List of United States presidential candidate firsts

This list lists achievements and distinctions of various presidential candidates. It does not include the accomplishments of vice presidential candidates nor distinctions achieved during presidencies, with the exception of those that directly relate to presidential elections. Records concerning party nominations go back to 1796, the first time that political parties nominated presidential tickets. Records concerning the national popular vote only go back to the 1824 election, when the national popular vote began to be officially recorded. Certain other records are noted as going back to the 1804 ratification of the Twelfth Amendment, which made significant alterations to the process of presidential elections.

1788-89

 * First candidate to have served in the Continental Army: George Washington
 * First candidate whose primary state of residence was in the Southern United States: George Washington

1796

 * First presidential nominee of the Federalist Party, and first Federalist to win a presidential election: John Adams
 * First major party candidate and first victorious candidate whose primary state of residence was in the Northeastern United States: John Adams
 * First presidential nominee of the Democratic-Republican Party: Thomas Jefferson
 * First recipient of a vote from a faithless elector: Thomas Jefferson

1800

 * First individuals to serve as the presidential nominee of a major party in two elections: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

1808

 * First individual to win election during the presidency of another individual from the same party: James Madison

1812

 * First major party candidate to have served in the United States Senate: DeWitt Clinton

1816

 * First sitting U.S. senator and first sitting member of Congress to serve as a major party candidate: Rufus King

1824

 * First winning presidential candidate to not win a plurality of the national popular vote: John Quincy Adams
 * First victorious candidate with a spouse born outside of North America: John Quincy Adams
 * First losing presidential candidate to win a plurality of the national popular vote: Andrew Jackson

1828

 * First nominee of the Democratic Party, and first Democrat to win a presidential election: Andrew Jackson
 * First victorious candidate to have served in the United States Army after 1796: Andrew Jackson
 * First nominee of the National Republican Party: John Quincy Adams

1832

 * First individual nominated by a presidential nominating convention: William Wirt

1840

 * First major party nominee and first victorious candidate whose primary state of residence was in the Midwestern United States: William Henry Harrison
 * First presidential candidate to campaign with an official party platform: Martin Van Buren

1844

 * First dark horse candidate to win a major party's presidential nomination: James K. Polk
 * First sitting president to serve no more than one term and not win a major party's presidential nomination: John Tyler
 * First sitting president to be nominated by a third party: John Tyler

1848

 * First sitting president to serve no more than one term and decline to seek another term: James K. Polk
 * First major party nominee and first victorious candidate who had never previously held elective office: Zachary Taylor
 * First former president to run for president as a third party nominee: Martin Van Buren
 * First third party candidate to win at least ten percent of the national popular vote: Martin Van Buren

1856

 * First sitting, elected president to lose a bid for re-nomination: Franklin Pierce
 * First major party candidate whose primary state of residence was in the Western United States: John C. Frémont
 * First third party candidate to win at least twenty percent of the national popular vote: Millard Fillmore

1860

 * First Republican to win a presidential election: Abraham Lincoln
 * First victorious candidate born outside of the original thirteen states of the United States: Abraham Lincoln
 * First major party candidates that resided in the same home state: Abraham Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas
 * First victorious major party nominee to win less than 40 percent of the national popular vote: Abraham Lincoln
 * First third party candidate to finish second in the electoral vote: John C. Breckinridge
 * First third party nominee to win at least ten percent of the national popular vote, but finish fourth in the national popular vote: John Bell

1864

 * First individual from the Northern states to win two presidential elections: Abraham Lincoln

1872

 * First woman to run for president: Victoria Woodhull
 * First major party nominee to die before the official tallying of electoral votes: Horace Greeley

1876

 * First losing presidential candidate to win a majority of the popular vote: Samuel J. Tilden

1880

 * First individual to seek a third presidential term: Ulysses S. Grant

1884

 * First former mayor to win a presidential election: Grover Cleveland

1892

 * First individual to run on a major party ticket with three different running mates during their career: Grover Cleveland
 * First individual to win two presidential elections without winning a majority of the national popular vote: Grover Cleveland

1904

 * First individual to succeed to the presidency following the death or resignation of a predecessor, and then win election in his own right: Theodore Roosevelt
 * First African American to run for president: George Edwin Taylor

1912

 * First individual to win a presidential preference primary: Robert M. La Follette

1916

 * First Supreme Court justice to win a major party's presidential nomination: Charles Evans Hughes

1928

 * First Roman Catholic to be nominated for president by a major party: Al Smith
 * First victorious candidate born west of the Mississippi River: Herbert Hoover
 * First victorious candidate whose primary state of residence was in the Western United States: Herbert Hoover

1940

 * First major party nominee who had never held elective office, served as a Cabinet secretary, or held the rank of general: Wendell Willkie

1944

 * First major party nominee born in the 20th century: Thomas E. Dewey

1948

 * First individual to run for president in six elections: Norman Thomas

1960

 * First Roman Catholic to win a presidential election: John F. Kennedy
 * First individual who had served in the United States Navy to win a presidential election: John F. Kennedy
 * First African American to run for president in a major party primary: Frank R. Beckwith

1964

 * First woman to seek a major party's presidential nomination: Margaret Chase Smith
 * First person of Jewish descent to serve as a major party's presidential nominee: Barry Goldwater

1972

 * First African-American woman to seek a major party's presidential nomination: Shirley Chisholm

1980

 * First Latino American to seek a major party's presidential nomination: Ben Fernandez

1984

 * First African-American man to seek a major party's presidential nomination: Jesse Jackson
 * First woman to serve as a major party vice presidential nominee and vice presidential nominee for the Democratic Party: Geraldine Ferraro

1988

 * First woman to appear on the general election ballot of all fifty states: Lenora Fulani
 * First Greek American and Greek Orthodox to run for president: Michael Dukakis

1992

 * First independent candidate to win at least ten percent of the national popular vote: Ross Perot

2000

 * First Jewish candidate to serve as a major party vice presidential nominee: Joe Lieberman

2008

 * First African American major party presidential nominee and first African American to win a presidential election: Barack Obama
 * First victorious presidential candidate born outside of the Contiguous United States: Barack Obama
 * First major party presidential nominees born outside of the Contiguous United States: Barack Obama and John McCain
 * First former First Lady to run for president: Hillary Clinton

2012

 * First member of LDS Church to serve as a major party presidential nominee: Mitt Romney
 * First openly gay candidate for president: Fred Karger

2016

 * First woman to serve as a major party's presidential nominee: Hillary Clinton
 * First women to receive electoral votes for president: Hillary Clinton and Faith Spotted Eagle
 * First woman to win the popular vote in a presidential election: Hillary Clinton
 * First Jewish candidate to win a presidential primary contest: Bernie Sanders
 * First Jewish candidate to receive electoral college votes for president: Bernie Sanders
 * First Native American to receive electoral college votes for president: Faith Spotted Eagle
 * First Latino American to win a presidential primary contest: Ted Cruz
 * First Cuban American to win a presidential primary contest: Marco Rubio
 * First Indian American candidate to seek a major party's presidential nomination: Bobby Jindal

2020

 * First openly gay candidate to win a major party's presidential primary contest: Pete Buttigieg
 * First Hindu, Pacific Islander, and millennial candidate to seek a major party's presidential nomination: Tulsi Gabbard

2024

 * First Indian American to win a major party's presidential primary contest: Nikki Haley