The American Presidency Project

General Election Editorial Endorsements by the New York Times

1896 -- 2020
Consistency with Election Outcome Years n %
Overall 1896-2016 28 64.3%
Republican Era 1896-1928 6 100.0%
Democratic Era - electoral realignment 1932-1964 9 77.8%
Democratic Era - Regime Theory 1932-1976 12 66.7%
Republican Era - electoral realignment 1968-2016 13 38.5%
Republican Era - Regime Theory 1980-2016 10 40.0%
Percentage in the right column is the percentage of elections The New York Times' endorsee won the election.
Year Edititon Endorsed Nominee's Party Election Winner
2020 October 6 Joe Biden Democratic TBD
2016 September 24 Hillary Clinton Democratic Donald Trump
2012 October 27 Barack Obama Democratic Barack Obama
2008 October 23 Barack Obama Democratic Barack Obama
2004 October 17 John Kerry Democratic George W. Bush
2000 October 29 Albert Gore, Jr. Democratic George W. Bush
1996 October 27 William J. Clinton Democratic William J. Clinton
1992 October 25 William J. Clinton Democratic William J. Clinton
1988 October 30 Michael Dukakis Democratic George Bush
1984 October 28 Walter Mondale Democratic Ronald Reagan
1980 October 26 Jimmy Carter Democratic Ronald Reagan
1976 October 24 Jimmy Carter Democratic Jimmy Carter
1972 September 28 George McGovern Democratic Richard Nixon
1968 October 6 Hubert H. Humphrey Democratic Richard Nixon
1964 November 1 Lyndon B. Johnson Democratic Lyndon B. Johnson
1960 October 27 John F. Kennedy Democratic John F. Kennedy
1956 October 16 Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower
1952 October 23 Dwight D. Eisenhower Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower
1948 October 3 Thomas Dewey Republican Harry S. Truman
1944 October 16 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt
1940 October 24 Wendell Willkie Republican Franklin D. Roosevelt
1936 October 1 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt
1932 November 6 Franklin D. Roosevelt Democratic Franklin D. Roosevelt
1928 October 18 NY Times states "Happy with Either" (Hoover or Smith) Herbert Hoover
1924 November 2 NY Times declined to endorse Calvin Coolidge
1920 November 2 no specific endorsement although the Editorial is highly critical of the Republicans Warren Harding
1916 October 21 Woodrow Wilson Democratic Woodrow Wilson
1912 November 5 Woodrow Wilson Democratic Woodrow Wilson
1908 October 20 William Howard Taft Republican William Howard Taft
1904 August 31 Theodore Roosevelt Republican Theodore Roosevelt
1900 October 11 William McKinley Republican William McKinley
1896 October 20 William McKinley Republican William McKinley

Last Updated

October 6, 2020

Citations

Gerhard Peters. "General Election Editorial Endorsements by the New York Times." The American Presidency Project. Ed. John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California. 1999-2020.