretty close: 1988 is the last election where I would seriously have considered voting Republican (Bush the Elder was pretty good all things considered), a younger, more ignorant me was in fact attracted to both Perot and Nader, and many of the older elections featured no good options, or issues where I'm not sure I'd stand in context.

[traininthedistance]

I'm actually really surprised so many of you prefer the Democratic-Republican party to the Federalists.  Washington was a federalist.  I honestly feel that if the Adams family was able to beat Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, the United States would have been a much more progressive country and slavery would have probably been abolished a lot sooner.  Also I would never vote for someone who did something as despicable as what Jefferson did in his personal life.

I agree that the Federalists were better on the issues than the Democratic-Republicans.  And John Quincy Adams was easily the best person to be elected president between Washington and Lincoln.  But, at least as far as 1800 goes, I'd probably be a single-issue voter and that issue would be kicking out the person who signed the abominable Alien and Sedition Acts, the most blatantly unconstitutional piece of legislation America has ever enacted.  (And at such a fragile time, too!)

[traininthedistance]

I'm actually really surprised so many of you prefer the Democratic-Republican party to the Federalists.  Washington was a federalist.  I honestly feel that if the Adams family was able to beat Jefferson and Andrew Jackson, the United States would have been a much more progressive country and slavery would have probably been abolished a lot sooner.  Also I would never vote for someone who did something as despicable as what Jefferson did in his personal life.

I agree that the Federalists were better on the issues than the Democratic-Republicans.  And John Quincy Adams was easily the best person to be elected president between Washington and Lincoln.  But, at least as far as 1800 goes, I'd probably be a single-issue voter and that issue would be kicking out the person who signed the abominable Alien and Sedition Acts, the most blatantly unconstitutional piece of legislation America has ever enacted.  (And at such a fragile time, too!)

Really, the only true reason somebody who lived today would have to vote for the Federalists would be economic positions (mostly trade).  It is a great insult to my intelligence to suggest that the Federalists were "the anti-slavery" party, considering the amount of plantation owning elites (think the Pinckneys) they had in their party.  Also, the Democratic Republicans had their own pretty fair share of anti-slavery advocates (mostly in the North).  As for "progressive", well I guess if you favor a strongly centralized government where only a tiny highly educated elite has the right to democracy, that would be considered progressive.
But no, let's act like the only issue that existed was slavery, shall we?

Also, James Buchanan, yeah the great evil slavery loving President, started out as a Federalist at a time when the party was well beyond the point of no return.

The Federalists were also the party of internal improvements (National Road, Erie Canal), a monetary policy that actually existed (the bank was not perfect, but it was a hell of a lot better than no bank), and urban interests (growing manufacturing and industry rather than biasing things in favor of anti-intellectual agrarianism); and it is to the credit of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe that they were able to bring at least some of these ideas into their governance.  Really, the fact that they were pro-infrastructure is the biggie for me.

I do recognize that their attitude towards civil liberties was atrocious, and it would be a disqualifying factor most of the time even though their proposals were otherwise better for the nation's unity and well-being.

[traininthedistance]

Updating this.  These choices are an admittedly hypocritical mix of foresight and lack thereof.

1789: George Washington (unaffiliated)
1792: George Washington (unaffiliated)
1796: John Adams (F)  I would prefer the stronger central government, and support for infrastructure/industry/trade that the Federalists stood for.  I would not have expected the Alien and Sedition Acts.
1800: Thomas Jefferson (D-R) Said Alien and Sedition Acts would be the only reason for this vote, as Jefferson's Southern agrarianism (and hypocrisy re: slavery) would still rankle.
1804: Thomas Jefferson (D-R) This time around, the Louisiana Purchase would give me an actual reason to vote DR.
1808: James Madison (D-R) I'd hate to vote for the Democratic-Republicans after the Ograbme fiasco… but Pinckney was just such a Southern aristocrat HP.
1812: DeWitt Clinton (F) Finally, a Federalist I could enthusiastically support.
1816: James Monroe (D-R) Monroe finally adopted the bank, and while I'd be against the War of 1812, I'd be more against secession.  
1820: James Monroe (D-R)
1824: John Quincy Adams (D-R)
1828: John Quncy Adams (NR) JQA was the very definition of FF, Andrew Jackson the very definition of HP.  Easiest votes ever.
1832: Henry Clay (NR) Internal improvements good, Indian Removal bad.
1836: William Henry Harrison (W) I'd prefer Daniel Webster, but I don't live in Massachusetts.
1840: William Henry Harrison (W) If only he'd stayed alive.
1844: James Birney (L)
1848: Martin van Buren (FS)
1852: John Hale (FS) Slave Power Delenda Est.
1856: John Fremont (R) It would be nice to be able to vote for a major party again without compromising my conscience.  I  might've given consideration to Winfield Scott in 1852 since he was a Northerner, but I think I'd have probably stayed Free Soil since I'd definitely be a radical.
1860: Abraham Lincoln (R)
1864: Abraham Lincoln (NU)
1868: Ulysses S. Grant (R)
1872: Horace Greeley (LR) Primarily as a reaction to corruption in the Grant administration.  It'd be hard sharing a candidate with those Southern treasonists, though.
1876: Rutherford Hayes (R)
1880: James Weaver (G) My choices would be pretty horrible all through the Gilded Age.  On one hand, I'd have been a pro-equality Radical Republican in previous elections, but OTOH maybe I'd have been one of those urban immigrant poors who got free turkeys from Tammany in exchange for D votes, and in either case the gold standard was a horrible abomination of public policy that both parties loved.  So, uh, left-wing protest vote it is- though Arthur ended up pretty good for his era.
1884: Benjamin Butler (G) So, I'd be pro-Rum, pro-Romanism, and anti-Rebellion.  I'd also be anti-Bourbonist tight money.  Left-wing protest, again.
1888: Benjamin Harrison (R) I'm not a huge fan of tariffs today, but as a city dweller in 1888 I sure as hell would be.
1892: Benjamin Harrison (R)  Cleveland's hard money and anti-labor follies once again must be opposed.  I'd prefer Weaver's more radical monetary policies, but OTOH I'd also prefer Harrison's electability, and I'd be scared away by a possible Prohibition/Populist pact, since I'd also be a hardcore wet.
1896: William J. Bryan (D)  This is a real toughie.  On one hand, Bryan was absolutely right on monetary policy, the most important economic question of the time.  On the other hand, his appeal was rural, and drenched in religion and Prohibitionism, which was a horrible folly even worse than the gold standard.  Since the extent of his dry and fundamentalist positions were unknown in 1896, I'd give him the vote this once.  And then never, ever again.
1900: William McKinley (R)  The addition of VP Roosevelt would convert me back into a Republican...
1904: Theodore Roosevelt (R) … and just in time.  Progressive Republican is a label I'd wear proudly for the next few elections.
1908: William Taft (R)
1912: Theodore Roosevelt (P)
1916: Charles E. Hughes (R)
1920: Eugene Debs (S)  Alas, progressive Republicanism would no longer have a home in the '20s, as both parties became unacceptably conservative.  Lefty protest vote it is.
1924: Robert M. La Follette (P) And again.
1928: Al Smith (D) Strike a blow against anti-Catholic bigotry, and against the insanity of Prohibition.  Right about now is when the Republicans start to lose me, after usually being my favorite major party since their inception.
1932: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1936: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt (D)
1948: Harry Truman (D) Throughout the '50s and '60s I might have some sentimental attachment to liberal Republicanism on fading sectional grounds, so Dewey would get a look from me.  But Truman turned out well, and Thurmond's Southron defection because of integration would make a D vote more comfortable.
1952: Dwight Eisenhower (R)
1956: Dwight Eisenhower (R) Ike kept the New Deal in place, and while more he was incrementalist than I'd like, things did move forward.
1960: John F. Kennedy (D)
1964: Lyndon B. Johnson (D) LBJ lost the South for well more a generation.  But it was the right thing to do.
1968: Richard Nixon (R) I think I'd be spooked by the DNC riots and taken in by his "secret plan" to end the war.  Or maybe I just want him in office because I'm clairvoyant and feel like giving credit for the EPA and China trip.
1972: George McGovern (D) Yeah, that "secret plan" sure worked out well.  
1976: Jimmy Carter (D) There's a nontrivial chance I'd give Ford serious thought, since Carter's evangelism would turn me off and Ford was relatively moderate.  But Watergate.
1980: Jimmy Carter (D) However, Carter's energy policy would turn me on.  I'd consider Anderson, but with Reagan getting the nomination, the Republicans would have made themselves wholly unacceptable.
1984: Walter Mondale (D)
1988: Michael Dukakis (D)
1992: Bill Clinton (D)
1996: Bill Clinton (D)
2000: Al Gore (D)
2004: John Kerry (D)
2008: Barack Obama (D)
2012: Barack Obama (D) … And remain unacceptable to this day.  Though Bush the Elder wasn't that bad, all things considered.